Protesters End Fast Over Giving Cuba Computers

Three protesters ended a 94-day fast early Saturday when the Treasury Department released more than 300 computers it had seized as an illegal shipment to Cuban medical centers.

The computers won’t head straight to Cuba. Under a federal agreement signed late Friday, the United Methodist Church gets custody of them until the government decides if they meet requirements for humanitarian aid.

“We see this as progress,” said the Rev. Lucius Walker, the director of Pastors for Peace, after ending his fast. “Will they ultimately get to Cuba? I believe so.”

The Methodist Church, which volunteered as an intermediary in the dispute, agreed to ensure that the equipment “is not exported to Cuba in the absence of a license,” says the deal drawn up by Treasury.

Minneapolis-based Pastors for Peace launched a highly publicized move in January to ship 395 used computers and related parts to Cuba. But U.S. Customs agents in California and Vermont seized the computers because the pastors did not have government permission to send aid to Cuba.

The 35-year embargo prohibiting exports of most U.S. goods to Cuba does permit humanitarian food, clothing and medical shipments--if they first are licensed under the Trading With the Enemies Act.

Pastors for Peace opposes the embargo and consequently refuses to seek licenses for aid it periodically tries to send Cuba.

The pastors say the computers will link Cuban health centers so they can offer better medical care in rural areas. Four members fasted to protest the seizures.

Last week, Treasury released more than 20 of the computers because they were Canadian-made. It is legal for Canada to ship items to Cuba through the United States.

With that agreement, a Canadian hunger-striker broke his fast. Walker and two other Americans continued fasting until Friday’s agreement reached them at midnight.