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HAVANA, August 1 (Héctor Maseda, Grupo Decoro / www.cubanet.org) - An
American pastor taking aid to Havana was robbed and surrounded by a stampede of
hundreds of bystanders as police took several pot shots at his assailant, all
within his first 48 hours in the city.
The 13th Caravan of Pastors for Peace arrived July 21 from México.
Two nights later, about 20 from the group visited "Mesón de la
Chorrera," on Havana’s waterfront Malecón Avenue, in the
upscale Vedado district.
At about 1 a.m., as they were walking back to their tour bus, pastor Lucius
Walker stopped at the park across from the establishment and took out a wallet
and agenda to jot something down. As he did so, a young man approached him,
grabbed his wallet and took off, with Walker in pursuit.
The man ran into a building with, by this time, two policemen in pursuit.
Shortly, several shots from the building dispersed hundreds of people who had
been enjoying the night air in the popular area.
The thief, evidently, got away. A woman with the pastors’ group
addressed the crowd in Spanish thus:
"We have come bringing humanitarian aid to you and see how you thank
us, by robbing us. I ask you to recover the documents that were taken from our
brother Lucius. We don’t care if the money is returned or not. I will tell
you that I will not come back to Cuba. This country’s people do not deserve
to be helped. When I return to the United States I will inform my religious
community of what happened."
Víctor Ameijeiras, who lives in the neighborhood and had witnessed
the events up to then, answered:
"Lady, don’t be unjust. We don’t know the thief and are not
like him. You offend us with your words. You are accusing us of being thieves or
accomplices. You shouldn’t judge a group of people as vulgar delinquents."
Up to press time, the government had not publicized the incident.
Versión
original en español
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