Alarcón highlights importance of international solidarity in the case of the Five

Aida Calviac-Mora

IF Barack Obama really wanted to try and convince us that he is aspiring to a new start in relations with Cuba and Latin America, nothing else occurs to me other than to ask him to make use of his attributes and release the Five, affirmed Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada, president of the National Assembly of People's Power, who was giving an update on the case of the Cuban anti-terrorists incarcerated in the United States to participants in the 8th International American Studies Conference.

"It is a responsibility that he cannot evade, because he has the legal capacity and the moral obligation to do so, given that the remaining judicial possibilities are closed," he stated.

Alarcón noted that Antonio Guerrero’s resentencing hearing – those of Fernando González and Ramón Labañino are pending – demonstrated the importance of the international solidarity movement, "because it was the only argument that prompted the U.S. government to try and seek an agreement with the defense, so as to jointly propose a less severe sentence for the crime that Antonio is alleged to have committed."

He also confirmed that the legal battle is to continue, despite the restricted possibilities, above all in the cases of Gerardo Hernández and René González, who are not up for resentencing.

"Particularly in the case of Gerardo, which cannot be resolved without being totally overturned, by having recourse to the so-called habeas corpus, for which we have until June 4, 2010. The experts are saying there is a very remote possibility, but we are going to explore it," Alarcón affirmed.