The release of the Five must be a political decision
• Says attorney Roberto González, brother of René, one of the anti-terrorist fighters imprisoned in the United States

BY SUNDRED SUZARTE MEDINA

 • “THE question of the Five is a question of Cuba that goes beyond us as a family; it is a question of the Revolution and it is a subject for Cuban revolutionaries, together with the solidarity of men and women of goodwill,” said attorney Roberto González, speaking to members of the U.S.-Cuba Friendshipment Caravan who traveled to the island to show their opposition to the U.S. blockade and their support for freedom for the anti-terrorist fighters.

In a meeting at the National Library, González, the brother of René González, praised the sincerity of the caravan members, noting that they are exceptions to the rule of the typical lifestyle in U.S. society.

“Because in Cuba, we’ve been showing solidarity for years, but we do it from the standpoint of a State that has solidarity. Three of the Five were [combatants] in Angola. They had nothing additional to gain. But they had the appreciation of the people. You all don’t have that. You are working from a situation of anti-solidarity. You are capable of stepping out of a system designed for people not to have solidarity. The prevailing slogan in the United States to get ahead in life is: That’s not my problem.

“However, you are turning the equation around. You are saying: this is my problem; the United States is my problem; Cuba is my problem; the Five are my problem. You are better than us, and speaking in their name, I thank you.”

Roberto said that the fight to free the Five is “very hard,” because the legal system is designed not to resolve the problem, because this case is obviously related to U.S.-Cuba relations. According to González, the arrest of the Five was a political decision, and their release must be a political decision.

“This is why the FBI acted and arrested them. That decision led the court system to mount an unjust trial, depriving them of their right to legitimate defense. On June 4, we received a decision that gives us weapons with which to fight. Because in this case, in order to rule against them, one must go against the law. If you do not go against the law, you would have to decide in favor of the Five.

“For example, one of their claims is that the Five had no justification for being in the United States and there is no threat hanging over Cuba. That is false. In the trial evidence, there are sufficient elements showing that there was a threat to Cuba at that time. I went back to the messages that René was sending to Havana, and they were all related to preparing weapons for Cuba, attacks on hotels, setting off bombs. And you start to wonder, how is it possible that the judges didn’t see that?

“There is the example of the terrorist Rodolfo Frómeta, who admitted in court, before a jury, that he had bought a Stinger anti-aircraft missile, along with explosives and some ammunition, and that he had a plan. He was going to approach Cuba’s coasts and fire at a hotel. The FBI proposed a sentence of one year of parole. And the person who was monitoring him, whose name is

Fernando González, was one of the defendants who is now serving 19 years for monitoring that individual. Today, it is even more necessary to have men like the Five inside of the Miami community, because the plans have not ended.” 

A TRIAL OF FEAR

Roberto González said that Miami was not the best place for the trial to be held, and that one of the judges had admitted it.

“However, he himself ratified all the sentences in most of their cases. The big contradiction is that that judge is validating a sentence after saying that the convictions were reached illegally. The problem is, this is a trial of fear.”

According to González, taking the case to the U.S. Supreme Court is just an aspiration, and two paths are possible: one that validates “that whole legal disaster” with a decision by the Supreme Court to not hear the case; or the longer road, which could end the same way: keeping the Five in prison without any immediate solution from the legal standpoint.

“Both roads lead to international solidarity; they lead to a political battle and the struggle to make this case known, so that the world knows who the Five are. It is absolutely legitimate to ask for their release, and that is what is up to us to do.”

He ended by saying that the blockade which the caravan members are trying to break is part of the same principle.