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Freedom for the
Five, yes; new trial, no
• Affirms Roberto González,
brother of one the Cuban anti-terrorists imprisoned
in the U.S.
BY SUNDRED
SUZARTE MEDINA
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“CALLING for the release of the five Cubans
incarcerated in the United States for combating
terrorism, and not allowing a new trial is the only
just demand in this case,” emphasized Roberto
González, the brother of one of the anti-terrorist
prisoners, during a meeting with members of the 15th
Latin American and Caribbean Work Brigade in
solidarity with Cuba.
During an
exchange between brigadistas and relatives of the
Five in the Julio Antonio Mella camp outside of
Havana, Roberto insisted that “at this stage, it is
impossible to ask for a fair trial. There is no way
that it can be so, if it does take place. When in
2005 the court made a decision and proposed a
retrial it was already a bit late, but that was the
step that the court indicated and had to demand
because there had been one outside of the law. But,
at this height, the only right thing is the freedom
of the Five.
“After 10
years of imprisonment, of manipulations, of
forbidding family visits, of so much comings and
goings of conflicting opinions on points of law, and
motions against motions, there is no sense of
putting them before the court. What does make sense
is to put them in their homes, reestablish their
right of contact with the society that they were
defending. A new trial would be a decision that we
would question legally because, according to U.S.
law, nobody can be subjected to the risk of being
tried twice. What is demanded by the circumstances
and justice is their immediate release.”
After that
statement, brigade members took the floor to support
the cause of the prisoners, and committed themselves
to spread the truth about the case and the double
standards of the U.S. government in combating
terrorism.
According to
Silvia García of Venezuela, there is a media
blockade at Latin American level and it is through
their media that “the fascists and oligarchies avoid
any information circulating on the case.” Even so,
“in Venezuela we are working with the alternative
media and web pages to bring information to everyone
who is fighting for a better world.”
García urged
brigade members to organize an information chain via
Internet starting with their labor and social
movement spaces. At the same time, she called for a
continuation of the demonstrations outside U.S.
diplomatic missions, because the Five reflect the
change that is coming. “There are people in my
country who don’t believe in the social changes and
those of us who support Chávez are often harassed.
Fortunately, the majority supports the process, but
my fear is that that empire that has done this to
Cuba, is going to reach the point of doing it to
us.”
For his
part, brigade member Matthew Lubin of St. Lucia
stated that he has some knowledge of the Five,
“because I’ve been following the case for a long
time. I have had information from the Cuban embassy
in my country.”
He also
informed the meeting that he is in contact with
Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González and Gerardo
Hernández, and gave their family members copies of a
number of letters that he had sent them.
“In St. Lucia I’ve taken it on
myself to pass on information on this matter, via
articles that my friends and I have written. I have
also sent information to our prime minister about
these men and about Luis Posada Carriles. And I’ve
collaborated with three radio stations, and included
some writings that Gerardo sent me. I’m
thinking about getting them into a national
newspaper.”
Lubin noted
that his country’s economy is fundamentally based on
tourism, and that the United States uses that
condition to keep St. Lucia at a distance from these
issues. “Lots of people are trying to uncover these
phenomena but they are being intimidated.
Nevertheless, I’m going to keep on writing articles
related to the Five and to demand, together with my
comrades, that the United States extradite Posada
Carriles to Venezuela.
Also present
at the meeting were Ailí Labañino, Ramón’s daughter,
and Magalys Llort, Fernando’s mother.
BILLBOARD
LAUNCHED IN CALIFORNIA
With the aim
of presenting information about the case in the
United States and to break the silence of the major
U.S. media corporations, a billboard has been set up
in San Francisco demanding the immediate liberation
of the five Cubans.
The
billboard has been placed right in the city center
for one month, as part of initiatives to state the
truth of the case and demand the release of René
González, Ramón Labañino, Gerardo Hernández, Antonio
Guerrero and Fernando González, imprisoned in the
United States since September 12, 1998.
According to
Gloria La Riva, coordinator of the National Free the
Five Committee, the mural announces in English that
the Cuban five were incarcerated for uncovering
proposed acts of terrorism against the island
organized by ultra-right wing groups in Florida. •
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•
Alarcón on the “Roundtable” program
We have to keep up the fight for the release of the
Five
August 5, 2008
THE battle for the release of the
five Cuban anti-terrorist fighters, political
prisoners in the United States, continues to be
active in order to inform people of the truth about
a case in which the U.S. government and authorities
involved in it have perverted the course of justice,
affirmed Ricardo Alarcón, president of the National
Assembly of People’s Power (Cuban Parliament).
•
U.S.
definitively denies visa to Olga Salanueva, wife of
one of the Cuban Five
July 23, 2008
For the ninth time, and now
permanently, the U.S. government has denied a visa
to Olga Salanueva, wife of Cuban patriot René
González, one of the five anti-terrorist fighters
serving prison sentences in that country.
•
The release of
the Five must be a political decision
July 17, 2008
“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.
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