The Untold Story of
the Cuban Five (Part 1)
Forbidden
Heroes
By Ricardo Alarcón de
Quesada
"It takes all the
running you can do,
to keep in the same place"
Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll
• REMEMBER Elian?
The
case of Elian González, a six year-old boy
forcefully retained by his unknown great-uncles
against the will of his father and in clear defiance
of U.S. law and decency was widely reported by media
around the world. Miami, the place of the kidnapping,
became a kind of secessionist city in North America
when the Mayor, the chief of police, the politicians,
every newspaper and local radio and TV broadcasters,
together with religious and business institutions,
joined with some of the most notorious terrorist and
violent groups in opposing the courts' and
government's orders to free the boy.
It was necessary for a Special Forces team sent
from Washington DC to launch a surreptitious and
swift operation to occupy several houses, disarm the
heavily armed individuals hidden there and in the
neighborhood to save the child and restore law.
Everybody followed that story. Day in and day
out.
But practically nobody knew that, at the very
same time, in exactly the same place--Miami--five
other young Cubans were arbitrarily deprived of
their freedom and subjected to a gross miscarriage
of justice.
Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio
Guerrero, Fernando González and René González were
detained in the early hours of Saturday September
12th, 1998, and locked for the next 17 months in
punishment cells, in solitary confinement. The main
accusation against them--as recognized by the
prosecutors and the judge from their indictment to
the last day of the trial--was that they had
peacefully, with no weapons, penetrated ant-Cuban
terrorist groups with a view of reporting back to
Cuba about their criminal plans.
Was it conceivable to have a fair trial in Miami
for any Cuban revolutionary facing such an
accusation? Could that happen while the kidnapping
of Elian was going on with its surrounding
atmosphere of violence, hatred and fear?
According to the prosecution it was perfectly
possible. In their words Miami was "a very large,
diverse, heterogeneous community" capable of
handling any sensitive issue, even those involving
the Cuban Revolution. The prosecutors repeated that
line when rejecting the more than ten motions
presented by the defense lawyers requesting a change
of venue before the start of the trial.
The same government that was obligated to deal
with Miami as a sort of rebel city and to secretly
send there its forces to restore legality, lied
repeatedly about the venue issue, denying the
defendants a right so cherished by Americans, and
refused to move the proceedings to the neighboring
city of Fort Lauderdale, half an hour away from
Miami.
Ironically, a few years later, in 2002, when the
government was the object of a civilian complaint of
an administrative nature, of far lesser significance--later
resolved by an out of Court settlement--and only
indirectly related to the Elian case, they asked for
a change of venue to Fort Lauderdale, affirming that
"anything related to Cuba" was impossible to get a
fair trial in Miami. (Ramírez vs. Ashcroft,
01-4835 Civ-Huck, June 25, 2002)
Such a flagrant contradiction, a clear proof of
prosecutorial misconduct, of real prevarication, was
one of the main factors leading to the unanimous
decision of the Court of Appeals panel, in 2005, to
vacate the convictions of the Five and order a new
trial. (Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit,
No. 01-17176, 03-11087).
That historic decision was later reversed by the
majority of the entire Court under pressure from
Attorney General Alberto González in an action that
went contrary to the normal US legal practice. Mr.
González's successful move, a manifestation of his
peculiar legal philosophy, foreclosed the
possibility of a just resolution of this case in a
manner that would have honored the United States.
The panel decision, an exceptionally sound and
solid 93 pages document, including irrefutable facts
about the half century old terrorist war against
Cuba, remains an outstanding moment in the best
American tradition and will continue to be a text to
be analyzed with respect by scholars and law school
students.
But that’s another chapter in the long saga of
the Cuban Five.
Elián González now is about to finish high school
and continues to attract the attention of foreign
media and visitors who keep going to Cardenas, the
beautiful town where he lives. When traveling
towards Elian’s home they will be surprised by
billboards demanding freedom for five youngsters
they never heard off before.
In Leonard Weinglass’s words:
"The trial was kept secret by the American media.
It is inconceivable that the longest trial in the
United States at the time it was taking place was
only covered by the local Miami press, particularly
where generals and an admiral as well as a White
House advisor were all called to testify for the
defense. Where was the American media for six months?
Not only was this the longest trial, but it was the
one case involving mayor issues of foreign policy
and international terrorism. The question should be
directed to the American media, with continues to
refuse to cover a case with such gross violations of
fundamental rights, and even violations of human
rights of prisoner". (Response by Leonard Weinglass
in the forum organized by
www.antiterroristas.cu
on September 12, 2003).
Elian was saved because Americans knew about his
case and got involved and made justice prevail. The
Five are still incarcerated – it will be 11 years
next September – victims of a terrible injustice,
because Americans are not permitted to know.
The Five are being cruelly punished because they
fought against terrorism. They are heroes. But
forbidden heroes. •
