Cuban Immigrants to Meet with Cuban Authorities in Havana

Some 450 Cubans who live abroad will participate in a series of meetings with Cuban authorities from January 27 to 29 in Havana to discuss new strategies on how to fight for the end of the US blockade and the release of the five Cuban antiterrorists being unjustly held in the United States.

Cuban Vice Foreign Minster Dagoberto Rodríguez gave details about the gathering and spoke about the need for direct dialogue with Cubans living abroad who respect Cuba’s right for national sovereignty and independence, and the island’s long struggle against criminal and hostile US policy towards Cuba.

Rodríguez said that one of the main goals of the meetings is to continue the advance towards normalizing relations with Cuban immigrants. «Today we can confirm with absolute confidence that there are no significant problems existing between Cuba and the majority of Cuban immigrants living abroad,» said Rodríguez.

The meeting gathers delegates from 42 countries representing 106 Cubans Living Abroad Associations in 61 nations who defend Cuba’s independence and sovereignty.

Among the topics on the agenda is the struggle against foreign interference, defense of national sovereignty, the role of culture in the preservation of identity, and Cuban immigrants’ ties with Cuba.

The movement to free the Cuban Five are also high on the agenda. The five Cuban antiterrorists have spent more than a decade in US jails. After a trial plagued with irregularities and held in a highly biased Miami court, the Cuban Five —Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González, Antonio Guerrero and René González— were given harsh sentences ranging from 15 years to consecutive life terms plus 15 years. The five Cubans were working to uncover information about terrorist activities being planned and carried out against Cuba by ultra-rightwing organizations based in southern Florida with a long record of terrorist actions against Cuba and the Cuban people. When they turned their information over to authorities they were arrested and have been in jail ever since.

Among the activities to take place is the inauguration of an art exhibition of Gerardo Hernandez and Antonio Guerrero and a floral offering to Cuban National Hero Jose Martí on the anniversary of his birth.