Raising Awareness about the Cuban Five

The 17th Latin American Voluntary Work Brigade held a meeting in Havana to discuss the case of five Cuban antiterrorist fighters unfairly imprisoned in the United States for 11 years.

During the meeting held Thursday at the Julio Antonio Mella Camp, participants were briefed on the history and current state of the case of the Cuban Five. Among the focal points made was the importance of the international campaign in favor of the liberation of the Cuban Five.

In 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.

A UN Working Group reviewing the case determined that the trial did not take place in a climate of objectivity and impartiality, which is required in order to conclude on the observance of the standards of a fair trial. The UN report also charges that the Cuban Five were wrongfully held for seventeen months in solitary confinement after their arrest, and that their lawyers were deprived of the opportunity to examine all of the available evidence before the government invoked the Classified Information Protection Act.

Shortly following the UN ruling, on August 9, 2005, a three judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals of Atlanta issued a 93-page reversal of the initial conviction as well as nullified the sentences. In response to the reversal, the Bush administration and Attorney General Gonzales vehemently pushed for the US Solicitor General to appeal the verdict of the three-judge panel’s decision before all twelve judges of the 11th circuit in Atlanta. This time the court bowed down to pressure from the Bush administration and reversed the previous pro-Cuban Five ruling by a vote of 10-2.

The misguided arrest of the Cuban Five in 1998 and the subsequent travesty of justice lead to their convictions on multiple unsubstantiated charges in 2001. The Cuban Five were dedicated to uncovering plots by ultra-rightwing Cuban-American organizations based in Miami with a long record of terrorist actions against Cuba and the Cuban people.

Participants spoke about efforts undertaken in their countries to raise awareness about the case and to protest the miscarriage of justice. The 268 members of the 17th Latin American Voluntary Work Brigade also expressed their support of the cause of the Cuban Five through several commitments and initiatives to spread the truth about the case. The brigade has filmed a video of a group of young Argentinean climbers scaling the Aconcagua to demand freedom for the Cuban Five.

Also attending the meeting were the mothers of two of the Cuban Five, Magaly Llort, mother of Fernando González, and Mirta Rodríguez, mother of Antonio Guerrero.

Magaly Llort told JR, “This meeting has been magnificent; first of all because of the number of young people here and secondly because of the group of countries represented. I think that everybody has understood the current state of the case and where we need to direct our efforts. We have been convinced from the very beginning that this is a purely political case and that for justice to be made, public opinion will have to have the last word.”

Also participating at the meeting was José Prieto, director of the Latin American and Caribbean Desk of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples.

PIE DE FOTO: The mothers of Fernando González and Antonio Guerrero, two of the Cuban Five, met with members of the Latin American Voluntary Work Brigade. Photo: ABC

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