Free the Five

Five for the Five – on the 6th

2012-02-03T13:03:00.000+13:00

This month the 5th falls on a Sunday and the offices of the White House will be closed. To achieve a greater impact we ask you to join in this coordinated action on Monday February 6
.
On January 5th the international solidarity movement for the Cuban 5 was felt with more strength than ever. On that day, people from all over the world called, sent e-mails and faxes to the White House. It happened in different languages but in ONE VOICE to demand President Obama grant the immediate freedom of Gerardo, Ramón, Antonio and Fernando and the return of Rene to his homeland.
.
The action had an impact on Twitter and on the White House's phone lines that received a great number of calls from inside and outside the United States.
.
We need to continue this action each and every month and to bring more people into this international campaign. Spread the word through your social networks.
.
This Monday February 6th, use all avenues of communication through e-mails, phone calls, postal mail, telegrams, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
.
Let's demand that President Obama make use of the rights conferred upon him by the US Constitution to put an end to this colossal injustice and allow the FIVE to return home to their loved ones.

TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE WHITE HOUSE
By phone: 00 1 202-456-1111
.
By Fax: 00 1 202-456-2461
.
By regular mail
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500

SEND AN E-MAIL TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

.
This collective action will only be effective if people from the us, and all over the world, call, or send fax, mail, Facebook, Twitter, etc, on the 5th of each month.

TOGETHER WE CAN DO IT!

Danny Glover on the Cuban 5

2012-02-01T10:31:00.001+13:00

The 5th of January for the Cuban 5

2012-01-04T08:29:00.000+13:00

We invite you to start the 2012 with a simple collective action for the 5 Cuban patriots. This effort will only be effective if we all do it the same day and from all over the world.
.
On January 5, from any place where you are, send an e-mail or make a phone call to President Obama to demand that he immediately free Gerardo, Ramón, Antonio and Fernando and that he allows René to return to Cuba to his wife and daughters.
.

President Obama knows the Five are Innocent

.
He has heard that from intellectuals, religious people, union leaders, students, actors and artists, parliamentarians, Nobel Prize recipients and thousands of honest people from all over the world. He can and he should put an end to these 13 years of injustice. Only by doing that will he gain the respect of the international community that is waiting for a humanitarian gesture on his part that will allow the immediate return of the Five to Cuba, to their families and their people.
.
TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE WHITE HOUSE
.

.
By phone: 00 1 202-456-1111
.

By Fax: 00 1 202-456-2461
.

Send an electronic message

Welcome to 2012

2012-01-04T08:03:00.000+13:00

New Year's Greetings from the Cuban Five

2011-12-05T19:52:00.001+13:00

From November 16-20, the VII International Colloquium for the Freedom of the Five Heroes and Against Terrorism took place in Holguin, Cuba.
.
The 413 delegates from 50 countries committed to increase the necessary work and actions towards the freedom of the Cuban 5.
.
The Final Declaration of the Colloquium approved by a strong ovation by all delegates included the continuing of the international campaign the "5th for the Cuban 5."
.
On Monday December 5th, contact President Barack Obama demanding to put an end to this long injustice by sending the Cuban 5 home to their loved ones now!
.
TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE WHITE HOUSE
.
By phone: 00- 1 202-456-1111
.
By Fax: 00- 1 202-456-2461
.
To send an electronic message: WRITE TO PRESIDENT OBAMA
.

THIS COLLECTIVE ACTION WILL ONLY BE EFFECTIVE IF PEOPLE FROM THE US, AND ALL OVER THE WORLD, CALL, OR SEND FAX OR E-MAILS, ON THE 5TH OF EACH MONTH. IF YOU CAN NOT REACH ANYBODY BY PHONE, PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE.

Forward to your friends

Coordinating actions at Five Conference

2011-11-22T10:37:00.001+13:00

Participants in the 7th International Conference for the Freedom of the Five and against Terrorism are agreed on the urgent need to coordinate actions so that the U.S. legal authorities and government allow the return to Cuba of René González, given that his life is in danger in Florida.
.
This was the central aspect of the first day of the conference, with a similar call to focus on the case of Gerardo Hernández, so that he is granted habeas corpus relief and the two life sentences handed down to him in a rigged trial are withdrawn.
.
The Conference sent a message of support to the Occupy Wall Street protesters remaining on U.S. streets to demand an end to the prevailing inequality in that country, stated Kenia Serrano, president of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, which organized the forum.
.
She emphasized the importance of using the meeting to continue accusing self-confessed terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, currently at liberty in Miami, a situation in sharp contrast to that of the five Cuban anti-terrorists.
.
Family members of the Five and of the victims of terrorism are present at the conference, including Italian Justino di Celmo, the father of Fabio di Celmoan, an Italian businessman, killed in the 1997 terrorist bombing at the Copacabana Hotel, Havana.
.

by Germán Veloz Placencia

November 5th for the Cuban 5

2011-11-04T08:55:00.000+13:00

.
On the 5th of November, contact President Barack Obama demanding not just the immediate return of René Gonzalez to his homeland but to free all of the Cuban 5!
.
TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE WHITE HOUSE

By phone: 00 1 202-456-1111

By Fax: 00 1 202-456-2461

To send an electronic message

.
This collective action will only be effective if people from the us, and all over the world, call, or send fax or e-mails, on the 5th of each month. If you can not reach anybody by phone, please leave a message.
.

Forward the message to your friends

René leaves prison – the videos

2011-10-15T09:48:00.000+13:00

.
..

“I am ready to continue fighting until I die,”
.
René González, the first of the Cuban Five freed in the United States, as he leaves Marianna prison in Florida, Friday, Oct. 7, 2011, 4:30 in the morning, in an emotional encounter with his daughters, his father Cándido and his brother Roberto.
.
“I am ready to continue fighting until I die,” were his first words after embracing and kissing his daughters, Ivette and Irmita, who filmed the moment that they met him as he left the prison.
.
The graphic testimony was transmitted on the Roundtable program of Cuban Television.
.
“My love, my treasure. How are you? … they say that I’m looking great. Your older daughter is here filming. They are both beautiful,” he told his wife Olga Salanueva by telephone — who did not have U.S. permission to travel to René’s side.
.
He added that on the eve of his release from the prison, he was confined to the “hole” (the punishment cell) by prison officials: “I remained in the hole the rest of the evening, I slept well and they woke me. I jumped up like a spring. Everything was very quick; from the time they opened the hole until I got out: 10 minutes,” René said.
.
One can also see René singing “El Mayor,” the song by Silvio Rodríguez, while he is with his daughters and brother Roberto in the car that takes him to where he will live in Florida, while he completes the three years of supervised release imposed by judge Joan Lenard.
.
“I am thinking of Gerardo,” says René, with the dawn of the morning light and the sounds of “El Necio,” in the car, also by Silvio.
.
The Cuban anti-terrorist activist, together with his lawyer Philip Horowitz, appeared before the officials assigned to supervise his case.
.

US Celebrities Ask Obama For The Immediate Return Of René González to Cuba

2011-10-12T06:49:00.001+13:00

Edward Asner, Jackson Browne, James Cromwell, Mike Farrell, Danny Glover, Susan Sarandon, Peter Coyote, Bonnie Raitt, Elliott Gould, and others send letter to President Obama for the safety and immediate return of one of the Cuban 5, René González to Cuba.

.
Several concerned US actors and artists sent a letter today to President Obama asking for René González's immediate and safe return to his wife and family in Cuba. The letter is part of the Actors and Artists United for the Freedom of the Cuban 5 campaign.
.
González was arrested in 1998 and sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment on conspiracy to act as a non-registered foreign agent. On Oct. 7th González was released after serving his sentence, but a South Florida district judge denied his return to his homeland. "Not only is the order to serve an additional 3 years of parole in the US extraordinary and punitive, it is the kind of gratuitous insult that further aggravates the unnecessary tension between the US and Cuba. It only adds injury to insult that the separation of this family be extended for another 3 years," states the letter.
.
During René Gonzalez's 13 years in federal prison, the US government denied his wife Olga Salanueva, entry visas to visit him. The letter to President Obama points out that if González remains in the US, his life will be in danger from organizations whose entire mission is premised on the violent overthrow of the Cuban government. The actors and artists ask President Obama; "How, sir, can Mr. Gonzalez's safety be ensured in the middle of an environment that generates so much insecurity?"
.
President Obama recently made a statement that he is open to new relations with Cuba. In the letter the actors and artists responded, "Please know that allowing René González to be reunited with his wife, daughters and parents in Cuba would be the kind of humane gesture that would set the stage for just such a development."
.

read the letter

Actor Mike Farrell reacting when he heard the news said, "I pray that President Obama understands the injustice that has been done to René González and others of the Cuban 5 in the name of political gamesmanship. There is no benefit to the United States in the continued persecution of these men, there is only harm. Mr. González has served a wrongful sentence and should now be allowed to rejoin his family rather than be subject to continued persecution, harassment and serious danger by being forced to remain, during his period of parole, among those who wish him harm. If political retribution is allowed to pervert the justice system, what hope is there for our society?"
.
US actors and artists signed on to the letter includes; Edward Asner, Jackson Browne, Peter Coyote, James Cromwell, Hector Elizondo, Mike Farrell, Richard Foos, Max Gail, Danny Glover, Elliott Gould,Si Kahn, Greg Landau, Francisco Letelier, Esai Morales, Michael O'Keefe, Bonnie Raitt, Susan Sarandon, Pete Seeger, Betty and Stanley K. Sheinbaum, Andy Spahn and Haskell Wexler.
.
Formed in September, 2010, on the 12th anniversary of the incarceration of Gerardo Hernandez, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez, René González and Ramon Labañino,
.
Actors and Artists United for the Freedom of the Cuban 5, sent a letter to President Obama asking for their release. In April, 2011, they sent a letter to President Jimmy Carter commending him for his recent visit to the island, calling for improved relations with Cuba and for the release of the Cuban 5. This campaign, co-chaired by actor and activist Danny Glover and Ed Asner, is part of the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5's projects, which advocate for the release from US prisons and safe return home for these five men, known in their country as heroes for preventing acts of terrorism against Cuba.

René - released but still not free

2011-10-10T07:00:00.000+13:00

.After 13 long years of injustice, René González, one of the Five Cuban anti terrorist fighters, was released early Friday from the Marianna prison in Florida.
.
This is a step towards his freedom but he still is being denied the embrace of his wife Olga Salanueva.
.
And he will not be able to be received by the people of Cuba who love him and are demanding his immediate and complete freedom along with his four brothers.
.

"If they say that he is a danger to that society what is the reason to keep him there?"

As if 13 years was not enough, now the US government is heaping an additional punishment on René and his family by ordering him to serve 3 more years of supervised probation in the US. This is not only inhumane but puts René's life in serious danger.

.
The US government from now on will be responsible for anything that happens to René.
.
We have to ask Obama to identify and put a restraining order on terrorist groups and individuals who operate freely in Miami so that they cannot come near René. After all part of Judge Lenard's conditions for his release was that René could not associate, or be in the vicinity of terrorists; the very people he was monitoring. During René's "supervised" probation the question has to be who will be supervising the terrorists?
.
One of the excuses being used to keep René González in the US is that he could be a danger to the United States. They could remedy that easily by sending him home. This morning Olga summed up how ridiculous this argument is by saying. "If they say that he is a danger to that society what is the reason to keep him there?"
.

.Now is the time to focus our efforts to move the sky and the earth to demand that Obama immediately release René Gonzálezto his family and his homeland.
.
.READ
Injustice Against Rene Denounced
.
Sign Petition
Stop the persecution of René González: let him return to Cuba!

October 5th for the Cuban Five

2011-10-05T11:18:00.000+13:00

Since last January people from all over the world have been contacting the White House on the 5th of each month to demand President Obama to immediately free the Cuban 5 political prisoners held in US prisons.

Also, on that same day a number of committees have established having regular events and demonstrations to keep the struggle for their freedom loud and alive.

This month holds particular significance because on October 7th, René González, one of the Cuban 5 Patriots, will be released from the US prison in Marianna Florida after serving out his 13 year sentence. The confinement of Rene in a federal prison will end but due to a capricious decision of the US government he will not be able to return home to his family. South Florida district Judge Lenard rejected a petition submitted by Rene Gonzalez that would have allowed him to return to his wife, his daughters and his parents. In an unprecedented ruling he has been ordered to remain in the United States on probation for three years.

On the 5th of October, contact President Barack Obama demanding not just the immediate return of René Gonzalez to his homeland but to free all of the Cuban 5!

TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE WHITE HOUSE

By phone: 00 1 202-456-1111

By Fax: 00 1 202-456-2461

To send an electronic message

TOGETHER WE CAN DO IT!!

Justice for the Five once again denied

2011-09-30T10:08:00.000+13:00

..
Granma Editorial

René González Sehwerert, one of Cuba's five anti-terrorist heroes, will be released from prison October 7 having served in full the brutal and unjust sentence he was given.

On September 16, South Florida District Judge Joan A. Lenard denied a motion submitted by René on February 16, 2011 requesting that he be allowed to return to Cuba and be reunited with his wife, daughters and parents. He has been unjustly obliged to remain in the United States for three years of probation.

This decision, after 13 years of incarceration, constitutes a deliberate additional penalty, motivated by the same desires for political revenge which characterized the original judicial procedures which led to the conviction of the Five in 2001. Standing behind this decision is the United States government which for years has supported terrorism against Cuba, protecting organizations and individuals – within its territory – responsible for the deaths, suffering, pain and suffering of thousands of Cubans.

Since 1998, Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González and René González have been subjected to unusually cruel and degrading treatment. They have withstood pressure and abuse, including separation from their loved ones, with admirable integrity, never wavering in their principles, character or behavior as model prisoners.
.
Read the rest
.
Paying Off Miami Journalists
.

On March 3, 2011, shortly before passing away, renowned lawyer Leonard Weinglass presented the District Court of South Florida with a MEMORANDUM supporting the motion to vacate, set aside or correct judgment and sentence against Antonio Guerrero.
.
Read extracts from the memorandum

URGENT ACTION

2011-09-23T07:05:00.002+12:00

Call President Obama and Demand René Gonzalez be returned to CUBA!

On October 7th, René Gonzalez, of the Cuban 5, will be released on parole after 13 years of unjust incarceration. The U.S. government is forcing him to serve his three year probation in Florida; where he has no family and will be at the mercy of the hostile community of right-wing Cuban Americans that helped secure his incarceration.

The Popular Education Project to Free the Cuba 5 is calling on all Cuban 5 supporters to pick the telephone and call President Barack Obama and demand that René Gonzalez be returned to Cuba, where he belongs.

Tell your family and friends to call!

Forward this message out to your entire Address book, post on twitter, Facebook, or Google +!

Thousands of phone calls can make a difference!

Call President Obama at
202-456-1111 and leave a message!

.
Background
Judge Lenard’s Cruel and Bizarre Decision against René

A Cruel and Bizarre Decision

2011-09-21T07:22:00.000+12:00

On Friday, September 16, a federal district court judge made a bizarre ruling concerning one of the Cuban Five defendants who completes his jail sentence on October 7. Judge Joan Lenard ruled that René Gonzalez, who has already served thirteen years in a federal penitentiary for being an unregistered agent of the Cuban government, will be forced for the next three years to live in Miami on what is called “supervised release.”

Mr. Gonzalez had asked the Court to allow him to return home to Cuba to be with his wife, Olga, and his two daughters, Ivette and Irma. Several years ago, the Department of State decided to permanently bar Olga from getting a visa to come to the United States. She has been able to visit her husband only once, during the last thirteen years. A cruel and unusual punishment for any prisoner.

Although born in the United States, Mr. González grew up in Cuba. He returned to this country—at the behest of the Cuban government—to monitor the activities of extremist groups in Miami who were carrying out terrorist attacks against Cuba’s civilian population from their safe havens in southern Florida. But because he did not register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and inform the Department of Justice of his activities here, he violated the law. The Miami-based terrorists he was monitoring, conversely, have never been prosecuted and remain free and protected in Miami.

Read the rest

Standing with the Cuban 5 Until Victory

2011-09-13T09:52:00.000+12:00

Thirteen years is a long time; many things have changed and others things can change as well, but what will never change is the certainty of our victory and the gratitude of the Five to people from all over the world who have given us their solidarity.
.
Gerardo Hernandez
September 12, 2011
Victorville Penitentiary

For the thousands of supporters of the Cuban 5 around the world it is hard to even fathom that yesterday marked the 13th year of the imprisonment of Antonio, Fernando, Gerardo, Rene and Ramon. There is no way this colossal injustice could continue except if they were being held by a government that had something to hide when it comes to terrorism.

There could be no bigger example of the hypocrisy of the US government's so called war on terror than the case of these 5 brave and honourable men who are true anti terrorist fighters and protectors of their people. Today they stand just as strong in their principles of defending their homeland as they did in 1998 when the FBI arrested them.

Our struggle, that continues to demand the immediate release of the Cuban 5, has grown over these 13 years and more layers of people are becoming familiar with their case. A big reason the corporate media in the US continues to try and bury information about the Cuban 5 is because if the truth be told public opinion would join the chorus calling for an end to this injustice and for them to be set free to go back home to their loved ones. We know that like any protracted struggle their ultimate freedom will be the results of the expanding solidarity movement supporting their cause.

This past year there has been an increase in events and actions on behalf of the Five around the world. An example of this is the 5 for the 5 campaign where on the 5th of each month people from all over the world contact the White House demanding their release providing a regular flow of pressure on Obama. With one stroke of the pen he could end this travesty and until he does the faxes, emails, letters and calls will continue to roll in. A new film by Saul Landau documenting half a century of hostilities against Cuba called, Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up was released this year and opened to a full house at Brava Theatre in San Francisco. Already over 1000 copies have been sold and are now being shown in meetings, churches, theatres and film festivals all over the US and abroad. This movie is about the five and clearly demonstrates the justification for the actions of the Cuban 5 to monitor anti Cuba terrorism in Miami.

A great deal of our inspiration comes from the Cuban 5 themselves and their families. Over the years the wives, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters have travelled the world with tireless dignity speaking to world leaders, parliaments and solidarity groups about the case. And the Cuban 5 themselves are not just waiting in their cells but are active participants in their own struggle by networking through mail, sending out solidarity messages and awards, and expressing themselves through art that they create despite the adverse conditions they are in.

Gerardo's exhibit Humor from my Pen, which consists of 30 poignant political cartoons, began touring this in the U.S. year and will open in Australia later this year. Antonio's tour of his prison created paintings entitled From my Altitude has been travelling now for 2 years where it has been seen by large audiences in dozens of US cities. Ramón and Rene continue to write poetry and Fernando is now expressing himself through paintings as well.

As we enter into the 14th year of this injustice we want to be clear that we will stand with the Five until victory

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Updated on Cuban Five Case

2011-09-12T09:23:00.000+12:00

Cuban Permanent Representative to the UN Rodolfo Reyes sent a letter to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay updating her on the current situation of five Cuban antiterrorists unjustly held in US prisons.

The Cuban Five —Gerardo Hernández, Ramon Labañino, Fernando González, Antonio Guerrero and René González—were given harsh sentences ranging from 15 years to consecutive life terms plus 15 years in a trial plagued with irregularities and held in a highly biased Miami court.

The five Cubans had been 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 US authorities they were arrested and have been in jail ever since. The five men have been imprisoned for close to 13 years now.

Cuban Ambassador Rodolfo Reyes said that the letter provides an update of the situation of the five men, with emphasis on the case of Gerardo Hernandez, who has recently filed a habeas corpus appeal.

Reyes noted that Opinion No. 19/2005 of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention described the case of the Cuban Five as arbitrary.

The Cuban ambassador also sent letters to several UN Human Rights Commission officials, including the Special Rapporteurs on the independence of judges and lawyers, on torture and other cruel treatment, and from the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

(Source )

Reporters for Hire

Checkout the evidence uncovered by the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five that the U.S. Government has covertly paid tens of thousands of dollars to Miami journalists working for major media outlets who, during the federal government's politically-charged Miami prosecution, published often incendiary stories about Cuba and the five Cubans.

September 5 for the Five

2011-09-05T11:00:00.000+12:00

As we build the pressure on the Obama Administration to free the five heroes of Cuba this September 5 we have to remember that September has a special meaning in the struggle against terrorism.

September 4th marks the 14th anniversary of the brutal terrorist bombing of the Copacabana Hotel in Havana that ended the life of Fabio Di Celmo, the Italian youth who today would have been 46 years old, the same age as Gerardo Hernandez. If the US government would of stopped the plans of international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, who organized and paid mercenaries to plant bombs in Cuban hotels, Fabio would be alive today and the Cuban 5 would never have had to go to the US.

It was 35 years ago on September 21, 1976 that a terrorist bomb destroyed the life of former Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs Orlando Letelier and his North American secretary Ronny Moffit on a Washington DC street. The US freed two of the terrorists responsible for this bombing after only 7 years.

While protecting and sheltering terrorists the US continues to incarcerate the anti terrorist Cuban 5. Five innocent men who have now served 13 years of unjust punishment for defending their country.

This September 5th, once again, we ask President Obama to Free the Cuban 5 and to extradite the criminal Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela the country that has asked for his extradition for 6 years.

TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE WHITE HOUSE

By phone: 00 1 202-456-1111

By Fax: 00 1 202-456-2461

To send an electronic message
.


Will the U.S. hear Gerardo's arguments?

click to visit

The coming weeks critical for Gerardo

2011-08-18T07:54:00.000+12:00

Statement from the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5

The coming weeks will be critical in the upcoming closure of the Habeas Corpus process for Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, condemned unjustly to two life sentences. The US government continues to deny Gerardo his basic right to be heard by the justice system.

On April 25, U.S. prosecutor Caroline Heck Miller asked the federal court of Miami to reject his extraordinary Habeas Corpus appeal. On that occasion we asked: "What does the prosecution fear by letting Gerardo exercise his right to present his arguments to the court and request alleged evidence against him?"

New evidence has emerged that the Miami journalists who demonized the five in their coverage leading up to and during the trial, thus creating bias and influencing the jury, received a quarter of a million dollars from the U.S. government. This obstruction of justice by the government is one of the arguments Gerardo plans to present at the hearing.

For the past 12 days the Cuban Parliament has denounced the U.S. government's denial of access to legal documents related to his case as arbitrary actions against Gerardo.

Together with 10 Nobel Prize winners, thousands of artists and intellectuals, parliaments and governments (paraphrasing recent statements by Obama) we say: It is time that Gerardo Hernández and his four compañeros are freed. Even if just for humanitarian reasons, after 15 years of unjust imprisonment, it is time that the Five be freed. We do not expect something different from U.S. courts, but we believe that the U.S. government should make the right decision to allow the return of the Five to their families.

Obama can use his executive powers outlined in the U.S. Constitution to liberate the Five. It's time for him to listen to international demands and end this injustice.

Please send telegrams, faxes and e-mail to the White House and all U.S. embassies based in your country demanding an end to the illegal and arbitrary treatment against Gerardo Hernández Nordelo.

To send an e-mail message to President Obama visit

Phone 00 1 202 456-1111

Fax 00 1 202 456-2461

Address
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20500
EE.UU.

International solidarity will continue until the Five return to their homeland and their families.
.

Take action for the FIVE

2011-08-05T09:39:00.001+12:00

This 5th of August, make a call, or send a fax, or an e-mail, or a telegram to the white house to demand President Obama free the Cuban 5 imprisoned in the United States for defending their homeland.

Let's continue to demand President Obama to make use of the rights conferred upon him by the US Constitution, as a lawyer, as a father, as a son, as a husband, and as a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, to END THIS COLOSSAL INJUSTICE AND TO FREE THE 5 NOW!!!

Let’s break the wall of silence by organizing all types of activities every month until the five return to their homeland and their families.

TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE WHITE HOUSE

By phone:
00 1 202-456-1111

By Fax:
00 1 202-456-2461

To send an electronic message to the White House

To send a telegram

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20500
EE.UU.

Imprisonment of Cuban Five and US Blockade Arbitrary, Brazilian

2011-07-15T09:42:00.006+12:00

Economic blockade and the imprisonment of five Cuban anti-terrorist fighters

‘arbitrary and as one of the most outrageous violations of individual rights’.

The economic blockade of the United States against Cuba and the imprisonment of five Cuban anti-terrorist fighters in the U.S. were described in Brasilia as arbitrary and as one of the most outrageous violations of individual rights.

After a debate about the Cuban situation, the Human Rights and Justice Commission of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil unanimously passed a motion demanding U.S. President Barack Obama the immediate release of the five Cubans who have been imprisoned for almost 13 years now for screening Florida-based anti-Cuba groups in an effort to prevent criminal acts against the Cuban people.

The document also demands the end of Washington’s economic, financial and commercial blockade against Cuba.

Prensa Latina said the debate was promoted by the Cuba-Brazil Parliamentary Front and the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) as part of a series of seminars taking place in different cities of the country.

The motion was presented by the Jose Marti Cultural Association of Rio Grande do Sul following the Obama’s recent visit to that country, in March.

Senator Vanessa Grazziotin, president of the Cuba-Brazil Parliamentary Front, criticized the distortion of the Cuban reality by the so-called Brazilian mainstream media.

Deputy Fernando Ferro, the Front’s first vice president, pointed out that the political changes underway in Latin America are inspired by the Cuban Revolution, while Senator Lidice da Mata, second vice president, described the U.S. siege against Cuba as mean.

Source

EU Deputies: Free the Cuban Five

2011-07-13T17:14:00.000+12:00

Eurodeputies from different countries, led by Spaniard Miguel Angel Martinez and Willy Meyer, demanded justice on Tuesday for five Cuban antiterrorist fighters imprisoned in the United States.

In a letter sent to U.S. President Barack Obama, the euro deputies said it was not the first time that members of the European Parliament (EP) have called for justice for the Cuban Five, as they are known internationally.

The letter talked about the case of Antonio Guerrero, René González, Ramon Labañino, Gerardo Hernández and Fernando González (The Five),who are serving long prison sentences in the United States for preventing terrorist activities against Cuba.

In the letter, the European deputies urge Obama to use his presidential prerogatives to end this injustice and to free the Five after more than 12 years in prison.

Martinez, a socialist and president of the Cuba Friendship Group, and Meyer, a member of the European Unitary Left, also referred to the issue of visits for the Five in prison.

They joined 25 other members of paraliament worldwide who say it is unjust of Washington to deny visas to two of the men's wives so that they can visit their husbands.

The letter underlines the international campaign around the case, join by important organizations, 10 Nobel lauureates and former U.S. President Carter.

Source

'Humor From My Pen'

2011-06-24T11:18:00.002+12:00

Celebrating Life and Resistance of the Cuban 5 in Los Angeles

.
The SPARC Gallery, in the old jail of the city of Venice California, opened its doors on Saturday June 4th to give life to the political cartoons of Gerardo Hernandez, one of the Cuban Five. Hernandez created the cartoons during long years of imprisonment in maximum security prisons in the United States.
.

Five for the Five

2011-06-04T11:48:00.000+12:00

This Sunday June 5th, make a call, or send a fax, or an e-mail, or a telegram to the WHITE HOUSE to demand President Obama free the Cuban 5 imprisoned in the United States for defending their homeland.

Let's continue to demand President Obama to make use of the rights conferred upon him by the US Constitution, as a lawyer, as a father, as a son, as a husband, and as a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, to END THIS COLOSSAL INJUSTICE AND TO FREE THE 5 NOW!!!

FORWARD THIS INFORMATION TO A FRIEND SO HE OR SHE CAN JOIN THIS CAMPAIGN

Let's break the wall of silence by organizing all types of activities every month until the five return to their homeland and their families.

TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE WHITE HOUSE

By phone: 00 1 202-456-1111 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 00 1 202-456-1111 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

By Fax: 00 1 202-456-2461

To send an electronic message

To send a telegram

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20500
EE.UU.

ALSO this month, Gerardo Hernandez and Ramon Labañino will be spending their birthdays once again behind bars, far away from their love ones. Geardo's birthday is on June 4th and Ramon on June 9th.

If you wish to send them messages please write to the following addresses;

Gerardo Herandez
#58739-004
USP Victorville
P.O. Box 5300
Adelanto, CA 92301

To write to Ramon, on the envelop write the following:
Luis Medina
#58734-004
FCI Jesup
2680, 301 South
Jesup, GA 31599

Fighting for Media Truth

2011-05-07T10:29:00.000+12:00

Alarcón calls on the revolutionary press to unite effort

Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada, member of the Political Bureau and president of the National Assembly of People's Power, has called on the revolutionary press to unite around cases like that of the Cuban Five, unjustly incarcerated in the United States.

"Uniting efforts against the current media wall of silence concerning issues that are not convenient to major interests is an obligation of the revolutionary press, he affirmed, summing up a panel on fighting for media truth in the case of the five Cuban anti-terrorists.

Organized by the Cuban Journalists Union (UPEC) at the José Martí Institute of Journalism, the panel included Gloria de la Riva of the U.S. National Committee to Free the Cuban Five and Alicia Jrapko, coordinator of the International Committee to Free the Cuban Five.

De la Riva recounted her experiences on working on the San Francisco Chronicle, where she unsuccessfully attempted to publish an article on the legal situation of Gerardo Hernández, René González, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero and René González, internationally known as the Cuban Five.

Alicia Jrapko spoke of the difficulties confronted by solidarity with Cuba organizations when approaching the issue of the island’s anti-terrorists, due to the prevailing ignorance about them and the truth around their case.

Tubal Paéz, UPEC president, recalled that the manner of lying currently wielded by the U.S. press about the Five is the same that it has utilized against the 50 years of the Cuban Revolution.

REMEMBER!

2011-05-04T15:55:00.000+12:00

THIS THURSDAY May 5th, make a call, or send a fax, or an e-mail, or a telegram to the WHITE HOUSE to demand President Obama free the Cuban 5 imprisoned in the United States for defending their homeland.

Let's continue to demand President Obama to make use of the rights conferred upon him by the US Constitution, as a lawyer, as a father, as a son, as a husband, and as a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, to END THIS COLOSSAL INJUSTICE AND TO FREE THE 5 NOW!!!

DIFFERENT WAYS TO REACH THE WHITE HOUSE
.

By phone: 00 1 202-456-1111

By Fax: 00 1 202-456-2461

Send an electronic message

Send a telegram
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20500
EE.UU.

This collective action will only be effective if people from the US, and all over the world, call, or send fax, e-mails or telegrams, on the 5th of each month. If you cannot reach anybody by phone, please leave a message.

TOGETHER WE CAN DO IT!!!

Victims Of Terrorism Relatives Committee Condemn impunity enjoyed by terrorists in the U.S.

2011-04-18T08:06:00.000+12:00

We will initiate new legal proceedings
against the terrorist Luis Posada Carriles,
affirmed Camilo Rojo, during a Havana
press conference. Photo: José M. Correa

The committee of relatives of victims who died in the 1976 sabotage of a Cuban airliner over Barbados again demanded that the President of the United States, Barack Obama, initiate the prosecution of Luis Posada Carriles as a terrorist or respond to Venezuela’s request that he be extradited to face charges in that country.

In the name of the more than 5,000 victims of violent attacks on Cuba planned from within U.S. territory, the committee members sent a second letter to the leader - delivered yesterday to the U.S. Interests Section in Havana – in which they demanded justice and denounced the double standard inherent in U.S. policy when it comes to terrorism.

They asserted that the farcical trial held in El Paso, Texas, which this week found Posada innocent, makes even more obvious the injustice of holding five Cuban anti-terrorist fighters in U.S. prisons for defending their people.

"We will not cease in our efforts demanding that the United States government honor international treaties and United Nations resolutions on terrorism which it has signed," the committee stated in the text.

Camilo Rojo, a member of the committee, condemned the failure of the U.S. government to act when it has the necessary evidence to prosecute Posada Carriles as a terrorist.

Giustino di Celmo, father of Fabio, who was killed in a 1997 bombing in Havana, said with emotion that the confessed murderer not only mocks the victims of terrorism but the world’s honest men and women, as well.

Livia Rodríguez Delis/Granma

U.S. Actors and Artists thank former President Jimmy Carter

2011-04-13T14:04:00.001+12:00

"I believe that there is no reason to keep
the Cuban 5 imprisoned, there were doubts
in the U.S. courts and also among human
rights organizations in the world. Now,
they have been in prison 12 years and
I hope that in the near future they will
be released to return home."-

Former President Jimmy Carter.

After hearing former President Carter call for the release of the Cuban 5, twenty U.S. Actors and Artists United for the Freedom of the Cuban 5 sent a letter thanking him for demanding their release and for improved relations with Cuba."I believe that there is no reason to keep the Cuban 5 imprisoned, there were doubts in the U.S. courts and also among human rights organizations in the world. Now, they have been in prison 12 years and I hope that in the near future they will be released to return home."- Former President Jimmy Carter.

The actors and artists who signed on to the letter include: Edward Asner, Co-Chair, Danny Glover, Co-Chair, Jackson Browne, James Cromwell, Mike Farrell, Richard Foos, Elliott Gould, Chrissie Hynde, Graham Nash, Bonnie Raitt, Susan Sarandon, Pete Seeger, Martin Sheen, Betty & Stanley K. Sheinbaum, Andy Spahn, Oliver Stone, Esai Morales, Francisco Letelier and Haskell Wexler.

"Typically, President Carter moves

forward with courage. Just as typically,
he will be criticized by those who lack it."

Mike Farrell

Carter, invited by Cuban President Raul Castro, on behalf of The Carter Center, is the first US President in 50 years to set foot on Cuban soil. He ended his three-day trip on March 30th by also calling to remove Cuba from the U.S. State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism, to lift the US blockade now having been imposed on Cuba for half a century, and to remove all restrictions imposed on its citizens regarding travel to Cuba. To watch the Press Conference visit www.thecuban5.org.

"Typically, President Carter moves forward with courage. Just as typically, he will be criticized by those who lack it." - Mike Farrell

The Cuban 5 are Gerardo Hernandez Nordelo, Antonio Guerrero Rodriguez, Fernando Gonzalez Llort, Ramon Labañino Salazar, and Rene Gonzalez Sehwerert, serving over 12 years in US prisons for simply trying to protect their country from terrorism.


"Your wisdom and courage in calling for the release of the Cuban 5 provides support for President Obama to correct this injustice and issue Executive Clemency for the Cuban 5 so they can return to their families." Danny Glover

The actors and artists also expressed their gratitude for Carter's visit and encouraged subsequent discussions with President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"Your wisdom and courage in calling for the release of the Cuban 5 provides support for President Obama to correct this injustice and issue Executive Clemency for the Cuban 5 so they can return to their families." - Danny Glover, Co-Chair

And certainly, until their release, the US government should grant regular visas in a timely manner, to their family members to visit them.

The 5th of April for the Cuban 5

2011-04-03T17:22:00.000+12:00

The recent visit to Cuba by former US President Jimmy Carter, renews our hope. His positive statements calling for the freedom of the Cuban 5 and the right of family visits during an interview with Cuban television constitutes an encouraging sign for our struggle. (Links to Carter, interview, press conference and an article are below)

In addition, his statements have appeared in media around the world, for many of these news outlets this marks the first time they have mentioned the Cuban 5.

But we cannot sit still while the 5 continue to be imprisoned and think it is over.

We need to take the visit of Carter as an opportunity to increase the struggle for the freedom of the Cuba 5 to all corners of the planet.

Carter: "Well, in my private talks to
President Bush and also with
President Obama, I have urged
the release of these prisoner

In the messages we are all sending to President Obama this month, on April 5th, we should mention the statements of Former President Jimmy Carter and the last report from Amnesty International of October 2010 asking President Obama to free the 5 Cuban Heroes through a presidential order.

IT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER THAT NEXT TUESDAY APRIL 5TH, YOU MAKE A CALL, OR SEND A FAX, OR AN E-MAIL, OR A TELEGRAM to the WHITE HOUSE to demand President Obama free the Cuban 5 imprisoned in the United States for defending their homeland.

Besides making phone calls, sending faxes, telegrams or e-mails to the White House, we would like to continue the proposal to make the fifth of each month a day of collective actions to demand Obama immediately free our 5 brothers. Lets organize rallies, demonstrations, vigils, public events, marches, etc in front of US embassies of each country.

Lets demand President Obama make use of the rights conferred upon him by the US Constitution, as a lawyer, as a father, as a son, as a husband, and as a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, to END THIS COLOSSAL INJUSTICE AND TO FREE THE 5 NOW!!!

DIFFERENT WAYS TO REACH THE WHITE HOUSE

By phone: 001 202-456-1111

By Fax: 001 202-456-2461

To send an electronic message write to: HTTP://WWW.WHITEHOUSE.GOV/CONTACT

To send a telegram

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20500
EE.UU.

This collective action will only be effective if people from the US, and all over the world, call, or send fax, e-mails or telegrams, on the 5th of each month. If you cannot reach anybody by phone, please leave a message.

Together we can do it!!!

Carter Backgrounders
> Interview
> Press Conference
> Article

In memory of Leonard Weinglass.

2011-03-25T08:14:00.002+13:00

Leonard Weinglass (1933-2011)
criminal defense lawyer and civil rights activist

Not that long ago Len came to visit me and we worked for several hours preparing for the next step of my appeal. I noticed at the time that he was tired. I was worried with his advanced age that he was driving alone after a long trip from New York. The weather was bad and the roads from the airport up to Victorville wind through the mountains surrounding the high desert. I mentioned my concern to him but he did not pay it any attention. That was the way he was, nothing stopped him.

When we would meet the same thing would always happen. At some point in our conversation, while listening to him talk, my mind would separate from his words and I would focus on the person. I would realize that here is this great man, the tremendous lawyer, the legendary fighter for justice, right here in front of me. I told him that I had seen images of him in documentaries on TV dedicating himself to important legal cases that he had participated in from a very young age. With pride I would tell people watching, "that is the lawyer of the Five". It did not matter how much I read or heard about Len I knew through his humility and modesty that there was a lot I still had to discover about this man who had dedicated his life to his profession.

Len always insisted that our case, like the others that he had dedicated lots of his time to, was essentially a political one. He cautioned us from the start that this struggle would be long and difficult. His experience with the "system" had taught him that. For our part, beyond the professional relationship we had, we always thought of him as one compañero in the battle for justice.

Len leaves us at an important moment, but he leaves us prepared to carry on the path. On more than one occasion he expressed his admiration and respect for the other lawyers on our legal team, and I think that he has left confident that our case is in good hands.

Like other people, who during these years have accompanied us in our struggle to make justice prevail, he will not be with us to see the inevitable triumph. We are confident that day will arrive and to Len, and to all the others, we will pay them a well deserved tribute in our homeland.

On behalf of the Cuban Five, and our families, and from the millions of Cubans, and brothers and sisters from all over the world who trusted and admired him, we send our most sincere condolences to Len's family and friends.

Leonard Weinglass, Presente!

Gerardo Hernandez Nordelo
USP Victorville, California
March 23, 2011

Leonard Weinglass - as short bio

Tributes to Leonard

Caravan for the Five in Hialeah

2011-03-17T08:39:00.000+13:00

More than 50 cars participated last Saturday in a Caravan in Hialeah, Florida, brought together by the organizations of the Alianza Martiana.

The Caravan was organized to demand the immediate freedom of the Cuban Five, and to demand trials from the extreme right-wing Cuban-American terrorists, responsible for so many odious crimes.

The caravan covered more than 15 miles on the major streets of the city of Hialeah. All the cars had their lights on, horns blowing, Cuban and American flags flying, and displayed signs with slogans on their sides.

The organizations continue to promise that they won't cease such efforts in their common determination to see the Cuban Five free.

In turn, extreme right-wing Cuban-American organizations organized counter-demonstrations on several days in support of the terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, but only managed to assemble twelve shouting people.
.

Source

Anti-Terrorist Fighters Arbitrarily Held, Reaffirms Cuba

2011-03-09T08:51:00.000+13:00

Cuba again denounced before the UN Human Rights Council on Monday the arbitrary detention of five anti-terrorist Cuban fighters held in US prisons for 12 years now.

Speaking during a debate involving the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Working Group on Forced Dissapearances, Cuban delegate Juan Antonio Quintanilla highlighted attention given by the Group to his opinion 19/2005 regarding the case of the five anti-terrorist Cubans, whose detention was described as arbitrary.

He said that far from taking into consideration the Group's opinion, Washington maintained its actions of political manipulation.

"Now they are arguing that the apellate court had reached the conclusion that the defendants could be brought to an impartial trial in Miami and, in fact they were," he said.

"It was a proceeding full of irregularities and arbitrariness and those arguments are baseless," he said.

He said that their trial was politically motivated and held in a totally hostile venue; with the defendants denied access to 80 percent of the documents used to convict them and also denied regular contacts with their lawyers.

The Cuban delegate recalled that three prestigious judges of the Atlanta Court, in charge of handling the case, requested an overturn of the trial and a revocation of their sentences.

Quintanilla recalled that exactly a year later, the same Court ratified those sentences in a divided voting; it also refused to hold a new trial and ordered sending the case to the panel again to consider the remaining aspects.

"That unusual ruling confirms that the proceeding against The Five has not been assumed from a law perspective. They are arbitrarily held political prisoners subject to cruel, unfair conditions," he said.

Quintanilla argued that processes of re-sentencing three of The Five put forward by the US Government in its response to the Working Group represent a disguised solution to an uncolcealed reality.

"The only fair re-sentencing would be the immediate release of The Five, who are innocent," he said.

He also warned that the US Government is asking for the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to disallow the issue and eliminate it from its list.

"Cuba rejects such a possibility. The US authorities have not adopted the necessary measures to put an end to the situation that determined the conclusion 19/2005 of the Group," he said.

(Prensa Latina)

Five for the Five

2011-03-03T07:40:00.001+13:00

This Saturday March 5th, LETS CALL, OR SEND FAXES, OR SEND E-MAILS, OR TELEGRAMS to the WHITE HOUSE to demand President Obama free the 5 Cuban Patriots imprisoned in the United States for defending their homeland.

Lets demand President Obama to make use of the rights conferred upon him by the US Constitution, as a lawyer, as a father, as a son, as a husband, and as a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, to END THIS COLOSSAL INJUSTICE AND TO FREE THE 5 NOW!!!

DIFFERENT WAYS TO REACH THE WHITE HOUSE

By phone: (nz)1-202-456-1111

Note: Do to the fact that March 5th is Saturday leave a message on the answering machine.

By Fax: (nz)1-202-456-2461

Send an electronic message here

To send a telegram

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20500
EE.UU.

Besides making phone calls, sending faxes, telegrams or e-mails to the White House, we would like to propose to make the fifth of each month a day of collective actions to demand Obama immediately free our 5 brothers. Let’s organize rallies, demonstrations, vigils, public events, marches, etc in front of US embassies of each country.

U.S. Embassy, Wellington

29 Fitzherbert Tce,
Thorndon, Wellington
P.O. Box 1190, Wellington,
New Zealand

Tel.: (4) 462 6132
Tel.: (4) 462 6122
Fax: (4) 499 0490

Consulate-General of The United States of America
Level 3/23 Customs Street East
Auckland 1010

(09) 303 2724

Cuba Five: UN Secretary General asked to intercede

2011-02-17T16:32:00.000+13:00

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is visiting Peru, received two requests on Tuesday to intercede for the release of five Cuban antiterrorist fighters unjustly imprisoned in the United States.

The letters were sent to Ban by the Peruvian Solidarity Committee with the Five and the Peru-Cuba Parliamentary Friendship League, made up of lawmakers from several political tendencies.

The Five have been serving harsh and long sentences for more than 12 years, for crimes they did not commit.

Rene Gonzales, Ramon Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Gerardo Hernandez and Fernando Gonzalez are brave antiterrorist combatants that have devoted their lives to fight that scourge, the document states.

The statement, signed by the committee's president Gustavo Espinoza, states that the Five's imprisonment is a reprisal for worldwide opposition to the blockade and a way to punish Cuba.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

> USA: Amnesty International seeks review of case of the ‘Cuban Five’

> Amnesty International Public Statement

Raising Our Voices For The Five

2011-02-01T12:58:00.001+13:00

.
To friends from all over the world who believe in justice,

This Saturday February 5th, LETS CALL, OR SEND FAXES, OR SEND E-MAILS, OR TELEGRAMS to the WHITE HOUSE to demand President Obama free the 5 Cuban Patriots imprisoned in the United States for defending their homeland.

Lets demand President Obama to make use of the rights conferred upon him by the US Constitution, as a lawyer, as a father, as a son, as a husband, as a decent justice loving person, and as a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, to END THIS COLOSSAL INJUSTICE AND TO FREE THE 5 NOW!!!

DIFFERENT WAYS TO REACH THE WHITE HOUSE

By phone: 00 1 202-456-1111

Note: Do to the fact that February 5th is Saturday leave a message on the answering machine or if you want to talk to a person call the following Monday February 7th from 9 am to 5pm.

By Fax: 00 1 202-456-2461

To send an electronic message click here

To send a telegram

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20500
.

From International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5

Cuban Five Ad Published in the Miami

2011-01-28T13:44:00.000+13:00

The organisations that make up the Alianza Martiana placed an advert demanding the release of the Cuban Five in the print editions of The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald. It is the same advertisement demanding freedom for the Five that was placed on a billboard in Miami on Jan. 11.

America's infamous CIA agent turned terrorist

2011-01-18T22:23:00.001+13:00

.

RT America Covers the Posada Case

Cuban Five Billboard Erected in Miami

2011-01-13T08:47:00.002+13:00

Miami’s new ‘prime location’ Free the Five Billboard

The organizations of the Cuban community in Miami which make up the Alianza Martiana take pleasure in announcing that through their efforts since today there is a billboard in Miami demanding freedom for the Cuban Five.

The billboard’s dimensions are 6 x 12 meters, normal comercial billboard size, and is located in a busy location N.W. 37 Avenue and 4 Street, accross the street from the old Dog Races building.

Horizontally at the top of the billboard there are the photos of the Cuban Five: Gerardo, Ramón, Antonio, Fernando and René. Then, immediately below them there is a narrow Cuban flag. Then below the flag in big letters it reads: Free the Five. Below that line the name: Alianza Martiana.

This billboard is another example of the determination of these Cuban organizations in Miami to increase their efforts in demanding the freedom of the Five. This struggle in Miami is an integral part of the efforts of hundreds of other organizations in the rest of the United States and the world in a world wide effort demanding the Five’s freedom.

The billboard in Miami coincide with Luis Posada Carriles’ trial in El Paso, Texas, for minor transgresions that have nothing to do with henious terrorist acts committed by him against many innocent persons.

The Alianza Martiana will not cease in their efforts until the Five regain their freedom.

by Andrés Gómez

Unrelenting Pressure Essential

2010-12-31T09:22:00.003+13:00

Ricardo Alarcon

Alarcon: "Unrelentingly demanding that President Obama free the 5 will be our promise of the New Year"

Excerpt from a speech by the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Cuba, Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP)

"...with the power that the imperialists have they have been able to practice against the Cuban population the most prolonged genocide in history. In the meantime, they provide shelter for their worst assassins such as the one who lives in Miami and recently published an infamous book where he boasts of his crimes. At the same time they unjustly imprison 5 Cubans who sacrificed their lives to save their fellowmen from the evil deeds of terrorists that Washington has tacitly tolerated and granted impunity.

Now, the day is coming when the US has to respond to the petition of Habeas Corpus on behalf of Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, which is his last legal recourse. At the same time the media in Miami is miserably and cowardly slandering him and trying to deceive and diverting attention to confuse the solidarity movement. Other from the right of Cuba to defend its sovereignty, there was not any evidence produced to directly link Gerardo Hernandez to the alleged crime. At this juncture they are trying to trick us and make us forget that in May 2001, in a dramatic and urgent demand before the Court of Appeal, the prosecutors recognized that they were lacking proof of direct knowledge and requested to modify the original accusation presented against our compañero. Despite that, he was sentenced to an extraordinary amount of time for a crime that he did not commit or could have physically carried out. It is hardly possible to find a similarly planned injustice.

We have made a call to the solidarity movement and to all honest people to raise their voices in defense of Gerardo. The United States government knows he is innocent and that they never had any proof to accuse him. We have to demand that they free him now. To free him and also Ramon, Antonio, Fernando and René five Heroes of the Republic of Cuba. President Obama can and should free them right now, without conditions, immediately. All of them, and each and every one of the Five without exception.

Unrelentingly demanding that President Obama free them will be our promise for the New Year. Let the whole world continue to ask President Obama to free them. He knows that he can and that he should do it."

Source

ICAP, the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, marks is 50th anniversary this month

5 for the 5 on International Human Rights Day

2010-12-10T08:02:00.005+13:00

Starting today (December 10) the International Day of Human Rights, and for the next 5 consecutive days, supporters of the Cuban Five around the world have been asked to call, or send faxes, or send e-mails, or telegrams to the White House to demand that President Obama Free the 5 Cuban Patriots imprisoned in the United States for defending their homeland.

We are asking President Obama, as a lawyer, as a father, as a son, as a husband, as a decent justice loving person, and as a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, to END THIS COLOSSAL INJUSTICE AND TO FREE THE 5 NOW!!!

DIFFERENT WAYS TO REACH THE WHITE HOUSE

By phone: 00 1 202-456-1111
By Fax: 00 1 202-456-2461
By electronic message write to: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

This collective action will only be effective if people from the us, and all over the world, call, or send fax, e-mails or telegrams, from December 10 to December 14. If you cannot reach anybody by phone, please leave a message.

Together we can do it!!!

You can read and/or download the letter from the New Zealand Free the Cuban Five Committee here.

5 DAYS FOR THE 5

2010-12-07T10:21:00.000+13:00

Delegates from Latin America and Europe who were present at the 6th International Colloquium for the Freedom of the 5, in Holguin, proposed to put in place an immediate plan of action for December 10, International Day of Human Rights.

On that day, from 9AM to 5PM (US Eastern Time), and for 5 consecutive days lets call, or send faxes, or send e-mails, or telegrams to the White House to demand President Obama Free the 5 Cuban Patriots imprisoned in the United States for defending their homeland.

The significance of this day is that on December 10, 1948, the UN General Assembly approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and established that day as the International Day on Human Rights.

In a report issued on October 13, 2010, Amnesty International asked the US government to review the case of the Cuban 5 and to mitigate any injustice through the process of clemency or any other appropriate means, in case that new legal appeals do not provide a timely remedy.

President Obama has more than enough proof of the innocence of the Cuban 5, he knows that they never were a threat to US National Security, that they carried no guns and that their only objective was to monitor terrorist organizations based in Miami to avoid the death of more innocent people.

On the International Day of Human Rights, and making use of the rights conferred by the US Constitution, we are asking President Obama as a lawyer, as a father, as a son, as a husband, as a decent justice loving person, and as a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, to END THIS COLOSSAL INJUSTICE AND TO FREE THE 5 NOW!!!

DIFFERENT WAYS TO REACH THE WHITE HOUSE

By phone: 00 1 202-456-1111

By Fax: 00 1 202-456-2461

To send an electronic message write to:

HTTP://WWW.WHITEHOUSE.GOV/CONTACT

To send a telegram
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20500
EE.UU.

This collective action will only be effective if people from the us, and all over the world, call, or send fax, e-mails or telegrams, from December 10 to December 14. If you can not reach anybody by phone, please leave a message.

TOGETHER WE CAN DO IT!!!

International Meeting on Cuban Five Concludes

2010-11-30T09:09:00.001+13:00

.

6th International Colloquium for the

Freedom of the Cuban Five and against Terrorism

Participants at the 6^th International Colloquium

In a broad display of support for the Cuban 5, over 350 delegates from five continents converged in the eastern city of Holguin, Cuba, for the 6th International Colloquium.

Among the delegates at the Colloquium were several ex political prisoners including Anwar Jassin from Lebanon who was imprisoned for 17 years in an Israeli prison and Marco González a prisoner during the Chilean dictatorship of Pinochet. Lidia Donnini whose family member was disappeared during the Argentinean dictatorship was there as well as known personalities like Father Geoffrey Bottoms a catholic priest from the United Kingdom. Many intellectuals, elected officials, journalists and solidarity activists came to this increasingly popular yearly event.

Throughout the busy conference delegates got to interact with the people of Holguín. These activities included the planting of trees, a march and rally in front of the Monument to Ché, an evening with the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) and visits to various municipalities in the province of Holguin.

To end the event, a Final Declaration, reflecting a commitment to expand the scope of the work in the struggle to free the Cuban Five, was approved by all delegates.

The declarations concluding 15 points calls for:

1. The lobby actions with parliamentarians, unionists, religious groups, personalities and social movements must be expanded to include their peers in the US. Requests must be made for statements by the European, Central American and Latin American parliaments. The motions, resolutions and other documents adopted by parliaments must be utilized.

2. The report on the Five that was recently issued by Amnesty International must be used as reference at every desirable opportunity; in particular, copies of this report must be circulated to members of the US administration. The same applies to the decision made by the UN Group on Arbitrary Detentions.

3. International days of solidarity with the Five must continue to be organized for the period between September 12 (day of their arrest) and October 8th, with special regard paid to October 6th that was declared by Cuba as the Day of the Victims of Terrorism and June 8th as date when the Five were unjustly convicted as guilty.
.

4. New forms of communications must be designed to make sure that the truth reaches everyone and the case of the Five must be reported to the wide spectrum of the social sectors.

5. An international conference must be organized in Washington DC attended by American personalities, as well as representatives of other countries, to require President Obama the
following:

espect the will of the peoples around the world
Exercise his executive prerogatives and release the Five;
End the genocidal blockade against Cuba; and

6. Multiple visas must be demanded in favor of the family members; in particular, Olga Salanueva and Adriana Perez. Appeals must be lodged with the International Commission on the Right of Family Visitation and with Ms. Michelle Obama as a woman and as a mother. The initiatives and actions of the solidarity committees must be further encouraged.

7. Artists, personalities and opinion leaders must be encouraged to demand the release of the Five and their comments must be disseminated through the printed press, radio, television and the alternative media. Posters, postcards, telephone calls, printed materials, video presentations must be generated locally, nationally and internationally. A renowned songwriter must be identified for his readiness to write a song about the Five and singers from different parts of the world must be invited to play that song jointly.

8. Conferences with focus on the case of the Five must be organized in US and other universities with the attendance of recognized legal scholars.

9. Cubainformacion news service must be kept informed of the initiatives being implemented for mutual support in campaign operations.

10. The use of social networks; including but not limited to twitter, facebook, blogs, emails, community radio stations, TV stations and the Internet, must be intensified.

11. Demonstrations, concerts, theater plays, exhibitions and contests in denunciation of the case and solidarity with the Five must be organized in every possible cultural space. Sport events, such as marathons, as well as baseball and soccer matches, must be encouraged.

12. The US government must be denounced for its impunity and the double standard of its claim of fight against terror, while it harbors and protects international terrorists, such as Luis Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosch Avila. An end to impunity, the dismantle of Miami-based terror organizations, and the prosecution and punishment of the murderers of our people must be demanded.

13. The documentary film, "Cuba's Reasons," which features statements by international terrorist Francisco Chavez Abarca, must be made available as denunciation of the forms of terrorism against Cuba and our peoples.

14. The artworks on the Five, now available in electronic format, must be relied upon for their widespread circulation in different countries.

15. A call must be made on the forthcoming World Festival of Youth and Students, scheduled to be held in South Africa, to support the universal request to President Obama to release the Five Cuban Heroes immediately and unconditionally.

End the injustice! Free the Five now!

The full Declaration can be found here

Source Antiterroristas C5 International Committee

International Colloquium on the Cuban Five

2010-11-19T17:01:00.000+13:00

.
The Sixth International Colloquium for the release of the five Cuban antiterrorists unjustly imprisoned in the United States began on Thursday and will run through Sunday in the eastern Cuban city of Holguin.

Nearly 350 representatives from 56 countries, including social leaders and activists from Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and the United States, will meet to discuss and learn details of the case of Rene Gonzalez, Ramon Labañino, Gerardo Hernandez, Fernando Gonzalez and Antonio Guerrero —internationally known as the Cuban Five—, who were arrested and given harsh and unjust sentences for monitoring anti-Cuba extreme right-wing groups in South Florida that were planning and carrying out attacks against the island.

Amauri Torno, representative of the Cuban Friendship Institute (ICAP) in Holguin, told ACN that, for the first time, activists from Paraguay and Sri Lanka will participate in the event.

“International solidarity with the Cuban Five and general knowledge about their case grow every year and this colloquium plays an important role in that sense,” he noted.

The program of the event includes an interactive Internet forum to analyze the current state of the case and a march for solidarity and peace.

Click here to visit dedicated internet site (Spanish)

Source

Former Chief of Staff to US State Secretary Colin Powell Speaks Out

2010-11-17T16:58:00.000+13:00

Col. Lawrence Wilkerson (Ret.), former chief of staff to US Secretary of State Colin Powell from 2002-2005, expressed his disagreement with the incarceration of five Cuban antiterrorists unjustly imprisoned in the US since 1998. Speaking to Prensa Latina news agency, Wilkerson said he became aware of the case of Gerardo Hernandez,Ramon Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez —internationally known as the Cuban Five— while attending a lecture at Howard University in Washington DC.

“Ever since, my interest in their case grew and I think that it should also interest any American citizen concerned about justice as this case has set disturbing precedents,” he noted.

Wilkerson pointed out that the history of American jurisprudence registers similar cases in which justice has not been served. As an example, he mentioned the decision of the US Supreme Court in the case of Dred Scott, who filed a lawsuit in 1857 for his right to freedom. On that occasion, the Court overruled the demand in the interest of slavery.

The retired colonel said that not granting the Cuban Five a change of venue for the trial is a flagrant violation.

In addition, he described as “criminal behaviour” the decision by several US government officials to offer secret payments to journalists and other agents to create a biased and unfavourable public opinion against Gerardo, Ramon, Antonio, Fernando and Rene.

Finally, he added that if President Barack Obama were really interested in doing the right thing he would release the Cuban Five.

Source

Another visit with Gerardo Hernandez

2010-10-29T08:34:00.000+13:00

By Danny Glover and Saul Landau

We sat in the waiting room with eight other people, all black or Latino, while prison authorities “counted” -presumably - the prisoners. An hour and a half later we went through the “screening” machine while our shoes got x-rayed - the airport has moved to the prison; or was it vice versa?

A guard put an invisible stamp on our wrist; a heavy metal door opened electronically and we entered another room where a guard with a hand-held machine read the invisible stamp with some sci-fi machine. Another massive portal opened as if by dint of fairy magic and a guard barked orders to wait in the open-air passageway between the entrance building and the prison visiting room.

Inside, the well lit -- no passing secrets or contraband -- visiting room we went and a guard pointed to one of many small, cheap plastic tables with three plastic chairs - amidst the other plastic accommodations in the room. Inmates and families conversed. We waited. After 10 minutes, Gerardo Hernandez appeared, hugged Danny and thanked him for making the YouTube video explaining the case of the Cuban five.

Danny Glover-Gerardo Hernández-Saul Landau.

Then he hugged Saul who said he’d just returned from Cuba and brought greetings from people who knew him

“How are people responding to the new reforms?” he wanted to know, referring to the economic changes – re-opening some of the private sector shut down by the 1968 “revolutionary offensive” and partially reopened in the mid-1990s, and to the massive layoff (500,000) of “superfluous” state workers as Raul Castro called them.

More ...

Photo Exhibition on the Cuban Five Opens in Havana

2010-10-25T12:10:00.000+13:00

.
A traveling photographic exhibition on the five Cuban antiterrorists unjustly incarcerated in the United States, was opened today at the September 28 National Museum of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) in this capital.

The exhibition includes 13 billboards, and reviews on the life of René González, Fernando González, Antonio Guerrero, Gerardo Hernández and Ramón Labañino, serving unjust sentences in the US for preventing terrorist acts that are originated in Florida against Cuba.

Opening the exhibition, Graciela Ramirez, coordinator of the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5, conveyed greetings of these brave men, and said that this contributes to the efforts to break the silence of the great international press about the case.

Basilio Gutierrez, vice president of the Cuban Friendship Institute (ICAP), stressed the importance of spreading that claim in the museum, located in Obispo Street, Old Havana, one of the most frequented by the city's population and foreign visitors.

The museum director Pedro Pablo Perez spoke with similar terms and highlighted the human and patriotic virtues demonstrated by Ramón, René, Gerardo, Antonio and Fernando, whom he described as first-line CDR members and unyielding defenders of the Revolution.

The exhibition will remain open until November 28 and the museum staff has developed a program of visits to schools in the territory.

source

Open Letter to the President from Danny Glover on the Cuban Five

2010-10-21T07:32:00.004+13:00

"I ask you as a Nobel peace prize winner, a humanitarian, a former constitutional law professor, as the President of the United States of America, but most importantly as an American, a husband, a father and a family man, please reconsider the United States' merciless position and allow Gerardo Hernández and René González visits from their wives."

September 27, 2010

The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

My name is Danny Glover. I work professionally as an actor. Today I write to you not as Danny Glover the actor, but as an American, a proud American, a voter, a father, and an activist.

I am respectfully requesting that the United States of America issue humanitarian visas to Cuban wives, Adriana Pérez and Olga Salanueva for the sole purpose of visiting their husbands, Gerardo Hernández and René González, two of the Cuban Five, who in self defense of their nation and their families are now in United States prisons.
.

Amnesty International

I cannot imagine the pain, the suffering, the emotional longing, and the punishment that not seeing a life- partner in over ten years would cause. It has been that long since Cuban citizens Gerardo Hernández and René González saw their wives. Not being able to hear their voices, speak to them, look into their eyes, hold their hands or simply say I love you, for over a decade is devastating and psychological torture. It is tantamount to cruel and unusual punishment. Mr. President imagine being in a foreign country and not allowed to communicate in any way with or see your beloved, your chosen life- partner, the mother of your children, your family member for over a decade.

I ask you as a Nobel peace prize winner, a humanitarian, a former constitutional law professor, as the President of the United States of America, but most importantly as an American, a husband, a father and a family man, please reconsider the United States' merciless position and allow Gerardo Hernández and René González visits from their wives.
.

As an American, I am aware that our history has been far from perfect. Yet I strongly believe in our values and principles of justice, fairness, humanitarian treatment and strong family ties. As recently as March of this year, before retiring from the highest Court of our land, Supreme Court Justice Stevens acknowledged in Padilla v. Kentucky, the cruelty and the seriousness of tearing families apart through deportation and reversed the rulings of other courts.
.

Casa de las Americas

The request to allow these husbands to see their wives, Adriana Pérez and Olga Salanueva is not my request alone. Many recognized and respected International and American civil liberties groups and organizations have asked and demanded the same.

Today I join Amnesty International, the United Nation Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Casa de las Americas (the oldest Cuban organization in the United States) and the Wives Without Rights Campaign. We must not just speak and write of our values of fairness and human rights but also exercise them. In contrast to our country's unsympathetic stance, in the last ten months, Iran has issued humanitarian visas to American mothers allowing them to see their incarcerated children.

In our American system of fundamental rights, we as a country provide and afford prisoners basic human rights and denounce and ostracize countries that strip prisoners of all human rights. The United States through the United Nations and global pronouncements and international treaties has claimed to be one of the pioneers in the movement toward international human rights. While prisoners are deprived of many of their rights and liberties, as a country we believe and uphold the values that prisoners are and remain human beings and as such are still entitled to basic human rights, regardless of political distinction.
.

Center for Constitutional Right

Preventing Gerardo Hernández and René González from seeing their wives is cruel and dishonorable punishment. Prohibiting the visitation of their wives is an injustice that goes against the moral and legal obligation of our country and a travesty of the high moral leadership we advocate to the world.

Mr. President, I respectfully ask that the State Department of the United States of America act immediately and issue humanitarian visas to Adriana Pérez and Olga Salanueva for the sole purpose of visiting their incarcerated loved ones.

Sincerely,

Danny Glover

Carrie Productions, Inc.
2625 Alcatraz Avenue #243
Berkeley, CA 94705
510-450-2500 x14 tel
510-450-2506 fax

Also See

Actors and Artists United for the Freedom of the Cuban Five

BBC Newshour interviews Irma Gonzalez - listen now

2010-10-20T23:08:00.001+13:00

Irma González, daughter of Cuba 5 prisoner René González was interviewed on the BBC World Service Newshour programme on Sunday 17 October 2010.

Irma was in the Britain as part of a Cuba Solidarity Campaign speaking tour and will be at the Vigil for the Cuban Five outside the US Embassy in London on Tuesday 19 October, where speakers from across the British trade union movement will show their support for the Five.

The BBC interview is another breakthrough in breaking the mainstream media silence about the case.

> Listen to the interview on BBC World Service here
> Read Morning Star Interview with Irma Gonzalez

Adriana and Salanueva detail Cuban Five case at French Senate

2010-10-19T08:37:00.002+13:00

Adriana Pérez and Olga Salanueva, the wives of two of the Cuban anti-terrorists unjustly imprisoned in the United States, were received in the French Senate by the France Caraïbe friendship group, in the presence of its vice president, Senator Jean Marc Todeschini, and Jean Pierre Bel, president of the that assembly’s socialist caucus.

The wives of Gerardo Hernández and René González explained the current situation of the case and the need to reinforce actions directed at U.S. celebrities and Congress members, especially at President Barack Obama.

They condemned the silence and misinformation of the major media outlets in the West, and at the same time expressed their thanks for the support of various Nobel Prize winners and high-ranking officials in many countries.

Cubains á Miami (Five Cubans to Miami)

Maurice Lemoine.

The two women attended meetings in the mayor’s office in Paris’ 14th Arrondissement with Mayor Pascal Cherki, member of the national bureau of the Socialist Party, who committed himself to give all his support to the cause.

During their stay in Paris, Adriana and Olga attended the launch of the book Cinq Cubains á Miami (Five Cubans to Miami) by French writer and journalist, Maurice Lemoine.

Source

Antonio Guerrero: Spirited and Optimistic on his Birthday

2010-10-19T06:52:00.000+13:00

.

.
Antonio Guerrero, one of the five Cuban antiterrorists unfairly incarcerated in the United States, is very spirited and optimistic today, on the occasion of his 52nd birthday, the thirteenth he has spent in prison.

Mirta Rodriguez told reporters of the National Television Newscast that she spoke with her son over the telephone when she was in Matanzas province for the presentation of the book Un lugar de retiro, a collection of poems by the Antonio, publishing in Cuba in conjunction with the Cuban Association of Artisan Artists.

These poems were written by Antonio during his stay at the Oklahoma prison, under extreme conditions while in transit for the prison of Florence, Colorado.
“Particularly, my stay at the Oklahoma Federal Transfer Center was long and hard. I spent eighteen days in isolation, in a cell called "the hole", days that seemed to be an eternity,” revealed the antiterrorist fighter on a text recently published by the Cubadebate web site.

Also today, posters and big photographs with details of the family life of Antonio, Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labañino, Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez were placed at the Old Square of Old Havana’s historic area. Attending the inauguration of the exhibition were Antonio Guerrero, the eldest son of the antiterrorist fighter, and Graciela Ramirez, coordinator of the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five.

Ramirez pointed out that actions to demand justice for these heroes are also taking place in other parts of the world, coinciding with Antonio’s 52nd birthday.
.

Source

Gloria La Riva reaffirms support for the Cuban Five

2010-10-15T08:44:00.002+13:00

Gloria La Riva specking at the unveiling of a Cuba Five billboard on Hollywood Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles

Gloria La Riva, Coordinator of the US National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, reaffirmed in Teheran her support for the cause of these patriots, unfairly incarcerated in US jails.

The Iranian Press TV television channel reported Cuba’s presence in the International Digital Media Fair of Teheran, the stand of which was visited by the activist during the event’s inauguration, the Cuban Foreign Ministry’s web site reports.

In her statements, La Riva condemned the economic, commercial and financial blockade of the US against Cuba; she reaffirmed her support for the Cuban Revolution and her commitment to denounce the unjust conditions in which the five antiterrorists are incarcerated.

Over the last twelve years, Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez are serving harsh sentences for monitoring the activities of Florida-based, anti-Cuban organizations, in order to warn the Caribbean island about their criminal actions.

The celebration of Cuba Day has been scheduled for October 15 at the International Digital Media Fair in Teheran.

Source

Also See

Report on the political and economic situation in Cuba

By Gloria La Riva

Amnesty International Seeks Review of the ‘Cuban Five’ Case

2010-10-14T12:07:00.001+13:00

Human rights organization calls on US government to review case and mitigate any injustice

In a report released Tuesday , Amnesty International outlines its concerns with the fairness of the trial of five men convicted in 2001 of acting as intelligence agents for Cuba, among other charges. The five men are serving terms ranging from 15 years to life in US federal prisons.

In a letter sent to United States Attorney General Eric Holder on October 4, Amnesty International noted doubts about the fairness and impartiality of the trial which have not been resolved on appeal. The human rights organization has not taken a position on whether the five men are guilty or innocent of the charges against them.

The five -- Cuban nationals Fernando González, Gerardo Hernández and Ramón Labañino, and US nationals Antonio Guerrero and René González -- were tried in Miami and convicted on various counts, including acting and conspiring to act as unregistered agents of the Republic of Cuba, fraud and misuse of identity documents and, in the case of three of the accused, conspiracy to transmit national defense information. Gerardo Hernández was further convicted of conspiracy to murder, based on his alleged role in the 1996 shoot-down by Cuba of two planes operated by a US anti-Castro organization, Brothers to the Rescue, in which four people died.

'Pervasive Hostility’ prevented impartial jury

Amnesty International’s report said holding the trial in Miami, given the pervasive hostility to the Cuban government in that area, along with media and other events before and during the trial were factors that made it impossible to ensure a wholly impartial jury.

Other concerns included questions about the strength of the evidence to support the conspiracy to murder conviction in the case of Gerardo Hernández, and whether the circumstances of the pre-trial detention of the five men, in which they had limited access to their attorneys and to documents, may have undermined their right to defense.

Amnesty International has called on the government to review the case and mitigate any injustice through the clemency process or other appropriate means, should further legal appeals prove ineffective.

Denial of Visas for Olga and Adriana ‘contrary to international standards’

Amnesty International has also reiterated its concern about the repeated denials by the US government of temporary visas to allow the Cuban wives of two of the prisoners, René González and Gerardo Hernández, to visit their husbands. The organization is concerned that such a blanket or permanent bar on visits with their wives constitutes additional punishment and is contrary to international standards for the humane treatment of prisoners and states’ obligation to protect family life. Amnesty International continues to urge the government to grant the wives temporary visas on humanitarian grounds.

Source: Amnesty Media Release

Cuba Five Ad in the Washington Post

2010-10-13T12:00:00.002+13:00

Let's Tell Obama: Free the Cuban Five Now!!
.

The National Committee to Free the Cuban Five announces the launching of a campaign to place a full-page ad in the Washington Post, the most prominent newspaper in the nation's capital. The Post is read daily by everyone in the U.S. political establishment and all international media outlets.

We think the time is NOW to put the demands for freedom of the Cuban Five as publicly -- and directly -- as possible, to President Obama and the U.S. government, and say:

Free the Cuban Five Now!

Grant visas immediately to Adriana and Olga!

Support actions for the Cuban Five in the United States and around the world are building exciting momentum in the struggle to free Gerardo, Ramón, Antonio, Fernando and René. At the same time, this summer the news was filled with headlines in the U.S. press about prisoner swaps and releases:

The 10 people accused of being Russian agents, who were sent home within weeks by the U.S. government;

Jimmy Carter traveling to North Korea to get the release of a U.S. citizen;

New Mexico governor Bill Richardson going to Cuba to advocate for the release of suspected spy Alan Gross.

The obvious question to Washington is:

What about the Cuban Five?

We ask all supporters of the Five Cuban Heroes to join with us in placing a full-page ad in the Washington Post, to call for the unconditional and immediate release of the Cuban Five, who have endured 12 years of harsh and unjust imprisonment at the hands of the U.S. government, simply because they were defending their people from terrorism.

Please help with a generous donation to get the Washington Post ad published

The cost of a full-page ad is $62,000. Through your donation and that of many other organizations and individuals, together we can help make the Cuban Five's freedom struggle a public debate in Washington, as we did with the New York Times full-page ad (shown above) in March 2004. Already, our European friends in Germany, Italy, France, as well as organizations in Puerto Rico, Brazil, Canada, have pledged contributions.

Click below to make an on-line donation. For organizations that wish to make a significant donation, email us at info@freethefive.org to arrange an electronic transfer.

Donate for the ad

New pleas for US to free 'Cuban Five'

2010-10-11T12:22:00.002+13:00

Display, erected outside the courthouse in El Paso, of victims of the Cubana de Aviación flight blown from the sky in a plot planned by Luis Posada

Last Wednesday’s 34th anniversary of the bombing of a Cubana passenger aircraft off Barbados, in which all 73 people on board perished also coincided with the launch of an appeal by Caribbean citizens for the freedom of five Cuban political prisoners in the US since September 1998.

The appeal, bearing the signatures of Caribbean nationals across the region, and posted on the popular website of the Jamaica-born Caribbean scholar and social commentator Dr Norman Girvan, is directed to US President Barack Obama.

The "Cuban Five", as they have come to be known in an international campaign launched by Cuba back in 2000 at the time of their conviction in the US on charges of "espionage and conspiracy to commit murder" are: Antonio Guerrero, Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labanino, Fernandez Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez.

The Cuban political prisoners have at all times denied the nature of the charges.
.

Among the anti-Castro Cuban emigres said to have been involved in the terrorist bombings in Havana were Luis Posada Carilles

They have also been protesting against the "unfairness" of their trials, as well as claimed "inhumane conditions" they have had to endure prior to, during and after the court trials over a period of some eight years.

The Cuban government had acknowledged that the five were members of Cuba's intelligence service and explained they had travelled in 1998 to Miami to spy on the activities of the Cuban exiles who have been systematically carrying out bombing attacks in Havana.

Cuba, however, has stressed that the five were "not there to spy on the government of the US".
.

Successive US administrations have been consistent in ignoring international and domestic pleas on behalf of the Cuban Five.

.
Among the anti-Castro Cuban emigres said to have been involved in the terrorist bombings in Havana were Luis Posada Carilles. He has since came to be known as one of the masterminds of the Cubana plane tragedy on October 6, 1976. Another was Orlando Bosch. Both were to be beneficiaries of protective political care in the US.

Condemnation of the unfairness of court trials of the "Cuban Five" and conditions they have had to endure, including 17 months of solidarity confinement, denials of visitations by family members and access to relevant documents, have been lodged by a variety of sources.

Among them would be the United Nations Human Rights Council; the National Lawyers Guild of the US; members of the European Parliament and other national parliaments; eight Noble laureates; the US actors group co-chaired by Danny Glover and Ed Asner and, now, the appeals from Caribbean citizens, for freedom of the political prisoners.

Successive US administrations have been consistent in ignoring international and domestic pleas on behalf of the "Cuban Five".

As they have also been doing in relation to calls for the extradition of Posada Cariles to be brought to justice for involvement in the Cubana tragedy.

Source: Trinidad Express, by Rickey Singh

Dolores Huerta on the Cuban 5

2010-10-11T09:30:00.001+13:00

Dolores Huerta, Co-founder, along with Cesar Chávez, of the United Farms Workers of America, AFL-CIO "UFW". Currently she is the President of the Dolores Huerta Foundation.

In 1993 Dolores was inducted into the National Woman’s Hall of Fame. She has received multiple awards for her tireless work as a leader and activist in the fight for human dignity, including in the campaign for the freedom of the Cuban 5 and the right of family visits. Currently she is the co-chair of the Advisory Board of the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5.

Source

Message from the Cuban Five to the Ecuadoran people

2010-10-02T11:04:00.000+13:00

Oct. 1, 2010

Dear Ecuadoran People, Dear President Rafael Correa:

We share in the huge excitement for the feat that you all managed when in just a few hours, with unity and strength, you were able to reverse the attempted fascist coup d'etat. Congratulations on this example of love, unity and patriotism!

This event also represents a call to alertness. Other attempts may take place in other countries of ours. It's very important to be organized and ready in order to respond immediately, strongly and radically to all these assassination attempts by the national and international right-wing. America has begun to travel along a new course, that of Bolivarian unity, and we must not allow anyone to stop us!

The Cuban people love and admire you.

From our five political prisons in the United States we too, defend the courageous citizens revolution and the right of our people to total, definitive national independence, to choose our own destinies.

Long live the Ecuadoran people and their dignified President Rafael Correa!

Thank you for the example!

Onward to victory!

The "Cuban Five":
    Antonio Guerrero
    René González
    Fernando González
    Gerardo Hernández
    Ramón Labañino Salazar

Come to the Gig Barack

2010-09-23T10:39:00.000+12:00

"I want to ask you a favor: make us all happy, bring the Five,"

Cuban prima ballerina assoluta Alicia Alonso invited U.S. President Barack Obama and his family to the next International Ballet Festival in Havana, and asked him to bring home the five Cuban antiterrorists imprisoned in that country for over 12 years.

"I want to ask you a favor: make us all happy, bring the Five," she said in perfect English.

Alonso conveyed the invitation during an event where Cuban academics thanked their U.S. peers for their solidarity by sending a letter to Obama asking him to review the case of the Five and release them immediately.

Alonso, director of the National Ballet of Cuba, praised the courage of that group of personalities, including Susan Sarandon, Ry Cooder, Danny Glover, Elliott Gould, Pete Seeger, Esai Morales, Bonnie Raitt, Martin Sheen, and Betty and Stanley K. Sheinbaum.

"I am very happy with that letter, they spoke on our behalf," she stressed.

Her words were a message of peace amid "a very serious moment, because we have to defend our lives. We have to be very united," she said alluding to a possibly imminent nuclear catastrophe.

Hugo Chavez Challenges CNN’s Patricia Janiot to Interview the Cuban Five

2010-09-21T14:52:00.002+12:00

Convicted terrorist Diaz (centre) with Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (right)

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez challenged CNN to interview the five Cuban antiterrorists who remain unjustly imprisoned in the United States since 1998 and whom this television network describes as “terrorists.”

During a meeting with political activists in Caracas on Thursday, Chavez reproached CNN’s Patricia Janiot for an interview with terrorist Raul Diaz, a fugitive from the Venezuelan justice.

The head of state added that Janiot asked him through Twitter to reply to his request directly.

“I challenge you to interview one of the five Cubans imprisoned in the United States. The issue is not with me, Mrs Patricia; it’s with the dignity of a people,”

.
“I challenge you to interview one of the five Cubans imprisoned in the United States. The issue is not with me, Mrs Patricia; it’s with the dignity of a people,” he noted.

Although Diaz was sentenced in Venezuela to nine years for planting bombs in the Spanish and Colombian embassies in 2003, Janiot did not introduced him as a terrorist but as a student seeking refuge in the United States.

Gerardo Hernandez, Rene Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero, Ramon Labañino and Fernando Gonzalez —internationally known as the Cuban Five— were arrested and given harsh and unjust sentences for monitoring anti-Cuba extreme right-wing groups in South Florida that were planning and carrying out terrorist actions against the island.

Source

Twelfth Anniversary marked around the world

2010-09-15T12:06:00.002+12:00

The 12th anniversary of the imprisonment of the Cuban Five was marked around the world over the weekend. Solidarity actions, information pickets, film showings and marches were just some of the events organised to highlight in outrageous injustice of imprisoning five men whose only crime was infiltrating Miami based terrorist organisations in an attempt to prevent further carnage and death .

Here in New Zealand Auckland activist had an information picket at the US Consulate on Friday evening while in Wellington, on the same day, a function was held at Cubita. On Sunday Christchurch activists distributed information flyers and gathered signatures for a letter of protest being sent to President Obama.

Danny Glover on the Cuban Five

Articles

> "The Cuban Five" and the US Sponsored Terrorist Campaign Directed Against Cuba

> Case of Cuban Five Brings Up Nuanced Meaning of Terrorism

Photo montage from around the world

Vancouver

Buenos Aires


Auckland

San Salvador

Toronto

Wellington

Brussels

New York

Lebanon

Christchurch

Perth

Actors and Artists United for the Freedom of the Cuban 5

2010-09-13T10:11:00.001+12:00

.
Actor and activist, Danny Glover and Edward Asner, co-chairs of "Actors and Artists United for the Freedom of the Cuban 5" made a call to their colleagues in the United States inviting them to add their name to a letter to President Obama encouraging him to issue an Executive Clemency order on behalf of the Cuban 5.
A significant number of well-known actors and artists who responded to the call include Susan Sarandon, Oliver Stone, Martin Sheen, Pete Seeger, Ry Cooder, Bonnie Raitt, Chrissie Hynde, Haskell Wexler, Graham Nash, Jackson Browne, and others.

Just recently, on August 8th, Danny Glover, visited Gerardo Hernandez one of the Cuban Five at the United States Penitentiary in Victorville. Gerardo had just been released from 13 days in "the hole" without being given any reason. Glover came out of that visit with a strong commitment to get other actors and artists to join him in the effort to get the five released.

"President Obama should pardon Gerardo Hernandez and the other members of the Cuban 5. They were front line soldiers in the fight against terrorism. But instead of using the information they gathered to arrest people carrying out bombings of civilians, the FBI arrested these five men. The bombers such as Luis Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosch on the other hand, walk the streets of Miami and hold fund raising dinners there." Danny Glover, Co-Chair.

Co-Chair, Edward Asner recently reading at the opening of "From My Altitude", artwork and poetry by Antonio Guerrero, one of the Cuban 5, said, "Railroading of people of color is an American industry. The Cuban 5 are no exception."

In the letter to President Obama sent on the 12th anniversary of the arrests of the Cuban 5, the actors and artists stated, "We are dismayed that the Cuban 5, who have committed no crime against the United States nor posed any threat to this country's national security, have now been imprisoned for 12 years. The Five monitored the activities of violent groups of Cuban exiles in Miami, activities that had already resulted in the deaths of thousands of Cuban nationals. They sought simply to protect their country from further acts of terrorism."

Source

Hernandez and Glover at USP Victorville, CA Photo: Keith Smith

Fighting Terrorism is not a crime

2010-09-06T23:05:00.004+12:00

12 YEARS OF UNJUST
IMPRISONMENT IN U.S. JAILS!

Please join in the international campaign involving hundreds of different organisations, including Latin American and European parliament members, to free these five innocent men from their incarceration in US prisons.

September 12, 2010 marks 12 years of unjust imprisonment of five men known as the “Cuban Five,” after their frame-up on federal charges in Miami, Florida.

Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González, and René González are five Cuban men who were arrested by the FBI on Sept. 12, 1998. They were charged with conspiracy to commit espionage on the United States government, and were tried in the highly-charged anti-Cuba atmosphere of Miami. They were convicted on June 8, 2001.

The Cuban Five never committed espionage nor did they conspire to do so. Their actions were not directed against the U.S. government. Instead, their mission was fighting terrorism. The Cuban Five infiltrated Cuban-exile terrorist organizations in Miami, which have carried out attacks on Cuba for decades.

By monitoring the terrorists and exposing their plots, the Cuban Five saved the lives of many people who would have been targeted by the terrorists. That was their real “crime,” protecting their people. The Five never possessed weapons nor harmed anybody. It is clear that their prosecution by the government is politically-motivated.

Fighting Terrorism is not a crime - get involved!

Attend the activity in your area

Friday September 10th
5.00pm
US Consulate Customs Street
Information Picket
Download Auckland Flyer

Friday September 10th
5.30 p.m. – 7.30 p.m.
Cubita
Music, speeches leaflets/postcards distribution

Download Wellington Flyer

Sunday September 12th

12.30 pm
Victoria Square
Information Rally
Download Christchurch Flyer

Resources

Information Flyer 1

(Double sided A4 portrait PDF)

Information Flyer 2

(Double sided A4 Landscape PDF)

Interview with Leonard Weinglass

Interview with Leonard Weinglass on Gerardo’s appeal by Gloria La Riva, coordinator National Committee to Free the Cuban Five
(Double sided A4, portrait PDF)

12 men and 2 cats’ - With Gerardo Hernández in Angola

2010-09-03T11:56:00.000+12:00

Cuban-Angolan platoon attached to 11th Tactical Group, 10th Tank Brigade, Cabinda, Angola, under command of Lt. Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, 1989-90.

.
When Gerardo Hernández Nordelo graduated from Cuba’s Institute for Advanced Study of International Relations (ISRI) in 1989, like hundreds of thousands of other Cubans had done, he volunteered for duty in Angola. The Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) of Cuba was then engaged in the final stages of a nearly 16-year internationalist mission, fighting alongside the People’s Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA), to defend the government of that former Portuguese colony against the invading forces of the apartheid regime of South Africa and its imperialist-backed allies based in Zaire.

In 1989-90, Lieutenant Hernández led the Cuban-Angolan Scouting Platoon of 12 men attached to the 11th Tactical Group of the 10th Tank Brigade, stationed in the Angolan province of Cabinda.

This link will take you to the account of those years is by José Luis Palacio, a mechanic by trade and one of the men who served under Hernández in Cabinda. It was originally published under the title “12 men and 2 cats” in March 2006 in Guerrillero, the provincial newspaper of Pinar del Río in western Cuba.

Cuba Hosts International Conference on Cuban 5

2010-09-03T11:45:00.000+12:00

Over 40 countries will be represented at the 6th international conference for the release of the five Cuban antiterrorists jailed in the United States, the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples announced on Thursday.

The November 17-21 meeting at the Expo-Holguin fairgrounds includes a live interactive forum on the Internet, said ICAP official Amaury Torno.

First-time guests include Laos, India, Paraguay, Guatemala, Portugal, Iran, Sri Lanka and Ethiopia.

The International Brigade against Media Terrorism will officially launch its work of solidarity during the conference, Torno said.

Conference participants include lawyers, journalists, congress members and church officials who are helping to spread the truth about legal process of the Cuban Five, as they are known in the international campaign for their freedom.

Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González and René González were arrested in 1998 and given sentences of up to two life terms plus 15 years for exposing anti-Cuba terrorists operating from Florida, in the southern United States.

Source

Cuba Five Send Message of Congratulations to Cuban Women

2010-08-25T11:50:00.001+12:00

The five Cuban antiterrorists who remain unjustly imprisoned in the United States since 1998 sent messages of congratulation to all Cuban women on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Women’s Federation (FMC).

In their messages, read during a gala on Monday evening at the Universal Hall of the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces in Havana, Gerardo Hernandez, Fernando Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero, Rene Gonzalez and Ramon Labañino —internationally known as the Cuban Five— express their admiration and respect for women and their contribution to the Revolution.

“To think of you, to admire you and to love you, makes us stronger and confident of victory,” one of the messages reads.

“Receive our eternal gratitude for all the support you give us,” it adds.

The Cuban Five were arrested and given harsh and unjust sentences for monitoring anti-Cuba extremist organizations in South Florida that were planning and carrying out terrorist attacks against the island.

> More on the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Women’s Federation <

Visiting Gerardo in prison

2010-08-23T08:44:00.000+12:00

Actor Danny Glover and writer Saul Landau, write of their recent visit Cuban antiterrorist fighter Gerardo Hernandez in the Victorville prison, California, in an article posted by Progreso Weekly.

'From the Ontario California airport some 60 miles east of downtown Los Angeles we drove north on Highway 15, the road to Las Vegas. Cars with expectant amateur gamblers and loaded big rigs climb and descend the mountains where the Angeles and San Bernadino National Forests meet.

To the east lies the high desert, some 4,000 feet above sea level. Amidst junipers, Joshua trees and sagebrush we turn off from the man-made freeway to the jesters creation of a shopping mall in Hesperia where we pick up Chavela, Gerardo Hernandez older sister.

We pass fast food joints with chain names, nail and hair salons, tattoo parlors, gas stations and mini-marts (a drive-by of American culture) going west and then north on 395 to the six-year-old U.S. Federal Penitentiary Complex, a 630,000 square foot high-security prison (it cost $101.4 million to build); designed to cage 960 male inmates.

In the institutional grey Visitors Lobby a guard hands us forms with numbers on top, nods at a book to sign and eye-signals to a pile of pens. We write, hand him back the forms and sit in the gray waiting room with other visitors all black and Latino.

We wait for twenty minutes. A guard calls our number. We empty our pockets except for money. We pass through a sensitive airport-type screening machine, pick up our belts and eyeglasses that have gone through X-ray, and extend our inner forearms for stamping by another uniformed guard. Two black women and an elderly Latino couple get the same treatment. We exchange nervous smiles. Visitors in a strange land!'

Click here to read the whole article

It is very unjust that the Five are still prisoners

2010-08-18T07:32:00.000+12:00

Pete Escovedo - Dolores Huerta- Santana- Hilda Solis

CALIFORNIA, August 16.—A few hours before the merited tribute for her 80th birthday, Dolores Huerta, the well-known civil rights activist, was asked about the possibilities of release for the five Cuban anti-terrorists unjustly incarcerated in the United States.

She explained who the Five are, that they were collecting information in Miami on terrorist groups operating against Cuba. But, instead of arresting those terrorists, the FBI arrested the Five. "The only way that they can be freed is by applying pressure, working to inform people from below to above and reaching the politicians. It is very unjust that they are still prisoners."

The tribute in the Greek Theater of Los Angeles had tables set up with information on the causes for which the progressive movement in the United States is working, including one organized by the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five.

The Five sent a placard to Dolores Huerta for her birthday via Danny Glover who, in an interview with KPFK, was visibly moved when he described his recent visit to Gerardo Hernández in a maximum security prison in Victorville.

Glover was invited to say a few words in honor of Dolores during the concert for the activist. He described the different struggles that she has embraced over the years. There was enthusiastic applause when he mentioned Dolores’ support for the Cuban five.

Well-known musicians Carlos Santana, Pete Escovedo, Lila Downs and Culture Clash played at the concert, which brought together many public figures, such as Arizona Congressman Raúl Grijalva and Antonio Villaraigosa, mayor of Los Angeles; Hilda Solis, U.S. Secretary of Labor; and actors Edgard Olmos and Martin Sheen.

All of them, with an enthusiastic audience of close to 5,000 people, came together to honor the legacy of Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America and president of the Foundation bearing her name. "Weaving Movements Together" was the slogan of the concert.

(Source: CubaDebate, translated Granma International)

Danny Glover visits Gerardo Hernández

2010-08-18T07:14:00.001+12:00

On Sunday August 8, renowned actor Danny Glover visited Gerardo Hernández at USP Victorville, California. The meeting caused a big stir in the prison that just a few days before had held Gerardo in "the hole" under inhumane conditions.

The plans for this meeting took several months in the making and could not have come at a more opportune moment to symbolize the tremendous support for Gerardo after what he had just been forced to endure.

Gerardo reported that he was moved by their time together and Danny's commitment to the struggle for the freedom of the Cuban Five.

Danny Glover is a member of the International Commission for the Rights of Family Visits that 5 months ago, on March 8, sent a letter to Hillary Clinton and Janet Napolitano asking that visas for Olga Salanueva, wife of Rene Gonzalez and Adriana Perez, wife of Gerardo Hernandez be granted.

> Letter from Adriana to Gerardo

> Letter from Gerardo to Adriana

> The Bird and the Prisoner

Gerardo is out of the hole

2010-08-10T13:33:00.000+12:00

Message from Gerardo

Hernández after being released from "the hole"

Dear Sisters and Brothers:

I am dictating these words via telephone, which is why I must be brief and I will not be able to say everything I would have liked. Yesterday afternoon I was removed from "the hole" with the same speed in which I was thrown in. I had been taken there supposedly because I was under investigation. These investigations can take up to three months, sometimes more, but I was there 13 days. As a known Cuban journalist would say; you can draw your own conclusions...

I want to express to all of you my deep gratitude. You know that they were particularly difficult days due to the excessive heat and the lack of air, but you all were my oxygen. I can't find a better way to summarize the enormous importance of your solidarity efforts.

Many thanks to all the compañeras and compañeros from Cuba and around the world who joined their voices to condemn my situation. Thanks to the institutions, organizations and individuals of goodwill that in one way or another worked to bring an end to this injustice.

To our President Raúl, that so honors us with his support. To the Cuban National Assembly and its President Ricardo Alarcón, a tireless fighter for the cause of the Five. To my four brothers, who sent me messages of encouragement, and who have also suffered and lived under constant risk of suffering similar abuses. And of course, to our dear Commander in Chief: Thank you for so much honor! (I don't know if I should say it, but just the privilege of hearing my name in Fidel's voice makes me feel like thanking those who put me in "the hole"...)

Thank you Comandante, for the joy of hearing you and seeing you as great as ever!

Thanks to everyone for having demonstrated again the power of solidarity which, without a doubt, will one day make us free.

The struggle continues!

A big embrace,

Gerardo Hernández Nordelo

US Penitentiary, Victorville, CA
August 3rd, 2010

Send Birthdays of René and Fernando in August

2010-07-20T08:48:00.001+12:00

Both Fernando and René celebrate their birthdays during August – send greetings to the addresses below

RENE GONZALEZ SEHWERERT

René González is an American citizen, born in Chicago, Illinois, on August 13, 1956. As a son of Cuban immigrants he returned to Cuba in 1961. Rene is a pilot and flight instructor. Married to Olga Salanueva since 1983, they have two daughters: Irma González Salanueva, and Ivette González Salanueva. From 1977 to 1979 he participated as an internationalist combatant in the war of liberation in Angola and against apartheid.

To send a greeting to Rene write to:

René González
No. 58738-004
FCI Marianna
P.O. Box 7007
Marianna, FL 32447-7007

FERNANDO GONZALEZ LLORT

Born in the City of Havana on August 18, 1963, Fernando Gonzalez graduated with a summa cum laude in International Political Relations from the Higher Institute of International Relations of the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1987. He is married to Rosa Aurora Freijanes. From 1987 to 1989 he participated as an internationalist combatant in the war of liberation in Angola and against apartheid.

To send a greeting to Fernando address the envelope as following:

Rubén Campa
No. 58733-004
FCI Terre Haute
PO Box #33
Terre Haute, IN 47808

Source ICFC5

Sri Lankan Lawyers form Committee

2010-07-02T08:05:00.000+12:00

Twelve lawyers from Sri Lanka recently founded in their country a new committee in solidarity with the Five Cubans antiterrorist fighters imprisoned in the United States.

According to a report on the website of the Cuban Foreign Ministry, the lawyers committed to spread the truth about the Cuban Five’s case, among their colleagues.

The report says the lawyers described the trial to which the Cuban Five were submitted and the sentences they received as unfair and absurd.

Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labañino, Antonio Guerrerro, Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez, known as the Cuban Five, were arrested in 1998 in the United States under alleged charges of espionage and they were condemned in a biased trial held in Florida, U.S.

The Cuban Five were actually trying to monitor Florida-based ultra right-wing groups that organized and conducted, for decades, sabotages, criminal attempts and bacteriological attacks that took a toll on thousands of Cubans.

In Sri Lanka, there are other groups that organize exhibitions and other activities in solidarity with the Cuban Five.

On related news, parents of Chileans studying in Cuba distributed leaflets and other documents in which they give to know the situation of the Cuban Five and demand their immediate release to the U.S. government.

Source

Ramón transferred

2010-06-28T09:17:00.003+12:00

Last December, Ramon Labañino's sentence was reduced from life plus 18 years, to 30 years. As a result of that reduction, as well as of his exemplary behavior throughout 11 long years in prison, Ramón has now been moved from the maximum security facility in which he was imprisoned, to a medium security prison in Jesup, Georgia.

His new address is:

Luis Medina No. 58734-004 F.C.I. Jesup 2680 301 South Jesup, GA 31599

Address the envelope to Luis Medina, and inside the envelope you can address your correspondence to Ramón.

Although this is good news for Ramón, the fight for real justice for the Five continues.

Terrorist Brags in Miami while Cuban Five Remain in Prison

2010-06-25T10:12:00.010+12:00

Well-known terrorist Guillermo Novo Sampoll walks the streets of Miami saying he will not give up on violence and not asking for forgiveness on the crimes he has committed, while the five Cuban antiterrorists remain unjustly incarcerated in the United States.

Novo Sampoll made those statements to CubaNews, a specialized bulletin coming out from Wheaton (Maryland), reported Granma newspaper.

He was, along his brother Ignacio, Gaspar Jiménez Escobedo, Pedro Remón, Dionisio Suárez, Virgilio Paz, Luis Posada Carriles and others, one of the bloodthirsty murderers the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) used against Cuba and other Latin American nations.

Novo Sampoll lives in Miami, benefiting from the impunity status granted to him by the FBI to Cuban American terrorists. He regretted they haven’t been able to kill the Cuban Revolution leaders, a feat they have tried for half a century, which he described as a “failure”

In other statements, the murderer dubbed as “weak” the so-called “dissidents movement” within Cuba which is sponsored by the CIA through the USAID

“They are kind of confusing, living under a constant brainwashing and have no exposure to other ideas” pointed out Novo Sampoll, who immigrated to the United States when he was 15, to rapidly enrol in anti-Cuba terrorist organizations.

In 2004, he and Posada Carriles, along two other terrorist were caught when trying to blow up a Panamanian theater full of students and social movements members that were there to attend a speech by the Cuban Revolution leader Fidel Castro. They were charged on terrorism. Later he was paroled by former Panamanian president Mireya Moscoso under pressures from the US government.

Gillermo and Ignacio Novo Sampoll made an unsuccessful bazooka shot against
the UN headquarters in New York while Cuban Argentinean guerrilla Che Guevara was addressing the UN General Assembly.

He was also involved in the murder of former Chilean Foreign Minister Orlando Letelier on September 1976 in Washington DC, and also in dozens of criminal actions against Cuba throughout the world. He also killed two Cuban diplomats in Argentina as part of the Condor Plan.

While this terrorist walks freely in the US, René González, Ramón Labañino, Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero and Fernando González have been unjustly incarcerated since 1998.

These Cuban patriots were monitoring precisely Florida-based anti-Cuba terrorist groups that for over five decades have caused the death to thousands of Cubans and damages for millions of dollars to Cuban economy.

Their job was to alert Cuba of these criminal actions to prevent these groups from bringing death to both the Cuban and American peoples.

ALSO SEE
> Total Impunity: In Miami, killer Novo Sampoll swears never to give up violence
> Checkout the other CubaNews

Source txt pix

Posada Carriles - Part 1/12

Case is a Breach of Justice, says US Retired Colonel

2010-06-24T10:53:00.002+12:00

Lawrence Wilkerson is a retired United States Army soldier and former chief of staff to United States Secretary of State Colin Powell. Wilkerson is an adjunct professor at the College of William & Mary where he teaches courses on US national security. He also instructs a senior seminar in the Honors Department at the George Washington University entitled "National Security Decision Making."

Source

Read the transcript

What is a habeas corpus petition and why it is also known as collateral

2010-06-18T10:03:00.000+12:00

A Interview with Leonard Weinglass
.

click here to read an Interview with Leonard Weinglass, attorney for Gerardo Hernández

Another World is Possible, Another US is Necessary

2010-06-17T15:55:00.000+12:00

The Cuban 5 at the Social Forum in Detroit

From June 22 to 26, under the slogan Another World is Possible, Another US is Necessary, the United States Social Forum (USSF) will take place in the city of Detroit Michigan. Thousands of participants from all over the world will converge with the great majority being from the U.S. The USSF will provide a space to build relationships, learn from each other's experiences, and share analysis of the struggles that working and poor communities face. The USSF will offer the opportunity to develope leadership, vision, and strategy needed to realize a more just world.

The co-chairs of the National Network on Cuba (NNOC) in the US, together with other groups in solidarity with Cuba, are working to bring issues related to Cuba to this important gathering. Included in this is the struggle to free the Cuban Five political prisoners held in the US, and the significance that their case represents in current US-Cuba relations.

The International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5 will present the art exhibit, From My Altitude; the original paintings of Antonio Guerrero, one of the Cuban Five, serving long sentences in the US for defending their country against terrorism. Through the paintings participants at the USSF will be able to learn about the case of these brave men.

Source Antiterroristas

Collateral Appeal Presented for Gerardo Hernández

2010-06-16T10:04:00.004+12:00

Monday, June 14, a collateral appeal (also known as habeas corpus) was filed in Miami Federal Court in the name of Hero of the Republic of Cuba Gerardo Hernández. This is the last legal recourse for him within the U.S. system.

Gerardo Hernandez was arrested in September 1998 and sentenced in December 2001 to two life terms plus 15 years in jail. During the last 12 years Gerardo has been in maximum security prisons under a particularly severe regime and has been forbidden to receive visits from his wife, Adriana Perez. The U.S. government knows for a fact that he is absolutely innocent.

An important aspect of this appeal is the presentation of new evidence. Recently the U.S. National Committee to Free the Five, the civil rights organization Partnership for Civil Justice and the National Lawyers Guild prepared a well-documented denunciation on payments made by the U.S. government to reporters who, during the trial, were systematically slandering our comrades, instigating a hate campaign against them and harassing and threatening judges and jury members. The government payoffs were only discovered in 2006, five years after the trial was over.

Also included in the appeal will be the violations committed by the government with the handling and falsification of evidence and, in many cases, its concealment to obstruct justice. Technical aspects in the performance of the defense will also be analyzed.

Regardless of the final results that can be achieved within the legal order, this process will allow us to demonstrate stronger legal bases for the innocence of our comrade, once again explain the procedural violations, the government's prevarication throughout the entire process and how holding the trial in Miami was a denial of justice.

The collateral appeal is only in Gerardo's name because his case was closed by the Supreme Court denial of review on June 14, 2009, and therefore he is left with only this extraordinary procedure. His four comrades still have other opportunities and resources that will be used by the defense.

We will keep fighting for justice for all of them. We will continue demanding freedom for Gerardo, Ramón, Antonio, Fernando and René.

Each day they spend in prison is an affront to justice. Gerardo himself has said that justice will only come when rendered by a jury of millions. Many actions are needed to overcome the silence so that the American people can learn the truth and so insist that their government officials free the Five immediately and unconditionally.

It's time to multiply the denunciations as well as the solidarity. Let's demonstrate to Washington that, YES, we can. That for honest people it is not an empty slogan, but a demand that always will pursue them.

Source

Real News Network on the secretly-paid journalists
.

• Join the campaign • Send a letter to Eric Holder!

• More on US Govt-paid journalists • Audio and Video of Press Conf.

Michelle Obama Asked for Humanitarian Visas for Cuban Wives

2010-06-15T10:31:00.000+12:00

The only Cuban living in Cambodia asked Michelle Obama on Monday to intercede as a wife and mother for the relatives of five Cuban prisoners in the United States.

Osleidys Hernandez sent a letter to the US First Lady asking for her humanitarian intervention to allow Adriana Perez and Olga Salanueva to visit their husbands in prison.

Demands for humanitarian visas for the wives of Gerardo Hernandez and Rene Gonzalez have been supported by institutions like the World Council of Churches, among others.

The US government is violating the legal and human rights of Perez and Salanueva by considering them as threats to national security.

Based in Cambodia for years, Osleidys Herna¡ndez invoked Michelle Obama's status as a daughter, mother and wife, in a letter provided to Prensa Latina by diplomatic sources.

"You can understand how painful it is to be separated by force from our loved ones and how frustrating it is not to give them a sentence of consolation, a tender look or a touch of love," wrote Hernandez.

The International Commission for the Right to Family Visits wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, demanding such visas.

Cuban groups living abroad are also defending the right of these wives to see Hernandez and Gonzalez, who, along with Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez and Ramon Labañino, have spent a decade in US jails after thwarting terrorist actions against Cuba.

Ramón Labañino, Another Birthday in Prison

2010-06-11T09:18:00.000+12:00

Ramon Labañino will celebrate his 47th birthday on June 9th in a US prison for having infiltrated extreme right wing Cuban American organizations based in southern Florida to stop them from carrying out terrorist activities against the Cuban people.

This fighter in favor of freedom and justice was detained in 1998 and submitted to a biased trial in Miami in 2001, where his other four brothers, Gerardo Hernandez, Antonio Guerrero, Rene Gonzalez and Fernando Gonzalez were also sentenced to long unjust prison terms.

Another birthday will be celebrated far from his daughters and wife Elizabeth Palmeiro, whom he has been married to for 20 years. Although his conditions in prison are harsh, Ramon maintains his strong revolutionary convictions.

In his defense at the trial of the Cuban Five, Ramon said: "We who have devoted our lives to fighting terrorism, to preventing atrocious acts like these from taking place; we who have tried to save the lives of innocent human beings not only in Cuba but in the United States as well, stand in this courtroom today to be sentenced precisely for preventing similar acts".

Since September 12th, 1998, date in which the Five were detained, these five anti terrorist fighters have been able to see for themselves the horrors of the US penitentiary system.

In a letter to his wife, Elizabeth Palmeiro, Ramon described their experience of 17 months in total isolation suffered by the Five: "We even had the fear of losing communication capabilities, we were eager to hear the words of another person in any language".

Labañino, Gold diploma graduate in Economy from the University of Havana, during his defense on December of 2001 when he was sentenced to life plus 18 years, said that the Five had never looked for information that could have put in danger US National Security.

"At no time have we sought out information that could place the national security of this country in danger. This is pure manipulation, which we will never accept, and a reason for which we decided to come to this trial, in addition to clearly exposing the truth about all of the criminal acts perpetrated from U.S. territory against Cuba and the United States itself." said one of the Heroes of the Republic of Cuba.

He sends love letters to his beloved daughters showing the quality of an exemplary father. In one of the letters he says: "I want you to know that I left due to my love for you and all.
Where ever I have been and will be, you are always and will always be present."

His thinking will wander in this occasion, as it occurs each day, once again towards his daughters to transmit confidence in victory and a secure return. After the re-sentencing in 2009 that changed his initial prison term of life plus 18 years, Ramon is serving an unjust sentence of 30 years.

In another warm letter he expressed: "When I return we will recover my absence and reconstruct all our dreams and desires".

Labañino unjustly accused for having saved lives not only in Cuba but also in the United States, is a victim of Washington's criminal policy against the island.

His firmness and heroism is implicit in his defense allegations which ended proclaiming: "I will wear the prison uniform with the same honor and pride with which a soldier wear his most prized insignias!"

By Teresita Jorge (AIN)
Source

"Letters of Love and Hope"

2010-06-08T16:10:00.009+12:00

Journalists paid to defame the Cuban Five

2010-06-04T16:46:00.003+12:00

Gloria La Riva

U.S. groups working for the release of the five Cuban anti-terrorists incarcerated in that country today exposed details of covert payments made to journalists covering the case in Miami from December 1999 to December 2001, Notimex reports.

Heidi Boghosian, executive director of the National Lawyers Guild, informed a press conference of a concerted campaign to smear court procedures and influence the verdicts in the case of the Five. In that way "the accused were deprived of their right" to the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which guarantees the right to a fair trial and to an impartial jury, she pointed out.

There is no doubt that misleading articles and unfavorable accounts by reporters paid by the government had a direct impact on public opinion, the court and the Appeals Court in the case of the Cubans, she noted.

Gloria La Riva, coordinator of the National Committee to Free the Five pointed out that payments to journalists by the government constitutes a "violation of the federal law that prohibits improper domestic propaganda." She stated that the payments to journalists in Miami were made by two U.S. agencies, the Cuba Broadcasting Board and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) for Radio and TV Martí.

What makes the secret payments most flagrant is that they were made by the very government (United States) which tried the Cuban five," she stated.

La Riva added that the largest TV and Radio Martí audience is inside the United States, in Miami, Florida" from where the jury was selected to hear the case of the Cubans, who were subsequently sentenced to prison terms ranging from 15 years to two life sentences.

"Although we have asked for information dating back to 1996, BBG only gave us information from November 1999" under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the activist noted.

She mentioned that Wilfredo Cancio, a reporter from the El Nuevo Herald daily, received $4,725 between September 30, 2000 and December 3, 2001.

La Riva also cited payments between 1999 and 2001 of $11,700 to Ariel Remos, from Diario de las Americas; $58,600 to journalist Pablo Alfonso; $5,200 to Enrique Encinosa, director of Radio Mambi; and $1,125 to Helen Ferré, editor of the opinion page at Diario de las Americas.

Gerardo, Ramón, Antonio, Fernando and René were "irreparably harmed by the sea of prejudice generated in the Miami press," she said.

The press conference convenors announced that a coalition of organizations is to launch a campaign calling on U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to take "immediate action" to free the Cuban Five.

Documents which were revealed and discussed at the press conference, along with prepared remarks and analysis by Gloria La Riva, coordinator of the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, can now be found here

Click here to send your own letter to Eric Holder demanding justice for the Five, and click here so that you or your organization can be listed as part of the coalition calling on Holder to free the Five.

Download audio of the press conference here (MP3)

Documents which were revealed and discussed at the press conference, along with prepared remarks and analysis by Gloria La Riva, coordinator of the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, can now be found here

Click here to send your own letter to Eric Holder demanding justice for the Five, and click here so that you or your organization can be listed as part of the coalition calling on Holder to free the Five.

Text Granma

Alarcón Criticizes Silence of the US Media on the Cuban Five

2010-05-31T10:16:00.001+12:00

Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarcón has reiterated that if the US people knew the truth about the case of the five Cuban antiterrorists, they would force President Barack Obama to release them from prison.

Injustice against Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez, Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labañino and Rene Gonzalez will continue as long as the US population is prevented from knowing the real facts, warned Alarcon, who is also a member of the Politburo of the Cuban Communist Party.

If they knew the truth, they would demand Obama to do what he has to do: withdraw the charges and set them free, added the Cuban leader during his address to participants in the final session of the 5th International meeting on Justice and Law, held at Havana’s Convention Centre.

However, “the so-called media outlets impose silence, since they don’t have much to do with information and are actually instruments of ideological control at the service of the empire”, pointed out Alarcón in the presence of relatives of the Cuban Five and of professionals from 14 nations attending the event.

He recalled that the only thing our fellow countrymen did was trying to discover and prevent criminal actions, which, against Cuba and its people, have been carried out from the United States with scandalous impunity for years, he pointed out.

Meanwhile, well-known criminals are freely wandering around the streets of the United States, among them Luis Posada Carriles, a fugitive from Venezuelan justice and the author of the sabotage against a Cabaña airliner in 1976, killing all 76 people on board.

Alarcón described as clumsy and cynical the media campaign launched by the United States and Europe against the island, and reiterated the solidarity of the Cuban Parliament with the student strike in Puerto Rico, where repression caused the death of 21-year-old Natalia Sanchez, buried on Friday.

Judges, district attorneys, defense counsels, lawyers, university professors and other professionals from this sector participated in the meeting, an initiative by the Popular Supreme Court, the first edition of which took place in October, 2002.

Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, First Vice-president of the councils of State and Ministers, attended the inaugural ceremony of the event, in which experts from Latin America, Africa, and Europe, participated.

Source acn

More Information – read

The Untold Story of the Cuban Five by Ricardo Alarcón

New Postal Address of Antonio Guerrero

2010-05-12T10:43:00.001+12:00

As a result of his resentencing last October, in combination with his record of exemplary behaviour in prison, Antonio Guerrero has been moved to a minimum security prison, FCI Florence Colorado.

If you write to him, please take note of his new address:

Antonio Guerrero
#58741-004
USP Florence
P.O. Box 6000
Florence, CO 81226
USA

Hard to Trust Obama without Releasing Cuba Anti-terrorists

2010-05-04T10:45:00.001+12:00

Alarcón tells meeting of a thousand solidarity activists...

It is hard to trust US President Barack Obama without releasing the five Cuban anti-terrorists imprisoned in that country for over a decade, stated Sunday Cuban Parliament’s President Ricardo Alarcon.

Does he believe he will convince us he represents a credible change when he dares not to release those innocent men, and keeps preventing terrorists from being tried? Alarcon wondered during solidarity with Cuba meeting in Havana.

He also called to put an end to the suffering of Olga Salanueva and Adriana Perez, whom Washington has prevented from visiting their husbands Rene Gonzalez and Gerardo Hernandez, respectively.

Rene and Gerardo, along with Antonio Guerrero, Ramon Labanino, and Fernando Gonzalez were arrested in Miami in 1998 for monitoring anti-Cuban terrorist organizations in that US city and accused of many charges that were not substantiated nor proved during a biased trial in Miami.

A UN legal body declared their incarceration and sentences as unfair and arbitrary and demanded their release.

Obama's signature, with an order by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is enough to end with that situation, said Alarcon, and called the measure atrocious expression of medieval torture.

The White House maintains that stance because the US people do not know they protect terrorists and punish anti-terror heroes, the Parliament president noted.

Terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, Alarcon sustained, entered the US with the complicity of ex President George W. Bush, and the current administration keeps protecting him.

Source

More Current News
> May Day poem from the Cuban Five
> The Cuban Five Thanks International Solidarity
> Canadian Union send letter to Obama on behalf of the Cuban Five