Political Prisoners in U.S.
• Free the Cuban Five
• Worldwide Demonstrations Demand Freedom for the Cuban Five Now!
Politics Motivated Decision in Cuban Five Case • Response to Court Ruling on Cuban Five Appeal • Cuban Parliament Approves Declaration on Cuban Five Case
Pastors for Peace Caravan: Solidarity not Charity!
U.S. Cuba Friendshipment Caravan Stops in the U.S.
Voice of Revolution condemns the shameful decision of the Atlanta Court of Appeals, which upheld the convictions of the Cuban Five anti-terrorists unjustly imprisoned by the U.S. government. On June 4, the three judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta issued another negative decision in the case of the Five. In its judgment, the court dismissed almost the entire appeal.
The Five engaged in no spying and the government admits not a single document or secret was involved in their activity. No acts of violence by the Five occurred. The Five did organize to block terrorism against Cuba being planned in Miami by anti-Cuban groups. It is this defense of Cuba that they were imprisoned for. The convictions and sentencing took place after a biased trial, where jurors were threatened and there was repeated prosecutorial misconduct. This included leveling conspiracy murder charges against one of the Five, for the just act of the Cuban government, after repeated warnings, in downing two planes of the Miami terrorists being flown into Cuban airspace. On its merit the charge of murder against the individual has no basis, and one judge agreed there was no supporting evidence. But two of the judges upheld the charge. The U.S. is notorious for using conspiracy charges in its cases concerning terrorism when there is no terrorism. The case of the Five is no different.
Two of the three judges who participated in this latest judgment were members of the earlier three-judge panel that issued the dramatic decision in August 2005 nullifying all the convictions of the Cuban Five. The judges ruled that the defendants had been denied a fair trial because of the pervasive community prejudice in Miami and the blatant jury intimidation. This arbitrary character of the imprisonment was also denounced by the United Nations. With the George W. Bush administration interfering and demanding a reversal, the full court did reverse the ruling in August 2006.
At their trial, the five defendants proposed to bring evidence of the long history of murderous attacks by the anti-Cuban Miami mercenaries, including bombing of an airliner and a hotel, killing dozens of people. However, they were restricted by the trial judge from exposing the full history of terrorist attacks launched against Cuba from the U.S. This refusal to allow the defense of necessity was one of the most important grounds raised in the appeal and rejected by the judges. The refusal by the court to allow the necessity defense is similar to that imposed against war resisters conducting civil disobedience against the U.S. military, and troops refusing to serve in the illegal Iraq war. All are blocked from providing evidence of the crimes of the government and the illegality of its wars, making it not only a right but a duty to refuse and resist.
The actions taken, by the war resisters and by the Five, serve to prevent the far more dangerous actions by the government, or in the case of the Cubans, by the government-backed Miami terrorists. By refusing to allow the necessity defense, the just cause of the people is silenced by the courts and the crimes of the government protected.
Voice of Revolution condemns the ruling and joins those across the U.S. and around the world in demanding Free the Cuban Five Now! No to the U.S. War of Terrorism!
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Worldwide Demonstrations Demand Freedom
for the Cuban Five Now!”
Demonstrations denouncing the refusal of the U.S. government to Free the Cuban Five political prisoners took place across the country and around the world. The actions immediately followed another court ruling, of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, upholding the unjust convictions of the Five. Given the ruling circles’ hatred of Cuba and her revolution, people anticipated that the U.S. Courts would continue to rule against the Five and planned the actions in advance.
In Miami, where the original trial took place — and where even the Courts at one point ruled a fair trial required a change in venue outside of Miami — a press conference was held June 6 at the headquarters of Alianza Martiana. The Alianza protested the court decision. They also denounce the impunity that the Bush administration — as with past U.S. administrations — has granted to countless terrorists of the Cuban-American extreme rightwing. Despite the public knowledge of their terrible crimes, terrorists like Luis Posada Carriles and his terrorist accomplice Orlando Bosch walk free through the streets of Miami.
Speakers addressed in detail the long and perfidious history of the terrorist policy used by the United States against Cuba and the disastrous results for the Cuban people and for Miami. They also dealt with the specific aspects of the recent court decision and possible actions by the defense team to win justice for the Five.
San Francisco
On June 6, several organizations brought some 90 people together at the busy downtown intersection of Powell and Market streets in San Francisco. The day before, hundreds of calls were made by volunteers to phone lists, to notify people of the court decision and the protest.
Participants in the action were very spirited, chanting, “Extradite Posada, Free the Cuban Five!” The hypocrisy of U.S. government — in imprisoning the Five while allowing the notorious terrorist Luis Posada Carriles to go free — was highlighted. Almost 1,000 leaflets were handed out during the street rally, and a loudspeaker system attracted the attention of many people who stopped to learn about the struggle to Free the Five! Many came to the table to sign the petitions and to receive regular updates on the Five. In this way a much broader number of people were informed, including many who had never heard of the Cuban Five.
The upcoming large billboard for the Cuban Five, which will be placed at the central intersection of Mission and 10th Streets for the month of July, was announced, as well as an outdoor July 26 (Moncada Day) event to be held at the billboard.
Los Angeles
Supporters from all over Southern California — and even some from Northern California, gathered June 6 in front of the CNN building to denounce the recent decision in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the unjust and outrageous convictions of the Cuban Five. The demonstration took place right after work at 5:00 p.m. in the heart of Hollywood. Many passers-by stopped to find out about the Cuban Five as protestors chanted, “Jail Posada, Free the Five!” and “Who are the terrorists in the world today? Bush, Posada and the CIA!”
A short rally brought the vibrant action to a close. Speakers representing several Cuba solidarity groups voiced opposition to the travesty of the five heroes’ incarceration while real terrorists roam free throughout the streets of Miami. The group was also joined by Lucilla Esguerra, socialist candidate for California State Assembly, who called for the immediate release of the Five and pointed to the hypocrisy of the U.S. war on terror.
National Committee member Bill Hackwell, delivered a moving and militant message he received from Gerardo Hernandez, one of the Five, who has been handed two life sentences by the U.S. injustice system. Hernandez urged everyone to remain vigilant and to continue the fight until victory.
Seattle
Supporters of the Five Heroes gathered in the driving rain in front of the Federal Courthouse. Undaunted by the weather, the protestors carried colorful signs and distributed hundreds of statements opposing the Appeals Court decision. Many people who stopped to take a flier stayed to engage in discussion.
In a previous event to support the Cuban Five on May 31, Native American community leader Harold Belmont organized a special fundraising dinner in Seattle at El Centro de La Raza for Native American and other friends of the Cuban Five. The evening included a cultural program featuring drumming and singing, which were very powerful. The solidarity for the five Heroes was deeply felt. In addition to the ceremonial aspects of the drumming and the songs, a spirit plate was offered, and there was a blanket song and give-away in which a total of $441 was raised. These funds will help pay for the huge billboard to be unveiled at San Francisco’s Mission and 10th St. intersection.
Demonstrations were also organized in New York City; Washington, DC; Boston; Philadelphia; Detroit; Chicago; Minneapolis and Costa Mesa, Orange County, California.
New York City
Washington, DC
Philadelphia, Chicago and Minneapolis
Calgary and Vancouver
Toronto
On June 5, a demonstration was held in front of the U.S. Consulate to protest the Atlanta Appeals Court’s decision. The participants expressed their outrage at the decision and denounced it as unjust. The demonstrators marched and chanted while carrying signs calling for freedom for the Cuban Five. Activist lawyers
reviewed the decision and its implications. Speakers stressed the need to continue the struggle to release the Five from prison in the U.S.
Montreal
In Montreal on June 6, a demonstration was organized by the Table de Concertation de Solidarité Québec-Cuba and its Comité Fabio di Celmo pour les 5 in front of the U.S. Consulate in downtown Montreal. Demonstrators handed out leaflets condemning the court decision. They shouted slogans in French such as: “Prison pour le bourreau!/Liberté pour les cinq héros!” (Prison for the Executioner/Freedom for the Five Heroes); “Bush, Carriles complices! Non au terrorisme!” (Bush, Carriles Accomplices/No to Terrorism) “Chavez, Chavez a raison!/Carriles doit aller en prison!” (Chavez Is Right/Carriles Must Go to Prison.) In response to the placards and the Cuban flags, many passing motorists honked their horns in support.
Vancouver
On June 5, more than 50 people lined up in the pouring rain outside the U.S. Consulate in Vancouver to protest the unjust decision by the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals denying freedom for the Cuban Five. A statement issued by the Free the Cuban Five Committee-Vancouver (FC5C-Van was read at the action. “These 5 Cubans who were protecting their people from terrorism organized and financed in Miami, with help from the U.S. Government against Cuba must be immediately freed,” it said. Speakers outlined the U.S. double standard on terrorism, which grants freedom for Posada while continuing the attacks and injustices against the Cuban Five.
An activist with the Indigenous Action Movement related the struggle for sovereignty of Indigenous people across the Americas to the Five’s defense of Cuba against U.S. terror. Kat’s words energized the crowd into chants of “Shame!” against the U.S. government for their savage treatment of Indigenous people as well as the Cuban Five.
Guatemala
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The following statement was released by the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity Party:
The Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) expresses its concern about the decision by the Federal Court of Appeals in Atlanta, USA, upon ratifying the convictions of the Cuban Five, imprisoned for 10 years in this country.
The panel of three of judges of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals of Atlanta, Georgia, announced a verdict of 99 pages in which it returned to the same Miami court the cases of Ramón Labañino (life sentence plus 18 years), Fernando González (19 years) and Antonio Guerrero (life sentence plus 10 years). The sentences of René González, (15 years) and Gerardo Hernández (two life sentences plus 15 years) remained in place.
As is recognized by different authorities and specialists, Miami is not the appropriate place to revise these cases. It will once again be Joan Lenard, the same judge who presided over the cases in the Miami trial, who should convoke a special audience to issue the next decision on the three cases due for re-sentencing.
We reiterate our indignation about the unjust decision, which is in contrast to the protection that that country gives to notorious terrorists like Posada Carriles.
London, England
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Less than 24 hours after receiving the news that the U.S. Court of Appeal had upheld the convictions of the Cuban Five, activists gathered outside the U.S. embassy in London as part of the ‘day after’ campaign to condemn the ruling. Unable to stand in front of the U.S. embassy, which is protected by a roadblock and barriers, the activists decorated its eight-foot railings with Cuban flags, placards and pictures of the five Cuban heroes. They leafleted passers-by and gave speeches exposing the hypocrisy of the U.S./Britain “war on terrorism.” Cubans who work to defend their people from right-wing terrorists linked to the U.S. government, are unjustly incarcerated and denied basic legal rights. One speaker pointed out that the event was also a celebration — of the continued and defiant resistance of the Five and the revolutionary people of Cuba, who have resisted U.S. aggression and attacks for nearly half a century. They have shown the world that commitment to ideas, principles and justice is more powerful than all the money and armaments in the world.
A second demonstration took place June 7 at 12:00 noon in Trafalgar Square in central London. As a huge Cuban flag was waved over the demonstration and chants of ‘Justice for the Cuban Five, Free them now!’ rang out, people signed petitions, took leaflets, held placards, chanted and learned more about Cuba, the revolution and socialism.
Ukraine
Activists in the Ukraine reported on their activities to win freedom of the Five Heroes:
“1. Development of literature in Russian on the decision of the Court of Appeals of Atlanta, on June 5;
“2. Distributing that material by Internet throughout the Russian-speaking countries: Ukraine, Russia, Kazhakstan, Moldova, on June 5;
“3. Two events in solidarity with the Five in Odessa on June 7, with the participation of 40 people in each one, an inter-active seminar, distribution of materials, and showing of Mission Against Terror;
“4. Participation in the preparatory assembly of the European Social Forum, which will take place in Sweden in September. The assembly took place in Kiev on June 6, 7, 8: Intervention, distribution of materials, we placed placards and photos of the Five in the hall, we made new contacts and we planned new activities;
“5. Preparation of a protest in front of the U.S. embassy in Kiev, which will take place on June 11, 9:00 am. The Five Will Return!”
Spain
(For more information see U.S. National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, freethefive.org)
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Politics Motivated Decision in Cuban Five Case
The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) believes that politics influenced yesterday’s federal appeals court decision upholding the convictions of five Cuban patriots accused of spying in the United States. The Cuban Five were gathering information on U.S.-based exile groups planning terrorist actions against their island nation.
The court did, however, vacate the sentences of three of the Five, including two serving life terms. A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals returned the three cases to a federal judge in Miami for re-sentencing based on findings that the three men had gathered no classified information. Two Judges on the three-judge panel also upheld a conspiracy to commit murder conviction, despite government’s lack of evidence.
The full 11th Circuit court in August 2006 upheld the convictions of the Five: Gerardo Hernández, Fernando González, René González, Ramon Labañino, and Antonio Guerrero. It rejected claims that their federal trial should have been moved out of Miami because widespread opposition to the Cuban government among Cuban-Americans would make it impossible to get a fair and impartial jury.
In the appeal ruled on yesterday, the Five challenged rulings on the suppression of evidence from searches conducted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, sovereign immunity, discovery procedures, jury selection, prosecutorial and witness misconduct, jury instructions, sufficiency of the evidence to support their convictions, and sentencing.
In this latest decision, the panel voted 2-1 to affirm the life sentence for Gerardo Hernández, who was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in the deaths of four Miami-based pilots shot down by Cuban jets in 1996. In her 16-page dissent, Judge Phyllis Kravitch wrote that the government failed to present evidence sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hernández agreed to participate in a conspiracy to shoot down planes over international airspace, resulting in the deaths of four pilots from an anti-Castro organization, Brothers to the Rescue. The panel also affirmed Rene González’s 15-year sentence for acting as a non-registered foreign agent and conspiracy to act as a non-registered foreign agent.
The panel vacated the life terms of Labañino and Guerrero, agreeing with their contentions that their sentences were improperly configured because no “top secret information was gathered or transmitted.” The judges also vacated Fernando González’s 19-year sentence because he was not a manager or supervisor of the network. The panel remanded these cases to the district court for re-sentencing.
After a trial that lasted six months, the Five were convicted in 2001 of acting as unregistered Cuban agents in the United States and of conspiracy to commit espionage for attempting to penetrate U.S. military bases. A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit overturned the convictions in 2005, saying there should have been a change of venue. But the full court reversed that decision, 10-2.
“Conspiracy has always been the charge used by the prosecution in political cases,” said NLG attorney Leonard Weinglass, who represents Guerrero. “In the case of the Five, the Miami jury was asked to find that there was an agreement to commit espionage. The government never had to prove that espionage actually happened. It could not have proven that espionage occurred. None of the Five sought or possessed any top secret information or US national defense secrets,” Weinglass added. “The sentence for the conspiracy charge is the same as if espionage were actually committed and proven. That is how three got life sentences. The major charges in this case were all conspiracy related, the most serious being conspiracy to commit murder levied against Gerardo Hernández.”
“Anti-Cuba sentiment has tainted all possibility of a fair trial for the Five since their original arrest and confinement, which the UN Rapporteur on Torture described as violating the Convention Against Torture and Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,” said NLG Executive Director Heidi Boghosian. “During the original trial, the Bush administration paid journalists to write unfavorable stories about Cuba. Anti-Cuban extremists tried to intimidate the jurors, and even prospective jurors admitted that they would be afraid to return not-guilty verdicts against the Five.”
“For nearly 50 years, anti-Cuba terrorist organizations based in Miami have engaged in countless terrorist activities against Cuba,” said NLG President Marjorie Cohn. “In the face of this terrorism, the Cuban Five were gathering intelligence in Miami in order to prevent future terrorist acts against Cuba.”
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An Appeal to Trade Unionists to Champion the Cause of Justice for the Cuban Five
D ear Brother and Sister Trade -Unionists,
On Wednesday, June 4 the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a disgraceful re-affirmation of injustice, upheld the frame-up convictions in the case of the Cuban and Cuban-American defendants that have become known around the world as the Cuban Five.
September 12, 2008 marks the 10th Anniversary of the arrest, and subsequent conviction and incarceration of the Cuban Five, which stands as one of the most egregious frame-ups and denials of justice in modern times. The case of the Cuban Five has become a widely embraced cause and fight for justice in every corner of the planet.
These five Cuban and Cuban-American citizens living in the United States — Fernando Gonzales, Rene Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero, Ramon Labanino, Gerardo Hernandez — undertook the dangerous and self-sacrificing task of infiltrating ultra-right Cuban-American organizations in the Miami area with a clear and continuing history of terrorist activities organized from U.S. soil against the sovereign country of Cuba. The historical facts show that the efforts of the Cuban Five thwarted terrorist deeds and conspiracies and saved saves.
When evidence of terrorist plots gathered by the Cuban Five were turned over to the administration of President Clinton, instead of prosecuting and stopping the terrorist activity and numerous violations of U.S. law uncovered, Washington led the way to arrest and prosecute the Cuban Five. These five fighters against terrorism were falsely portrayed as “spies” and even “murderers” in a lynch-mob atmosphere in the city of Miami where the trial was held.
The trial and subsequent conviction was a travesty of justice and became a legal hot football between the U.S. Justice Department and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, whose June 5 ruling upheld the blatant misconduct and other gross behavior of the original prosecution and frame up. Previously a ruling by a panel of the Appeals court had ruled that the Five did not receive a fair trial in the Miami atmosphere. That ruling was overturned by the full court under pressure from the Bush Administration.
Attacks on workers’ rights and judicial frame ups have always accompanied periods — such as what we are going through in U.S. society today — when employers and government carry out policies that attack the living standards and hard-fought social gains of working people. The trade-union movement in the United States has a proud tradition of standing up for truth and justice in the face of government and media-inspired hysteria. An Injury to One is an Injury to All! is a time-honored motto of the labor movement. We issue this appeal to trade unionists to speak out and act for Justice for the Cuban Five!
The June 5 Appeals Court ruling latest affirmation of injustice is a challenge to all supporters of civil liberties and fair play to redouble our efforts and step up our action to win justice for the Cuban Five. Clearly we must work harder to get out the truth about this case to broad sections of the U.S. population and create the conditions and mass pressure that will break through the lies and political manipulation that has marked this infamous travesty of justice.
On Saturday, June 14 a broad coalition of organizations and prominent individuals are organizing a New York-New Jersey-Connecticut Working Conference to Free the Cuban Five. The June 14 conference will mark the renewed expansion of sustained nationwide activity for Justice for the Cuban Five! At the center of this Working Conference will be workshops oriented towards specific constituencies that can begin the work of reaching out in these areas around concrete actions and campaigns for the Cuban Five.
These include a campaign to win unrestricted travel rights for their immediate family to visit them in prison. This right under U.S. law has been callously denied to some of the prisoners. On the average, the wives, mothers and children of the Cuban Five have only been granted one to two visits per year. Most egregious has been the permanent denial of entry visas to Adriana Pérez, wife of Gerardo Hernández, and to Olga Salanueva, wife of René González. As a result, Ivette González, the seven-year-old daughter of Olga Salanueva and René Gonzalez, is also deprived of the right to see her father. She is a U.S.-born citizen.
We are specifically organizing a Labor Outreach Workshop. We urge your input, participation, and leadership in this Workshop as we move forward for the first time in the United States to organize a sustained campaign in solidarity with the Cuban Five.
We urge you to bring to the June 14 Conference activists from the Trade-Union Movement, officials and rank-and-file alike, that can get together and begin to organize to promote Justice for the Cuban Five! Thank you for your consideration and solidarity.
Rhadames Rivera – Vice-President 1199SEIU East
Ike Nahem, member, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Ray Laforest, Staff Organizer AFSCME District 1707
Joel Schwartz, President, CSEA Local 446, Staten Island
Tom Headley, member, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen
Ignacio Meneses UAW Local 174 - U.S. Cuba Labor Exchange
Bob Schwartz, AFSCME Local 3477 (Retired)
Robin McCubbin, California Teachers Association (ret.)
Gary Willhite, member & past vice-president CSEA 443
Ruben Solis Southwest workers Union endorses
Luis Matos 1199 SEIU East[TOP]
Response to Court Ruling on Cuban Five Appeal
On Wednesday, June 4, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals announced its ruling in the appeal case for the Cuban Five.
In the 99-page opinion, the three-judge panel unanimously upheld the convictions against the Five Cuban Patriots. The court also upheld the sentences given to René González (15 years) and Gerardo Hernández (two life sentences plus 15 years).
The court’s ruling on Gerardo’s sentence, however, was not unanimous: 2 to 1. On page 16 of the written opinion, Judge Phyllis Kravitch states that the government did not present sufficient evidence to convict Gerardo of conspiracy to commit murder.
The sentences of Ramón Labañino (life plus 18 years); Fernando González (19 years) and Antonio Guerrero (life plus 10 years) were returned to Judge Joan Lenard’s Florida court for re-sentencing. Lenard will need to call for a hearing to issue the new ruling — this is the same judge who imposed the excessive and unjust sentences in 2001.
The Atlanta Appeals Court’s written opinion, which employs startling political rhetoric, states that the defense’s arguments lacked merit and clearly favors the government.
The court’s ruling exposes various contradictions between the opinions of two of the justices and the author of the opinion, Judge William H. Pryor, an ultraconservative appointed to the bench with the help of Republican John McCain despite opposition from the Senate.
The defense attorneys, Weinglass, MacKenna and Horowitz, ensured they will continue the legal battle that began in December 2001 when they were unjustly sentenced. There are still some legal avenues open.
Given the United States government’s legal ploys to expand the sentences of our Five Brothers, we are not surprised by the judicial ruling. On the contrary, it reaffirms our need to continue fighting tirelessly to denounce this colossal injustice.
Exposed once again is the contempt of the United States government, which yesterday, in another U.S. city, defended the criminal Luis Posada Carriles. A man who, rather than fittingly declaring him a terrorist for his crimes against humanity and extraditing him to Venezuela where the government has declared Carriles a fugitive and repeatedly demanded his extradition, the U.S. government has granted him full liberty.
Gerardo is not surprised by the ruling. “This is the same system that has unjustly incarcerated Mumia for more than 20 years along with Leonard Peltier and the Puerto Rican political prisoners,” he said today. “We will endure as many years as necessary, 30, 40, whatever it takes. As long as one of you is resisting, we will also resist until there is justice.”
Gerardo has asked that we communicate his confidence to all of you, “For anyone who asks, tell them I am fine, strong and always looking forward.”
Along with all of our friends around the world we call for mobilizations beginning on the morning of June 6, in front of all headquarters of the terrorist U.S. government — in Europe, Latin America and the U.S. — which holds our Five Brothers imprisoned.
Only solidarity, constant condemnation and international mobilization will secure freedom for the Five.
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Workers Union Issues Appeal For Increased Efforts To Free The Five
Cuban Parliament Approves Declaration
on Cuban Five Case
The International Relations Committee of the Cuban Parliament met Wednesday and unanimously approved a declaration condemning the recent ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals of Atlanta in the Cuban Five case.
A three-judge panel sustained the guilty verdict against the five Cubans, maintained the sentences on two of them and called for a new sentencing of the other three in Miami.
The Cuban Five were arrested in 1998 for having gathered information on violent groups based in Miami with a long record of terrorist plots against the island and who operated with the knowledge of the U.S. government.
In a special meeting of the parliamentary group, the legislators agreed to send their statement to legislatures around the world.
Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada explained to the International Relations Committee the content of the 99-page ruling that maintains a double life sentence plus 15 years on Gerardo Hernandez and a 15-year sentence on Rene Gonzalez.
“We are going to appeal; we are going to ask the panel to review their decision. We will use all the resources and arguments available. We are going to appeal to the plenary of the Appeals Court of Atlanta and to the U.S. Supreme Court,” said Alarcón.
“The ruling is not by chance. Geraldo is the only one accused of charge number three (conspiracy to commit murder, which adds a political ingredient) and Rene had infiltrated the terrorist organization Brothers to the Rescue whose planes were shot down in legitimate defense by the Cuban government in February 1996.”
“To build the charge against Gerardo there was a clear manipulation of the facts,” said Alarcón. The charge was not in the original accusation; it was added seven months later and became the center of the process.
Alarcón also recalled that the judges themselves have recognized the errors committed in the sentencing in Miami. He also called to promote solidarity with the cause and recalled that unity is essential in order to win the battle, the same unity that the Cuban Five have shown. “We must continue together in this battle until the end,” he concluded.
Workers Central Union of Cuba Appeal
The Workers Central Union of Cuba recently issued an appeal to all concerned across the U.S. and worldwide to step up efforts to Free the Cuban Five. The stated, “As a result of the decision made by the Atlanta 11th Circuit Court of Appeals unjustly ratifying the guilt of our Five Heroes, prisoners of the Empire, we are requesting from your organization and from you personally, to redouble your concrete actions in order to divulge this lack of justice and that these actions might have an expression in United States public opinion.”
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IFCO/Pastors for Peace Cuba Caravan
Solidarity Not Charity!
Between June 14 and July 14, 2008 the 19th U.S.-Cuba Friendshipment Caravan is traveling on 14 different routes to visit more than 125 U.S. and Canadian cities. The Caravan is traveling in school buses, trucks, cars and a bookmobile to Cuba via Mexico with medical and educational supplies donated by groups across the U.S. and Canada as a collective challenge to the U.S. government’s immoral, inhuman and internationally condemned blockade of Cuba. The Caravan will spend 8 days in Cuba in fellowship with the Cuban people, attending and participating in cultural events, and visiting social projects such as organic farms, homes for the elderly and health centers including the Latin American School of Medicine.
Four thousand students from 28 countries study at the School of Medicine, including 120 U.S. students from economically deprived communities. They are training to be doctors under free scholarships provided by the Cuban government.
Hip Hop Without Borders is also again joining the caravan. Last year eight Hip-Hop artists traveled on the caravan and participated in an international Hip-Hop festival. The Caravanistas also brought turntables, keyboards and records to support Cuban Hip Hop. For 2008, the caravan will take a larger group of Hip Hop and performing artists to workshop and perform with Cuban artists as a cultural exchange across borders.
In Cuba, the Caravanistas will meet and learn from Cubans at every level about the problems caused by the blockade and the ways they have creatively responded. They will then return to Texas via Mexico, where the American contingent will proudly declare their travel to Cuba and their opposition to the blockade and ban on travel to Cuba. Pastors for Peace believes and teaches, by word and by deed, that Cuba is not the enemy.
Pastors for Peace is a project of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO) that was launched in response to the 1988 civilian attack by contra forces in Nicaragua. The Pastors for Peace project aims to deliver material aid to support the victims of so-called “low intensity” war in Latin America and to initiate education and advocacy projects to campaign for a more just and moral U.S. foreign policy in our hemisphere. The organization is also well known for standing in solidarity with the survivors of the government disaster of Katrina and sending its caravans of support and supplies to New Orleans.
As an organization campaigning for justice, more than 50 Pastors for Peace Caravans have traveled to Mexico, Central America and Cuba delivering life-giving aid. For Cuba, the Caravan is an important effort to end the U.S. embargo against the island. This embargo causes shortages of food, medicine and other important supplies for eleven million people. It is an immoral policy that uses hunger and disease as political weapons.
IFCO/Pastors for Peace works with the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center in Havana, the Cuban Council of Churches and a distribution committee with representatives from ten different Cuban denominations to deliver U.S.-Cuba Friendshipments. These humanitarian aid shipments mitigate the impact of the embargo and mobilize thousands of U.S. citizens in favor of an alternative. IFCO Pastors for Peace calls for an end to the embargo and normalization of relations between the two countries. “Speaking truth to power and standing firm in the face of injustice are central to the work of IFCO/ Pastors for Peace,” says the organization.
Across the U.S., people from all walks of life are signing up to be Caravanistas and are providing materials and financial support for the caravan. Based on these contributions in both the U.S. and Canada, Pastors for Peace will purchase a total 5 buses for this year’s caravan. These five buses will be symbolic representations of the Cuban Five, the five Cuban antiterrorists unjustly jailed in the U.S. for the last 10 years. Each bus, representing a member of the five, will travel on a route near the prison where that Cuban is being held. This is serving to break the media silence on the case of these political prisoners in the U.S. and mobilize support for the campaign demanding their immediate release.
19th U.S.-Cuba Friendshipment Schedule
• June 12-28: Caravan routes - educational events and aid collections in the U.S. and Canada.
• June 29-July 2: Participant Orientation in Texas.
• July 3-4: Border crossing into Mexico; travel to Tampico; load material aid onto cargo ship
• July 5-12: Fly to Havana - educational program in Cuba.
• July 13: Return to Tampico - travel to Mexico/U.S. border.
• July 14: Reverse Challenge, cross back into Texas.
The website www.pastorsforpeace.org gives further information, including information on suitable donations of material aid for the Caravan to take to Cuba.
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Pastors for Peace
U.S. Cuba Friendshipment Caravan Stops in U.S.
Alabama
Birmingham: Wednesday June 25th
Mobile: Thursday June 26th
Arizona
Flagstaff: Wednesday June 25th
Nogales: Friday June 27th
Phoenix: Wednesday June 25th
Tucson: Thursday June 26th
Arkansas
Fayetteville: Thursday June 26th
Little Rock: Thursday June 26th
California
Chico: Friday June 20th
Fresno: Monday June 23rd
Los Angeles: Monday June 23rd
Monterey: Sunday June 22nd
Oakland: Friday June 20th
Sacramento: Saturday June 21st
San Diego: Wednesday June 25th
Santa Barbara: Monday June 23rd
Watsonville: Saturday June 21st
Colorado
Boulder: Tuesday June 24th
Denver: Sunday June 22nd
Pueblo: Wednesday June 25th
Connecticut
Hartford: Wednesday June 18th
Delaware
Newark: Sunday June 22nd
Washington DC
Sunday June 22nd
Florida
Tallahassee: Wednesday June 25th
Georgia
Atlanta: Wednesday June 25th
Idaho
Boise: Saturday June 21st
Pocatello: Sunday June 22nd
Illinois
Carbondale: Wednesday June 25th
Champaign: Tuesday June 24th
Chicago: Sunday June 22nd
Rock Falls: Monday June 23rd
Rockford: Sunday June 22nd
Indiana
Bloomington: Tuesday June 24th
Indianapolis: Saturday June 21st
Terre Haute: Sunday June 22nd
Iowa
Ames: Saturday June 21st
Des Moines: Saturday June 21st
Iowa City: Sunday June 22nd
Kansas
Manhattan: Tuesday June 24th
Wichita: Wednesday June 25th
Kentucky
Louisville: Monday June 23rd
Louisiana
New Orleans: Friday June 27th
Massachusetts
Boston: Tuesday June 17th
Northampton: Sunday June 15th
Maryland
Baltimore: Saturday June 21st
Maine
Portland: Saturday June 14th
Michigan
Detroit: Friday June 20th
Minnesota
Duluth: Tuesday June 17th
Minneapolis: Thursday June 19th
Rochester: Friday June 20
Mississippi
Jackson: Thursday June 26th
Missouri
Columbia: Wednesday June 25th
Kansas City: Monday June 23rd
Montana
Bozeman: Saturday June 21st
Missoula: Friday June 20th
New Hampshire
Concord: Monday June 16th
New Jersey
Camden: Friday June 20th
New Mexico
Albuquerque: Thursday June 26th
Las Vegas: Thursday June 26th
Silver City: Thursday June 26th
Nevada
Las Vegas: Tuesday June 24th
New York
Albany: Monday June 16th
Buffalo: Saturday June 21st
Freeport: Saturday June 28th
New Paltz: Saturday June 7th
New York City: Friday June 13th
Rochester: Friday June 20th
Syracuse: Tuesday June 17th
North Carolina
Chapel Hill: Monday June 23rd
North Dakota
Fargo: Wednesday June 18th
Ohio
Cleveland: Thursday June 19th
Columbus: Monday June 23rd
Yellow Springs: Sunday June 22nd
Oklahoma
Oklahoma City: Thursday June 26th
Oregon
Ashland: Thursday June 19th
Corvallis: Monday June 16th
Eugene: Wednesday June 18th
Newport: Tuesday June 17th
Portland: Friday June 20th
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia: Saturday June 21st
Pittsburgh: Saturday June 21st
Rhode Island
Providence: Wednesday June 18th
South Carolina
Charleston: Tuesday June 24th
Columbia: Tuesday June 24th
South Dakota
Brookings: Thursday June 19th
Sioux Falls: Friday June 20th
Tennessee
Knoxville: Tuesday June 24th
Memphis: Wednesday June 25th
Nashville: Tuesday June 24th
Pleasant Hill: Wednesday June 25th
Texas
Alice: Saturday June 28th
Amarillo: Friday June 27th
Austin: Saturday June 28th
Corpus Christi: Saturday June 28th
Crawford: Saturday June 28th
Dallas: Friday June 27th
El Paso: Friday June 27th
Houston: Saturday June 28th
San Antonio: Sunday June 29th
Utah
Salt Lake City: Monday June 23rd
Vermont
Brattelboro: Saturday June 14th
Virginia
Charlottesville: Sunday June 22nd
Richmond: Sunday June 22nd
Roanoke: Monday June 23rd
Washington State
Bremerton: Wednesday June 18th
Olympia: Thursday June 19th
Seattle: Monday June 16th
Wisconsin
Luck: Wednesday June 18th
Madison: Friday June 20th
Milwaukee: Saturday June 21st
Wyoming
Laramie: Monday June 23rd
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