Women say, ‘Free Cuban Five—stop double standard’

Detroiters from the United States, a country whose media boasts of “all news, all the time,” had to cross the border to this city in Canada on Oct. 31 to hear firsthand the story of Irma González and Elizabeth Palmeiro.

Irma González and Elizabeth Palmeir WW photo: Cheryl LaBash

Both women are relatives of Cubans imprisoned in the U.S. for the “crime” of monitoring terrorist paramilitaries in Miami who had been responsible for organizing violent acts against Cuba. Irma is the 22-year-old daughter of René González; Palmeiro is the spouse of Ramón Labañino. These two men, plus three others also in U.S. jails, have become known as the Cuban Five.

The two women are touring Canada. Their testimony about their loved ones exposes the U.S. government’s glaring double standard of imprisoning anti-terrorists while bombing populations halfway across the globe in a supposed “war on terrorism.”

The U.S. government has welcomed admitted terrorists like Orlando Bosch, who now freely lives in Miami. Luis Posada Carriles, wanted in Venezuela for the murder of 73 people killed when a midair bomb blew up a Cuban airliner 30 years ago, is being held in Texas for entering the U.S. illegally. But he may soon be released because Attorney General Alberto González has failed to label him a terrorist. Posada was also convicted in Panama of planning to bomb a university assembly when Cuban President Fidel Castro was speaking there.

The Five are heroes in Cuba because they provided a vital early warning system to protect their homeland from such Miami-based terrorists.

The speeches by their loved ones revealed the deep sacrifices they have made. Not only are the Five now imprisoned in super-max prisons, but they are denied their international and constitutional right to family visits as additional punishment against them.

Palmeiro described how Adriana Pérez and Olga Salanueva, spouses of two others of the Five, have been denied visas to enter the U.S. since 2000. Palmeiro herself cannot even apply for a visa to see Labañino until March 2008, due to changes in regulations.

“We need people to help us put an end to this double standard. Solidarity is the cornerstone. We need a movement inside the U.S. to free the Cuban Five, like the one for Mumia Abu-Jamal, the Puerto Rican Independence prisoners and that freed Nelson Mandela.”

González began her story in tears. Pointing to pictures of her father on a banner in front of the room, she said, “This has destroyed the life of my family. I was six when my dad left Cuba. Terrorism against Cuba is not paranoia. I was 12 when my mom took us to live with our dad in Miami. I knew what the revolution meant. My dad was the same person I knew before. He took me to the meetings of the terrorists. I heard them planning to destroy my system through violence. Then when we went home my dad taught me the opposite. When you hear these things, you see the difference.”

González ended, “It’s not fair—we’re going to fight.”

The meeting in Windsor, part of a 13-day cross-Canada tour organized by the Canadian Network on Cuba, was co-sponsored by Canada-Cuba Friendship Association—Windsor and supported by the Detroit-based Justice for Cuba Coalition and U.S./Cuba Labor Exchange.

More information about the case of the Cuban Five and the international campaign to free them and fight for family visits can be found at www.antiterroristas.cu, www.freethefive.org and www.freethefiveny.org.