Their crime? Monitoring terrorists
Cuban 5 face stiff sentences in imperialist court
By Gloria La Riva
Miami
Editor's note: On Dec. 12, Federal Judge Joan Lenard
sentenced Cuban patriot Gerardo Hernandez to two consecutive
life terms plus 80 months. The following article was written
before the sentencing began.
The case of five Cuban political prisoners in the U.S.
reached a critical stage as their sentencing hearings opened on
Dec. 10 in federal district court here.
Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Laba ñino,
Antonio Guerrero, René González and Fernando
González were unjustly convicted by the U.S. government
in June for defending their country from right-wing terrorist
groups based in Miami.
Although charged with espionage against the United States,
the Cubans showed in trial that they were only monitoring the
actions of notorious terrorist groups that have operated with
impunity for more than 43 years from U.S. soil.
Organizations like Omega 7, Alpha 66, Cuban American
National Foundation and Brothers to the Rescue are responsible
for a long history of assassinations, bombing of airplanes and
biological warfare against Cuba and its people. Since the
triumph of the revolution in 1959, the CIA has actively
trained, funded, directed and sustained these fascist elements
as part of the longstanding U.S. war against Cuba.
Instead of trying and imprisoning the terrorists, the U.S.
government has conducted an aggressive campaign against Cubans
who have infiltrated the Miami groups with the aim of
preventing future terrorist acts against their country. After a
two-year-long FBI secret investigation, the five men were
arrested before dawn on Sept. 12, 1998, in the Miami area.
As the old federal courthouse in downtown Miami opened for
the sentencing phase, spectators knew they were witnessing an
extraordinary injustice against the five Cuban patriots, who
are very likely to receive long prison terms despite having
committed no crime, and in fact acting selflessly and
heroically.
In Cuba, where they are known simply as Ramón,
Gerardo, Fernando, René and Antonio, the five are highly
regarded as heroes who defended their people by taking on the
dangerous duty of infiltrating the terrorist groups in Miami.
Their struggle has been covered extensively by the Cuban media.
Since their conviction in June, mass rallies held every
Saturday have demanded their freedom.
Family members fly in from Cuba
The first day's court session on Dec. 10 addressed the
common issues facing all five defendants. On subsequent days
each Cuban will receive his individual sentence.
Hernández will be sentenced first; Antonio Guerrero's
case will be heard on Dec. 27.
The mothers of four of the Cubans were present in court,
having flown in from Cuba to support their sons. René
González's 16-year-old daughter, Irma, also came. But in
an act of cruel insensitivity, the U.S. government granted
Ramón Labañino's wife Elizabeth an entry visa to
the U.S. to start two days after he is sentenced.
Labañino's mother is deceased.
The initial discussions focused on the defense attorneys'
request that Judge Joan Lenard consider mitigating factors and
lessen the sentences of the five. It was an extremely technical
exchange of legal arguments between defense and prosecutors
revolving around federal guidelines for sentencing. All face a
possibility of 10 years for "failure to register as a foreign
agent."
Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino and
Antonio Guerrero also face possible life in prison for
"conspiracy to commit espionage," although the government
failed during trial to prove any conspiracy or espionage
against the U.S. At one point, William Norris, attorney for
Labañino, raised again his objection to the government's
use of secret evidence to convict on conspiracy. Norris said,
"We don't know what the top secrets are, or how the government
arrived at its secrecy."
Hernández faces a second life sentence for an even
more outrageous charge of "conspiracy to commit murder,"
related to the deaths of four "Brothers to the Rescue" pilots
who invaded Cuban airspace in February 1996 and were shot down
by Cuba. Despite numerous warnings by the Cuban government,
which officially notified the U.S. about the continued
violation of its territory, "Brothers" refused to stop their
incursions until Cuba shot down the plane.
Hernández was convicted for conspiracy in their
deaths because he monitored "Brothers to the Rescue." However,
it was well known and documented that the Cuban government
intended to act decisively that day if "Brothers" went through
with its announced plans to violate Cuban air space.
They monitored known terrorists
Joaquín Méndez, attorney for Fernando
González, gave the main arguments for the reduction of
sentence. He cited legal provisions that allow for "downward
departure" if a defendant commits an act "to prevent a greater
harm. That's the general principle with respect to all our
defendants."
He showed, for example, that Fernando González was
"indeed involved in keeping an eye on activities of persons who
have engaged in acts of violence against Cuba and Cuba's
leaders," and cited the case of Orlando Bosch as one of those
persons whom González was monitoring.
Bosch, an infamous CIA operative, was imprisoned in
Venezuela for the bombing deaths of 73 civilian passengers on a
Cubana airlines flight on Oct. 6, 1976. He was released,
reportedly after pressure from U.S. Ambassador Otto Reich, who
is now a Bush nominee for assistant secretary of state for the
Western Hemisphere. Bosch then entered the U.S. illegally.
When the Justice Department acted to deport him for his
heinous crimes, saying that the bombing of the Cuban airliner
had been "under the direction of Bosch," the senior George
Bush--a former director of the CIA--signed a presidential
pardon in 1990. Bosch has lived freely in Miami ever since.
Later in the three-hour hearing, attorneys for the five
asked the court to take into account the 18 months that the
Cubans spent in the Security Housing Unit (SHU), notorious
isolation cells that are now common in many U.S. prisons.
Again, Méndez was hard-hitting in his description of
the cell's inherent cruelty and the injustice of the men being
relegated to the "hole" for absolutely no reason. He emphasized
that in three years of Miami detention, the five had never been
accused of causing any problem to warrant isolation.
"They were in cells three meters long and two meters wide,
no company, no contact with the outside world," said
Méndez.
To U.S. prosecutor John Kastrenake's arrogant claim that no
psychological or physical injury was caused by the SHU,
Méndez responded, "They spent 18 months in solitary
confinement. You don't touch anyone. You can't put your
daughter on your lap, you speak through plexiglass one inch
thick. Eighteen months without the warmth of human contact. Do
we need an affidavit to show these conditions are
deplorable?"
The five had been convicted based on an aggressive U.S.
government persecution and secret "evidence" that could never
be challenged, the refusal of the judge to allow for a change
of venue, and other legal violations.
Throughout their imprisonment, trial and now sentencing,
they have held their heads high. They express complete
solidarity with each other and regard each other as brothers.
As they walked into court together for the first time, they
smiled warmly to their mothers and supporters in the front
rows.
At the end of the first session, after Judge Lenard had
reviewed the procedure for sentencing in the coming days, she
asked each Cuban if he wanted to attend the others' hearings.
They all said yes without hesitation.
Their fearless conduct has conveyed a clear message. They
have nothing to regret, nothing to renounce. With belief in
their revolution so strong they would defend it in the most
reactionary circles in Miami, with the unwavering support of
the entire Cuban people and leadership, and with the solidarity
they are inspiring in the U.S., Ramón, Gerardo,
Fernando, René and Antonio are bound to some day win
justice.
Gloria La Riva and photojournalist Bill Hackwell are in
Miami to show solidarity with the Cuban patriots during their
sentencing. They are repre senting the National Committee to
Free the Five Cuban Political Prisoners Held in U.S. Prison,
which has initiated a nationwide campaign to spread awareness
of their struggle and to organize political support for their
freedom. For information on how to get involved, contact:
freethefive@actionsf.org
Reprinted from the Dec. 20, 2001, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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