In the spirit of Che Guevara
Belgium conference demands freedom for Cuban heroes jailed
in U.S.
Special to Workers World
Brussels, Belgium
"Free the Five, Stop the War" was the clarion call at a
daylong conference for Cuba in the capital of Belgium.
Iniciativa Cuba Socialista (Cuba Socialist Initiative), a
Belgian non-governmental organization, organized the
conference. It drew 1,000 people, with broad participation by
youths and unionists as well as members of Cuba solidarity
groups from Germany, France, the Netherlands and Latin
America.
One of the keynote speakers was Harry "Pombo" Villegas, the
Cuban revolutionary who fought alongside Che Guevara in battles
from the Sierra Maestra to Bolivia. Also featured: Rodolfo
Dávalos of the Law School of the University of Havana,
who works on the legal struggle of the Cuban Five; Katrien
DeMuynck, coordinator of the Belgian Free the Five Committee;
and Gloria La Riva, coordinator of the U.S. National Committee
to Free the Five Cuban Political Prisoners.
Beautiful wall-sized political art with a Cuban
revolutionary theme, produced by young artists of the
sponsoring organization, adorned the halls at Saint Louis
University. Iniciativa Cuba Socialista holds this annual
conference in homage to Che Guevara, who was captured by the
Bolivian army on Oct. 8, 1967, and murdered the next day on
orders from the CIA.
The U.S. imperialists wanted to eliminate Che Guevara, who
by his example in the Cuban Revolution and support for people's
struggles in Latin America, Africa and Asia, was inspiring many
to act against imperialism. Instead, Che has become an even
greater symbol and inspiration for all oppressed peoples
struggling for liberation.
Several workshops were held during the day. A
cultural-political forum took place at night.
The Cuban Five
In the workshop on the Cuban Five, Rodolfo Davalos described
how the U.S. prosecuted the five political prisoners because
they defended Cuba.
The Cuban Five, he said, "are five young men: a pilot, an
engineer, an economist, two who graduated from diplomatic
school. Two of them are U.S. citizens. What did they do? They
penetrated counter-revolutionary terrorist organizations in
Miami. Their work was not to learn any military information of
the U.S., as the U.S. claims. It was simply to learn the plans
of the terrorists: When would they plant bombs, when would they
try to assassinate?
"Cuba has suffered terrorist attacks for more than 40 years.
Not just the Bay of Pigs invasion, nor the nuclear danger of
the Cuban Missile Crisis, not just the bombing of the Cubana
flight in 1976 or the hemorrhagic dengue biological attack. It
goes on even today."
While in Belgium, Dávalos spoke to progressive
lawyers' associations on the case of the Five. He reported that
the attorneys responded with a willingness to "do whatever is
necessary to raise international legal support" for the appeals
and their freedom.
DeMuynck and La Riva were also on the panel.
The conference room in which Harry "Pombo" Villegas spoke
was packed with admirers who wanted to hear of his experiences
as a guerrilla fighter in Cuba's Revolution and as a fellow
combatant with Che in the Congo and Bolivia. Villegas began his
life in the struggle at 14, soon after the 1952 coup by
U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista. He became involved in
the urban underground movement and joined the guerrillas in the
Sierra Maestra.
In a Brussels interview with Workers World, he said of Che:
"He was an extraordinarily humane person, extraordinarily just,
with a great sense of honor, sensitivity and responsibility. In
his military activity and character, he was a very disciplined
man, very demanding and brave. He lived the principle of not
demanding of his soldiers what he himself was not capable of
undertaking.
"This gave him a great authority among the guerrilla troops,
which assured that his men followed him with absolute
confidence," he said.
The evening forum on the five Cuban heroes was marked by
poetry by Antonio Guerrero--one of the Cuban Five, along with
inspiring music, a video on their case, and talks by DeMuynck,
Villegas and La Riva.
'In the footsteps of Che'
Katrien DeMuynck said the five Cuban political prisoners
held in the United States are the heroes of the current era,
following in the example of Che's sacrifice and love for
humanity. She said: "Cuba has the right to protect itself
against terror. With that goal some courageous young men risked
their lives to infiltrate terrorist organizations of
anti-Castro Cubans in Miami. They gave to Cuba the information
that permitted it to prevent terrorist attacks. Four years ago,
five of them were arrested in Miami.
"Five young people who, walking in the footsteps of Che,
sacrificed their own lives in the service of their people.
Ramón, Antonio, Fernando, Gerardo and Rene are the
heroes of this time. In the struggle against war, they are in
the vanguard."
She quoted Ramon Labanino in his letter to supporters of the
five: "With special interest, we witness that a beautiful
process of UNITY among progressive, left, working-class and
poor movements, and even with honorable people from different
backgrounds who believe in justice and truth, is taking
place.
"This is an ideal moment to get together, to unite all our
forces, to fight against the real enemy of our peoples:
Imperialism, originator of wars, destruction and crimes, which
is destroying our planet. The people of the world deserve and
need a better future. UNITED, we can make that dream come
true.
"If our sacrifice and modest efforts help in any possible
way to reach this dream, we will be honored! Count on us, as
your brothers, in defending the good causes of the World."
La Riva: 'All out Oct. 26'
La Riva spoke of the growing war danger and the need for
mass mobilizations around the world on Oct. 26. A peace race is
being organized at Flanders for that day; a big turnout is
expected. "The Bush administration is furiously mobilizing
troops, its armada and the largest array of weapons of mass
destruction ever seen in history to wage a genocidal war
against Iraq," La Riva said.
"The faint opposition by politicians in the United States is
only a difference in tactics with Bush, Cheney and the
ultra-right. They do not differ on the objective of
annihilating the Iraqi government and people in order to take
over Iraq and its resources and more completely dominate the
Middle East. In the days and weeks ahead, we must use every
opportunity to mobilize, organize, march, demonstrate, conduct
civil disobedience, and fight to stop the war before it
starts."
She emphasized that the unity and coordination of Free the
Five support committees around the world will be the best way
to bring political pressure on the U.S. government to release
the five Cuban heroes from prison.
"Just like the fight to stop the war in Iraq, we must appeal
to the people, yes, especially the people of the United States,
to know, to understand and to help free them. Why? Because we
truly believe that once the people of the U.S. and the world
know of the existence and motives of the heroic five, they will
demand their freedom, too."
More than 1,500 signatures for the Free the Five petition
were gathered by the Iniciativa Cuba Socialista and handed over
to the U.S. committee to cap the political presentation. Then
hundreds of people filled the hall downstairs for a lively
salsa dance.
Reprinted from the Oct. 24, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
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