Miami rally
'Liberate Cuban 5 from U.S. prisons'
Special to Workers World
Miami
Miami has long been the center of anti-Cuba
right-wing forces in the United States. But it is now also a
city where a growing number of activists are standing up to
denounce terrorist groups that threaten Cuba and its supporters
with violence.
The Cuban Five were railroaded to prison here. And it is
here that, on Sept. 14, the fifth anniversary of the
imprisonment of these political prisoners was commemorated.
To hold a public meeting in Miami in defense of Cuba is a
feat. Yet over 180 people attended the commemoration, including
many from the Cuban progressive community. They came to honor
the Cuban Five as heroes and to hear attorney Leonard Weinglass
and others discuss the legal and political aspects of the
case.
The five Cubans imprisoned in the U.S. are Gerardo
Hernández, Ramón Laba ñino, Antonio
Guerrero, René González and Fernando
González. They undertook a critical mission in southern
Florida in the 1990s: to infiltrate and monitor fascist
organizations in order to keep them from carrying out terrorist
attacks on Cuba.
On Sept. 12, 1998, in an action that can only be described
as supporting the terrorists, the FBI arrested the five and
indicted them on false charges of conspiracy to commit
espionage against the U.S. government and related crimes.
A seven-month trial in the biased venue of Miami led to
their conviction on June 8, 2001. After sentencing in December
of that year, they were separated and sent to five federal
prisons.
The Free Speech Coalition of Greater Miami organized the
recent commemoration, supported by Antonio Maceo Brigade, Marti
Alliance, Association of Cuban Workers, National Committee to
Free the Cuban Five, National Lawyers Guild, Socialist Workers
Party and others.
Gerardo Hernández sent a greeting from Lompoc prison
in California on behalf of all five. "It has been five
difficult years, far away from the homeland and our loved ones.
... It has been five long years of them [the U.S. government]
not being able to get their wish that we renounce our
principles, or betray the revolution and our people.
"Thanks to you, there is not one minute when we feel alone
or discouraged, and thanks to you we are sure that some day we
will achieve victory in this battle for truth and justice."
Andrés Gómez of the Antonio Maceo Brigade,
which has organized Miami Cubans supportive of the revolution's
achievements, explained: "It is in Miami where the federal
government has for more than four decades practically suspended
the fundamental rights and guarantees of the population, rights
that exist in the rest of the country. It is in Miami where
that government has financed and organized the ultra-right in
order to further develop the permanent policy of aggression
that for almost 50 years the U.S. has maintained against the
people of Cuba."
Ira Kurzban, well-known immigration attorney in Miami, said,
"Why was this trial held in Miami, if not to assure there would
be a jury that would convict them without any hesitation. We
did a survey in Miami 20 years ago, and only 17 percent of
those polled believed that someone associated with Cuba could
receive a fair trial."
Gloria La Riva, coordinator of the National Committee to
Free the Cuban Five, urged all to get actively involved to
"liberate these heroes from prison," and to win entry rights to
the U.S. for Olga Sala nueva, wife of René
González, and Adriana Pérez, wife of Gerardo
Hernán dez. The U.S. has prohibited them from entering
to see their husbands.
Salanueva was expelled from the U.S. two years ago. It is
widely understood that she was singled out for expulsion
because her husband refused to collaborate with the FBI against
his co-defendants.
Attorney Magda Montiel, whose firm represented Salanueva in
the deportation hearing, ridiculed the government attorney's
charge that the couple were bringing up their two-year-old
daughter Ivette to be a spy. "When the trial attorney said,
'spy in training,' I thought I heard 'potty training,' it was
so outrageous," she said.
Bruce Nestor, president of the National Lawyers Guild, said
both Democrats and Republicans have pursued anti-Cuba policies
for decades. "Remember that the indictment was brought under
the Clinton administration and is being pursued by the Bush
administration. And the assault on civil rights by the Patriot
Act by Bush did not start with 9/11 but with the Effective
Death Penalty act signed by Clinton, which severely curtailed
rights of habeas corpus."
The keynote speaker was Leonard Weinglass, one of five
appeals attorneys on the case. He represents Antonio
Guerrero.
Weinglass gave a comprehensive overview of the case,
including the appeals process currently underway. Federal
prosecutors have asked for an extension to Sept. 30 to respond
to defense appeals briefs before the 11th Circuit Court. Then
the defense will answer the government, and oral arguments will
then be heard.
"The wheels of justice have ground gearless in the last
several years," said Weinglass to the court's granting of only
three minutes per defense attorney for their oral
arguments.
"When we argued the appeal of the Chicago 8 trial in 1970,
we were given two days. And in that case, the defendants faced
a maximum of 10 years in prison. ... Now in the year 2003, what
used to be a two-day argument becomes three minutes before a
three-judge panel with 119 volumes of transcripts."
Weinglass stressed that the case is not about espionage, but
the deliberately vague charge of conspiracy. "There is not a
claim by the U.S. government that they were spies. Is that a
surprise?
"What the government did in this case is what it frequently
does in cases that are political. If the government could
fashion an argument on the theory in law known as conspiracy, a
jury might be willing to convict even without evidence."
That sweeping frame-up charge, along with a hostile
anti-Cuba atmosphere in Miami and biased jury, guaranteed a
wrongful conviction on all counts. When the jury deliberated
over more than 14,000 pages of transcript, they asked not one
question of clarification.
He expressed optimism about the strength of the appeals
arguments. But Weinglass added that the only way to assure
victory is to carry out a political struggle to win public
opinion.
The poem, "A Crucial Visit," written by Antonio Guerrero and
dedicated to Weinglass, was read by Gómez at the end.
For more information, see www.freethefive.org.
Reprinted from the Oct. 2, 2003, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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