Free the Cuban Five

While Bush’s so-called “war on terror” rages on in the Middle East and against communities of color at home, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against five Cubans who were in the United States specifically to prevent terrorism.

The Cuban Five—Fernando González, René González, Antonio Guerrero, Gerardo Hernández, and Ramón Labañino—have been held in U.S. prisons for the past eight years for the “crime” of defending their native Cuba against well-documented terrorist attacks. A year ago, a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court ruled that the Five should receive a new trial given that the original one was held in Miami—the city where many terrorist plots against Cuba have been organized, and where lawyers have documented coercion and threats against the trial’s jurors. This latest ruling on Aug. 9 reverses the earlier findings of the three-judge panel, and denies a new trial to the Five.

This month, working and oppressed people the world over are celebrating the 80th birthday and healthy recovery of Fidel Castro. U.S. imperialists are fuming with the knowledge that, due in large part to the remarkable leadership of Comandante Fidel, the Cuban people will continue their revolution should anything happen to him.

Put into context, this ruling is yet another attempt by the imperialists
to punish socialist Cuba—not just for surviving the past 53 years, but for helping to put imperialism on the defensive in the “battle of ideas.” That battle has exposed to the world that the biggest terrorists sit in the White House, and that their reign of terror extends to Latin America, the Middle East, and beyond.

Yet the ruling has implications for all people facing the U.S. criminal “justice” system. At an emergency press conference on the ruling on Aug. 10, National Lawyers Guild attorney Bruce Nestor explained, “The decision really gives tremendous power to the government to bring politically motivated prosecutions and to then select a favorable location where community prejudice will
favor the government and allow the government to obtain a conviction where the evidence did not support
a conviction.”

The struggle for the Five—who are renowned as heroes in Cuba—is not over. A national march and forum on Sept. 23 in Washington, D.C., takes on greater importance, as well as local actions throughout the country that month.

Free the Cuban Five! U.S. Hands off Cuba!

For more information visit www.freethefive.org.