Tried to stop anti-Cuban terror
Miami 5 get heavy sentences
By Gloria La Riva
Miami
"If preventing the deaths of innocent human beings,
defending our two countries from terrorism, and preventing a
senseless invasion of Cuba are the reasons I am being sentenced
today, then I welcome that sentence ... this has been a
political trial and therefore we are political prisoners."
Ramon Labanino's courageous words had no effect on the
judge. He received a life sentence here on Dec. 13. His words
reflect the heroic sentiments of five Cubans who are, one by
one, being condemned to harsh prison terms. After being
railroaded by the U.S. government on false charges of espionage
against the U.S., they were convicted in June.
On Dec. 12, Gerardo Hernandez was given the stiffest
sentence: two life terms and 80 months. The next day, Labanino
got life. Rene Gonzalez received 15 years. And on Dec. 18,
Fernando Gonzalez received 19 years in prison. Antonio Guerrero
is to be sentenced on Dec. 27. He also faces a life
sentence.
As each of the four sentenced so far stood before the court
to give their declarations, their courageous words have put to
shame the complicit role of the U.S. prosecutors, who have
openly sided with the terrorists throughout the case.
The five Cubans are being persecuted for defending their
country and their people from right-wing terrorist groups based
in Miami like Alpha 66 and "Brothers to the Rescue." For a
number of years the five men had infiltrated and monitored the
actions of anti-Cuba groups in this city to prevent these sworn
enemies of Cuba from committing crimes of terror.
In September 1998, after a two-year secret FBI surveillance,
the five Cubans were rounded up and charged with espionage
against the United States and related charges. Hernandez was
convicted of an additional "conspiracy to commit murder" for
the shooting down by Cuba of two "Brothers to the Rescue"
planes on Feb. 24, 1996. The planes had ignored warnings and
penetrated Cuba's air space after flying from Florida.
Hernandez was not involved in Cuba's decision that day to
shoot down the planes of Jose Basulto's "Brothers to the
Rescue." But because he had warned Cuba of Basulto's intent to
fly over Cuba, the U.S. vindictively charged him with "plotting
to murder" the four pilots who died in the shootdown.
Hernandez also had additional reason to notify Cuba of
Basulto's actions. Basulto had told one of the Cubans--not
knowing who they really were--that he planned in the future to
drop bombs in his possession out of the plane's windows over
Cuba.
This is perhaps one of the most telling and outrageous
incidents of the whole case. In the trial, Jose Basulto,
longtime CIA agent and convicted terrorist, was portrayed as
the victim by the government. And the Cubans who tried to stop
his deadly activities were the ones persecuted.
Chief U.S. federal prosecutors Carolyn Heck Miller and John
Kastrenakes, and federal judge Joan Lenard, reiterated that
shameful stance in sentencing.
In the pre-sentencing discussion, Gerardo Hernandez's
attorney, Paul McKenna, gave a strong argument for Cuba's right
to defend itself, portraying Hernandez's mission as defending
his people.
McKenna said, "On Nov. 27 [1996], months before the
shootdown, Gerardo stated that Basulto told him about plans
with secret weapons. He said the weapons could be used ... to
provoke actions against the government [of Cuba].
"Who is Basulto? He is a CIA agent, saboteur, he was in the
Bay of Pigs invasion, he is a known terrorist, a hotel bomber,
an out-of-control pilot ... calling for the overthrow of the
Cuban government on Radio Marti. He was taunting the Cuban
military, saying they have no response, over Radio Marti. Why
was Cuba not permitted to perceive Basulto as a threat?"
U.S. prosecutor Heck Miller tried to excuse Basulto, saying,
"There was no physical violence, only a threat of violence"
from Basulto's flights. She then made the absurd argument that
three of the Cuban defendants "weren't even born before the
invasion involving the Bay of Pigs."
McKenna responded, "According to the government's theory,
you have to wait for a disaster to happen. That's not the
reality, judge. ... Basulto flew recklessly into Cuban
territory. ...What else could Cuba do? What more could they do?
How many more diplomatic notes, notes to the FAA, warnings?
They get intelligence reports from Rene Gonzalez that small
planes can be loaded with weapons."
Judge Lenard overlooked overwhelming evidence--presented at
trial--of terrorist actions by Basulto and others. In affirming
a "conspiracy to commit murder" conviction against Gerardo
Hernandez, she found his warning to Cuba of possible
overflights by Basulto more "extreme and disproportionate" than
Basulto's proven history of terrorism and his threats to drop
bombs out of his planes in coming flights.
Before his sentencing, Gerardo Hernandez addressed the
court:
"Cuba did not provoke this incident. On the contrary, it
foresaw it, and tried to prevent it through every means within
its reach. The prosecution's main argument during the trial was
that this incident was a crime, because it involved unarmed
civilian aircraft.
"This nation recently found out, in an unfortunate and
brutal manner, just how much damage can be done to its people
by an unarmed civilian plane. Perhaps that is why its top
leaders have warned that any plane that strays threateningly
from its scheduled route should be shot down, even if there are
hundreds of passengers on board ...
"The prosecution stated in this courtroom, during the final
arguments, that Gerardo Hernandez has blood on his hands."
Referring to Jose Basulto, Hernandez continued: "I wonder whose
hands are really stained with blood, if it is me or the
individual who fired on a hotel full of people in Havana, the
same individual who appears in the evidence of this case
planning to smuggle antipersonnel weapons into Cuba; the same
person who openly and recklessly defied the Cuban authorities,
over and over and over again, violating the laws of that
country, the laws of this country, and the most elemental rules
of international aviation; the same person who not only did not
hesitate to lead these young men to their deaths, but who also,
in the moments of greatest tension, when there was still time
to go back on his plans, did not do so, and instead left his
laughter on tape for all of history, while his comrades were
dying.
"This person's hands truly are stained with blood, yet this
did not seem to matter to the gentlemen of the prosecution when
they shook those bloodied hands on numerous occasions, even in
this very courtroom. Nor did it matter to the prosecutors or
the top FBI authorities in Miami when they shared the stage and
the celebrations with this same person during the press
conference on the day the verdict was announced. This is rather
contradictory behavior for those who claim to represent the
law.
"Your Honor, the prosecution considers, and has requested,
that I should spend the rest of my life in prison. I trust that
if not at this level, then at some other level of the system,
reason and justice will prevail over political prejudices and
the desire for revenge, and it will be understood that we have
done no harm to this country that deserves such a
punishment.
"But if this were not the case, I would then take the
liberty of quoting one of this nation's greatest patriots,
Nathan Hale, when he said: 'My only regret is that I have but
one life to give for my country.'"
Reprinted from the Dec. 27, 2001, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: [email protected]
Subscribe [email protected]
Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php)
HOME
:: U.S. NEWS ::
WORLD NEWS ::
EDITORIALS ::
SUBSCRIBE ::
DONATE
Email
this article
Printable
page