As you may already know, the Cuban Five are five Cuban men who have been in US prisons for the last ten years, serving four life sentences and seventy-five years collectively, after being arrested in September 1998 and wrongly convicted in U.S. federal court in Miami in 2001. They are: Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labanino, Antonio Guererro, Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez. Both Rene Gonzalez and Antonio Guererro are also US citizens who were born in Miami, Florida.
They were falsely accused by the U.S. government of committing espionage, conspiracy against the United States, and related charges. But the Five pointed out vigorously in their defense that they were fighting terrorism – they were monitoring the actions of CIA-backed Miami-based terrorist groups, in order to prevent attacks on Cuba and in the USA. The Five’s actions were never directed at the U.S. government.
They never harmed anyone nor ever possessed nor used any weapons while in the United States. Also on 9 separate occasions, the U.S. government has denied entry visas to the Adriana Perez, wife of Gerardo Hernández, and Olga Salanueva, wife of René González, to visit their imprisoned husbands. It has been almost 10 years since they last embraced. Their visitation rights must be respected! On Saturday September 13, we will convene in Washington, DC to demand their freedom and immediate visitation rights.
