CubaMinrex. Sitio del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba

A call to Barack Obama from Malaysia to free the Cuban Five

A CALL TO OBAMA -- FREE THE CUBAN FIVE!

Eight months into the Obama Presidency, one of the greatest travesties of justice in
recent American judicial history has not been remedied. It is a travesty that most
Americans – except those living in Miami--- are not even aware of. The media has
deliberately chosen to ignore the tragedy of the ‘Cuban Five.’

11 years ago, on 12 September 1998, five men of Cuban origin, two of them American
citizens born to Cuban parents living in the US, were arrested in the US on charges of
conspiracy to commit espionage. They were sentenced to terms ranging from 15 years
to double life in a Miami court in 2001, after what was at that time the longest trial in
the US.

The five--- Fernando Gonzalez, Gerardo Hernandez, Antonio Guerrero, Ramon
Labanino, and Rene Gonzales--- were not involved in any act of espionage against the
US. They were not in possession of any weapons. Neither did they kill or injure any
person. The Five were monitoring Cuban exile groups in the US with a proven record
of committing terrorist acts against the Cuban people and the Cuban nation. They were
gathering information about the terrorist missions that these groups were planning and
had informed the US authorities about what they (the Cuban Five) were doing. And yet
they were arrested and jailed after an unfair and unjust trial.

To understand why the Cuban Five did what they did, one has to remember that tiny
Cuba has been the target of every US Administration since 1959. US security and
intelligence agencies, working hand in glove with US proxies, agents and Cuban exiles
operating from Miami, have been directly or indirectly responsible for a military
invasion of the island state; the destruction of one of its civilian planes and the murder
of all its passengers; bomb attacks; and countless assassination attempts upon its former
President, Fidel Castro. Since 1961, the US Administration has also imposed crippling
economic sanctions upon Cuba that have stunted the development of the nation. There
is no doubt at all that these are acts of terrorism perpetrated against a nation whose
only ‘sin’ is its desire to chart its own future and to determine its own destiny.

President Obama recognises the right of a nation to determine its own destiny, to
protect its independence and its sovereignty. The US seeks to eliminate terrorism. It
should not incarcerate individuals who were trying to expose terrorist activities aimed
at subverting their nation’s sovereignty and integrity.

If Obama is serious and sincere about making changes to US policy on Cuba he should
free the Cuban Five immediately. It will be a clear signal to Havana that the US is
prepared to bring to an end five decades of outrageous bellicosity against Cuba. The
release of the Cuban Five could well be the beginning of the normalisation of ties
between the US and Cuba. Normalising ties with Cuba should be one of Obama’s main
foreign policy goals.

By Dr. Chandra Muzaffar,
President,
International Movement for a Just World (JUST).

Malaysia, 15 September 2009. (Cubaminrex- Embacuba Malysia)

<< Back