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Solidarity: A priority of the Cuban Revolution

CUBA, December 29, 2010.- During a ceremony held to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), the president of the Cuban Parliament, Ricardo Alarcón, spoke about the work done by Cuban collaborators in other countries and said that Cuba’s internationalist policy is part of the history of the island

The Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) celebrated its 50th anniversary on Tuesday, December 28.

During the ceremony, the president of the Cuban Parliament, Ricardo Alarcón, said “The world has supported Cuba because Cuba has meant a lot to the world.”

Alarcón spoke about the work done by Cuban collaborators in other countries and said that Cuba’s internationalist policy is part of the history of the island.

He also spoke about the Cuban combatants who fought in Angola against apartheid and about Che, “who was always in the front line of the solidarity movement.”

ICAP President Kenia Serrano said that “the main objective of this institution is to maintain the ethic and values of its founders,” including Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro, architect of the creation of this renowned organization.

On behalf of the five Cuban antiterrorist fights unfairly imprisoned in the United States for over 12 years, Antonio Guerrero and René González sent their thanks to the movements that support their cause and paid tribute to the memory of Sergio Corrieri, one of the principal promoters of ICAP.

In a trial plagued with irregularities and held in a highly biased Miami court, the Cuban Five —Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González, Antonio Guerrero and René González— were given harsh sentences ranging from 15 years to consecutive life terms plus 15 years. The five Cubans were working to uncover information about terrorist activities being planned and carried out against Cuba by ultra-rightwing organizations based in southern Florida with a long record of terrorist actions against Cuba and the Cuban people. When they turned their information over to authorities they were arrested and have been in jail ever since.

A UN Working Group reviewing the case determined that the trial did not take place in a climate of objectivity and impartiality, which is required in order to conclude on the observance of the standards of a fair trial. The UN report also charges that the Cuban Five were wrongfully held for seventeen months in solitary confinement after their arrest, and that their lawyers were deprived of the opportunity to examine all of the available evidence before the government invoked the Classified Information Protection Act.

Shortly following the UN ruling, on August 9, 2005, a three judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals of Atlanta issued a 93-page reversal of the initial conviction as well as nullified the sentences. In response to the reversal, the Bush administration and Attorney General Gonzales vehemently pushed for the US Solicitor General to appeal the verdict of the three-judge panel’s decision before all twelve judges of the 11th circuit in Atlanta. This time the court bowed down to pressure from the Bush administration and reversed the previous pro-Cuban Five ruling.

Presiding over the ICAP anniversary ceremony in Havana was Cuban Vice President of the Council of State Esteban Lazo and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla. Also attending the celebration were relatives of the Cuban Five and representatives from the Cuban arts and culture sector. (Cubaminrex-Jubentud Rebelde)

 

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