For Olga Salanueva, wife of René González – one of the Five – rights are to be demanded with energy, wisdom and the desire that the truth be told

Lilliam Riera
Granma International
May, 2004-06-11
"Information, that’s what the U.S. people need in terms of the Five’s case," affirmed Olga Salanueva, wife of René González, one of the Cubans who are serving unjust sentences in U.S. prisons for fighting terrorism.

An extremely sensitive woman, but one who knows how to stand firm despite the fact that they are preventing her and her little daughter Yvette from visiting René in prison, Olga is convinced that "it is very difficult to deceive people who are informed, " she told Granma International.

For Olga, the campaign to raise awareness of the true facts of the case is very important so as to counteract the "negative and manipulative" news about Cuba that is regularly received by the U.S. people.

A wife and mother who believes that "rights are to be demanded with energy, wisdom and the desire that the truth be told," she acknowledges the step forward that was made with the publication of a full-page advert on the Five in The New York Times and news broadcasts on certain channels, such as Fox News, in the effort to "break the wall of silence" that has been built up around the case.

However, Olga is not satisfied. "I think it’s vital to carry on working in this sense" adding that "we, as relatives, set out to try to be able to say every day when we go to bed: "Today we did something for the Five, whether in Cuba or in any other place in the world."

She commented that René, Ramón, Gerardo, Fernando and Antonio "are optimists". They receive news of all that’s being done for them through their families or through people from solidarity committees who write to them.

Her face lights up when in frank complicity she tells me that during a phone conversation with René, he told her that he was happy with the hearing that took place recently, that the questions the judges asked gave the indication that they were surprised by the injustices that had been committed, how the law had been violated and that there could be positive results from the appeal.

Olga confessed that the most difficult aspect surrounding the injustice of the Five’s imprisonment - which she always condemns with determination - is the fact that she and her daughter have been denied the right to see her husband.

Visibly emotional, she stated that "we are not doing it to arouse pity, but so that people know just how far they will go in their attempts to manipulate, use and humiliate people, including children."

"Then," she said, "although it’s very painful, you have to be strong because you also feel very angry and, most of all, you know that you’re right and you’re not going to claim your rights by crying."

- Miami 5