Mike Fuller and Teresa Gutierrez

New York, Nov 22 (Prensa Latina) Surpassing goals, grappling with complex issues and defining directions for the future, more than 150 people attended a teach-in on the Cuban Five.

The teach-in was sponsored by the New York Committee to Free the Cuban Five and the Puerto Rican/Latin American Studies Department at John Jay College, with representation from the Pastors for Peace, Venceremos brigade, the Cuba Solidarity Network of New York and the International Action Center (www.iacenter.org).

In a telephone conversation from upstate New York, organizer Teresa Gutiérrez said she was very optimistic that they had “reached a new audience of students and community members,” and that the detailed accounts from Linda Backiel and Leonard Weinglass enlightened many people to the plight of Cubans Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labañino, Fernando Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero and Rene Gonzalez. These victims of a “horrendous injustice that blatantly violates their human and civil rights” are currently doing time in US jails for allegedly threatening this country’s security, when in reality they were only gathering intelligence for Cuba on plans for terrorist attacks against that country.

Leonard Weinglass and Linda Blackiel

Lawyer Leonard Weinglass gave a solid background for the case, linking it to present incidences of US destabilization regarding Cuba, manifested by incidents like the recent “massive defection of dancers.” This former defender of the Chicago Seven (link to http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Chicago7/chronology.html) said that wasn’t an isolated event and expressed concern about new Bush cabinet appointees and meddling in Cuba.

The thoughtful questions and productive dialog continued for the other keynote speaker, Linda Blackiel, longtime activist and 1960’s lawyer defending freedom fighters. Ms. Blackiel broke down for eager participants the volumes of trial literature and exposed the fact that the Cubans had no access to much of the material used against them. She also noted the impossibility of fair trial in Miami, and stressed the outcome of this case will be a defining moment for the island.

Ramsey Clark and Lucius Walker

Former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark explained the Five came to monitor this country because it had a long history of trying to undermine the Cuban Revolution, and pointed up differences like the health care systems as decisive issues in the distance between the two countries.

Medicine was echoed by executive director of the Pastors for Peace, Lucius Walker, who talked about the free medical scholarships being offered for US citizens who promise to return and practice in low-income U.S. communities. (http://www.ifconews.org/medschool.html)
Travel to Cuba

Another hot issue discussed was the travel prohibition for US citizens, with a special performance by Bojah, a hip hop artist threatened by the U.S. Department of Treasury for traveling to Cuba. According to www.bojah.com, “Satter is a professional musician who took part in a conference in his field of research, the 9th International Hip Hop Festival.” [link to my hip-hop article] He says he “traveled to Cuba legally under the then current provisions of OFAC regulations and this investigation constitutes harassment.”

Gutiérrez said the workshop was a major victory in consciousness raising, and that some of the media present were Peoples Video and WBAI radio, who did live recordings. In terms of future projections, she said they are now waiting to hear from US courts for a ruling on a venue change. A special moment at the event was the reading of a note from Fernando Gonzalez, written for the US jail where he does not belong.