CubaMinrex. Sitio del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba

The Cuban Five should be decorated, says Venezuelan Minister

CUBA, September 30, 2008. (acn) The Five Cuban anti-terrorism fighters unjustly incarcerated in the United States should be decorated and not condemned, stated Venezuela’s Minister for Women’s Issues, María León.

In an interview published on Tuesday by Juventud Rebelde newspaper, the Venezuelan official, in reference to the cruelty of those who administer justice in the United States, expressed: “As a woman, I’m embarrassed by this moment of history in front of future generations. How could we put up with such clumsy, cruel and inhumane people for so many years?”

The Venezuelan Minister also asked herself: How come all of us peoples are not already knocking down that monstrous empire? How is it possible that the US justice system can condemn five men whose only crime was that of loving their homeland and yet applaud the main criminal and terrorist in the region (Posada Carriles)?

She recalled that Antonio Guerrero, Gerardo Hernandez, Rene Gonzalez, Ramon Labañino and Fernando Gonzalez (internationally known as The Five) have already served 10 years’ imprisonment in US jails without having committed any crime, and that they just fulfilled the mission of preventing the development of terrorist actions against Cuba from US soil.

Maria Leon, who joined solidarity-with-Cuba campaigns when she was very young, explained that the Venezuelan people are now living a special moment “in which President Hugo Chavez has asked Venezuelans to re-boost the Bolivarian Revolution in all of its dimension –and what a beautiful element solidarity is for that re-boost.

“A Latin American poetess said,” stressed León, “that solidarity is the tenderness of the peoples. Then, our re-boost, and I speak on behalf of the State, embraces solidarity with Gerardo, Ramon, Antonio, Fernando, Rene, their mothers, wives, and children; it embraces solidarity with Cuba and its people”.

She pointed out that, in concreting this solidarity, various Venezuelan institutions have united their efforts “to begin a plan of action that accompanies the demand for an immediate release of The Five and the cessation of the double standards of the US government with regard to terrorism”.

“One Rose for The Five” is the name that has been given to that national campaign “that calls together all the women of Venezuela and from around the world, and which will not only keep us in the struggle for justice but will also contribute to the strengthening of the Cuban and Venezuelan peoples’ awareness, solidarity, and spirit of anti- imperialism and anti-terrorism.” (Cubaminrex- ACN)