Cuban Five case breaking
the media blackout
(The
following article is from
the January 16-31,
2008
issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles
can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in
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By Johan Boyden
I can think of few legal cases today
that better capture the central hypocrisy in American imperialism's
policy and, at the very same moment, call out for the energy and
passion of youth activists to champion the truth, than the historic
case of the Cuban Five.
Most People's Voice readers are
familiar with their struggle for justice by now. For those who do not
know about the Cuban Five - if you do one thing after reading this
article, then visit the site http://www.freethefive.org
which will tell you
their story.
This year,
2008, will mark the
tenth anniversary of the Cuban Five's unjust imprisonment in the jails
of the United States, and the tenth anniversary of the international
campaign for the freedom of these political prisoners.
This past
year saw many
important actions in solidarity with the Five, bringing together around
this noble cause peoples across the world. In the spring, the Cubans
organized an international conference and launched a youth campaign for
the Five. In the summer, demonstrations were held outside US embassies
and consulates from Mexico to Australia, protesting that country's
brazen and contradictory refusal to extradite a real terrorist to
justice - CIA-trained Luis Posada Carriles - while not allowing a fair
trial for the Five, who actually were fighting terrorism.
In the fall,
an international
conference was convened in Canada, around the theme of "Breaking the
Silence" in the mass media and in people's consciousness. Delegates
came from across Canada, including Quebec. Many people - perhaps the
most important group - travelled from the US.
Now it seems
as if this general
direction of work is paying off. The New York Times ran an article on
the Five for the first time in the fall. CNN aired a 13-minute segment,
while a Reuters story on the Five was picked up by almost one hundred
US daily newspapers. In Britain, the BBC carried an interview with one
of the prisoners, also a first.
These are
very positive signs
showing that through sustained public pressure, the thunder of justice
and truth can overcome seemingly enormous obstacles. The solidarity
movement is heading into the New Year with a real momentum. As I write,
all friends of the Five are awaiting the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals
and a three-judge panel decision. Actions to push forward the demand
for the Five's liberty are being called at federal buildings and public
places across the United States, and in Canada.
Earlier
tonight, I attended one
of these demonstrations in the winter cold outside the US consulate in
Montreal. The protest was organized by the Table de concentration de
solidarité Québec-Cuba and the Comité Fabio Di Celmo pour les 5.
People
everywhere have good
reason to vocally object to the imprisonment of the Five, for their
treatment is intolerable. Every second those men spend behind bars,
denied proper access to even their mothers, wives, and children, is
undeserved. Every second is a vile and futile attempt to affront their
homeland, socialist Cuba, and the values of democracy, human dignity,
and an alternative to capitalism that this courageous island represents.
In Montreal,
opposition to the
continued US-sponsored terrorism directed against the Cuban people and
their revolution hits close to home as well. This is the wonderfully
internationalist city that Fabio Di Celmo, a native of Italy, decided
to adopt. Fabio was a Montreal resident when he was killed by a
terrorist bomb that exploded in the lobby of the Copacabana hotel in
Havana City. The bomb deliberately targeted tourists, in an attempt to
disrupt the island's revenue-generating tourism sector.
That was
September 1997. Exactly
one year later the Cuban Five were arrested for investigating the kind
of terrorist groups (counter-revolutionaries, in fact) who killed Fabio.
Today,
Fabio's father and
brother are outspoken in the cause of the Five. I have heard the
brother speak publicly. He is a sincere and genuine man who wishes this
madness directed against Cuba to end. I think Fabio's story is a
warning to Canadians, that we must not allow the Harper government to
abandon Canada's official policy of good relations with Cuba.
Back in
Montreal, "we call them
heroes," says Marianne, a student activist who brought me out to the
protest. Now my cold toes are warming up as we talk in a nearby
restaurant. "The Five are heroes because they came to the US to fight
terrorism, and now they are in jail for being terrorists."
"They are
separated from their
families almost every day, yet still they fight," her friend Evelyn
adds, pointing to the fact that for almost a decade these men could
have sold out and denounced the Cuban government.
I am
personally convinced that
if the Five were to denounce Castro, then - Flash! Beautiful mansions
would be instantly found for them in Florida or California, so much
nicer than their hard prison cells (and sometimes complete isolation,
which one of the Five was subjected to for many days just before
Christmas).
Yet Ramon
Labanino (one life
sentence), Antonio Guerrero (one life sentence), Fernando Gonzalez
(nineteen years), Rene Gonzalez (fifteen years) and Gerardo Hernandez
(two life sentences), remain resolute.
That is why,
for 2008,
progressive people all across the world have renewed their commitments
to win the Cuban Five's release, staying on alert for emergency
demonstrations. I think that I can speak for all the Young Communist
League when I say that we join with those who champion this demand -
with the firm belief that through our combined efforts we will expose
the truth, and see their freedom soon.
- Johan Boyden is the General Secretary
of the Young Communist League of Canada.
Found at:
http://www.peoplesvoice.ca/Cuban_Five_case_breaking_the_media_blackout.html