Vol. 72/No. 36      September 15, 2008

The concert is part of a weekend of events that will kick off an international campaign of increased activity to promote the case of the Cuban Five and win support for their freedom.

Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González, René González, and Antonio Guerrero have been imprisoned for 10 years on frame-up “conspiracy” charges.

The international campaign begins September 13, the day after the five were arrested in 1998, and will end on October 8, the anniversary of the death of the Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary leader Ernesto Che Guevara in 1967.

The concert will be held at Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture at 450 Grand Concourse at 149th Street in the Bronx. Among the top flight cast of artists participating in the lineup will be Danny Rivera of Puerto Rico, Víctor Víctor of the Dominican Republic, the Puerto Rican Golden Jazz All Stars, as well as actor Danny Glover. The program begins at 7:30 p.m. For more information, call (718) 518-4455.

Cuban jazz musician and staunch opponent of the Cuban Revolution, Paquito D’Rivera, issued a statement August 21, which was picked up in the Spanish-language media and several right-wing blogs. D’Rivera calls on artists to protest what he calls a concert for “Cuban spies.” The statement boasts about his role in pressuring Cuban musician Chuchito Valdés to withdraw from the lineup, and sharply criticizes Puerto Rican singer Danny Rivera for participating.

The five Cubans are accused of “conspiracy to commit espionage” as well as other charges, including in the case of Hernández “conspiracy to commit murder.” They were arrested in 1998 after the FBI repeatedly broke into their homes and conducted electronic surveillance, eventually arresting them on “conspiracy” charges because they couldn’t find any evidence. They were then railroaded to prison where they spent 17 months in solitary confinement and many more months without bail before going to trial. The five were convicted and received severe sentences ranging from 15 years to a double-life term.

The campaign also includes a September 13 national demonstration in Washington, D.C., to demand release of the Cuban Five. It is being organized by a coalition of groups that defend them. The rally begins at 10:00 a.m. in Malcolm X Park at 15th Street and Euclid Avenue NW, followed by a march to the White House at noon, and an indoor rally at 2:30 p.m. at the Service Employees International Union building at 1800 Massachusetts Avenue NW.

On Friday, September 12 a demonstration in support of the Cuban Five will take place in Boston. Participants will meet at the Downtown Crossing T stop beginning at 4:00 p.m. For more information, call (617) 522-9478.
 
 
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