Vol. 77/No. 37      October 21, 2013

“Tomorrow marks the 37th anniversary of the bombing of the Cubana Airlines plane. So we’re also organizing against that kind of terrorism,” Gómez added. He noted that Luis Posada Carriles, a U.S.-trained mercenary who organized the 1976 airline bombing that killed all 73 people aboard Flight 455, still walks free on the streets of Miami. In 1998 Posada bragged in a New York Times interview about his role in a string of bombings of Cuban hotels, restaurants and dance clubs the year before.

Gómez invited participants to join a delegation that will take part in the Ninth International Colloquium for the Freedom of the Five, which will be held in Holguín, Cuba, Nov. 13-17. It will be the first of these annual conferences to include René González, who won his fight to return to Cuba in May.

The caravan of more than 40 cars drove through the streets of this largely working-class area for over an hour, receiving many honks of support as well as a few jeers and thumbs down. It was organized by the Alianza Martiana, a coalition of Cuban-American organizations that oppose U.S. government attacks on Cuba and has campaigned to free the Cuban Five.

Tom Baumann, Socialist Workers Party candidate for mayor of Miami, took part in the caravan. “We point to the Five as examples to be emulated. They are fighting for the interests of working people in Cuba and here,” Baumann told a reporter from Radio Miami before the caravan took off.

“This action is important to let people in the United States know that there are five men who are prisoners for fighting against terrorism, that they are good people, not spies,” said Samuel Aranda. “The problem is people are misinformed by the media.” Aranda, who works as a maintenance worker, moved here from Cuba a little over a year ago and heard about the caravan on the radio.

Kian Seara, a student at Florida International University whose family came here from Cuba soon after the 1959 revolution, was also taking part in his first action in support of the Five. “There’s a lot of lies and rumors about Cuba, and it’s hard to find out what’s true,” he told the Militant. “People who are critical of the revolution, like Yoani Sánchez, are given lots of press time. Those who organize events like this are kept in silence, or sometimes worse.” He said he thinks it is important to find ways to inform people more about the case of the Cuban Five.
 
Related articles:
Philadelphia event discusses fight to free Oscar López
Angola war conference highlights role of Cuban internationalism
Who are the Cuban Five?
 
 
 
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