The Militant (logo)  
   Vol. 67/No. 17           May 19, 2003  
 
 
Cuban patriots in U.S.
prisons write about fight to
release them from 'hole'
(feature article)
 
Printed below are excerpts from letters by Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González, and René González four of five Cuban revolutionaries serving draconian sentences in U.S. prisons on frame-up charges brought by the U.S. government. The fifth is Antonio Guerrero. The Cuban Five, as they are known, were carrying out an internationalist mission to gather information on ultrarightist organizations with a record of violent attacks on Cuba carried out from U.S. soil with Washington’s complicity. They were arrested by FBI agents in 1998. Each was charged with "conspiracy to commit espionage" and "conspiracy to act as an unregistered foreign agent." Hernández was also charged with "conspiracy to commit murder." They were convicted in a federal court in Miami in June 2001, given sentences from 15 years in prison to a double life term, and locked up in five federal prisons spread out across the country.

On February 28 the five men were thrown into solitary confinement--"the hole"--after an order by the Justice Department charging that the extensive solidarity they had received in the form of correspondence and the few visitors they were allowed made them a "national security risk." An international campaign of protests was launched against this unsuccessful attempt by Washington to break them. They were released from the hole a month later. The translation of the letters from Spanish is by the Militant.
 

*****

Gerardo Hernández
First of all, many thanks! If today we’re out of "the hole," we owe it to the solidarity of many compañeros who united their efforts to denounce the injustice that was being committed. As always, support from the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial was there. For that reason, I would like your help in expressing our gratitude to all our brothers and sisters, and to reiterate how proud we are to be able to count on compañeros like you. We also send our sincere greetings for May 1, International Workers Day, and reaffirm our support and solidarity toward compañero Róger Calero.

I can tell you that during the month I was in the hole, they did not give me even a single letter. A few days afterward, they gave me a large amount of accumulated mail, including a number of items that you kindly sent me: Granma, the Militant, Perspectiva Mundial.

At the present time they are delivering mail to me with a delay of several days. But there doesn’t appear to be any additional limitation. For that reason, I’d like to continue receiving the same materials, which bring us a ray of light in the midst of the ever-growing darkness of disinformation in the big media.

Gerardo Hernández
U.S. Penitentiary
Lompoc, California  
 
Ramón Labañino
We are deeply and eternally grateful for the beautiful and powerful support of all our brothers and sisters and of all human beings of good will who, with speed and firmness, protested the cruel and pitiless injustice of throwing the five of us into the "hole," at a crucial moment for our legal cases, when our appeal was to be heard before the 11th Circuit Court of Atlanta on April 7. But solidarity, firmness, brotherhood, and truth won out, and the U.S. government was forced, within 30 days, to pull back from the atrocity they wanted to subject us to for years.

Thanks to each and every one of you, we’re back in the general population. And thanks to this beautiful effort, the day is getting nearer when we will see freedom; of that we have no doubt. Counting on your support makes us proud to defend you in this special trench, to defend the right to life, peace, and love among our peoples; and little by little to build the better world that humanity deserves and needs. Counting on your support also makes us certain of the final victory.

Ramón Labañino
U.S. Penitentiary
Beaumont, Texas  
 
Fernando González
As to the hole, this was an act of political repression. The government fears the truth, and it’s worried about the solidarity we’re receiving and the growing strength of the political campaign for our release. Nevertheless, through their arbitrary and unjust act, what they did was to strengthen that solidarity.

I’m grateful to the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial for the support in making known our conditions of isolation, and for their solidarity.

A few months ago, I received the book Marx and Engels on the United States and I found it very interesting. I was also recently sent Labor’s Giant Step by Art Preis, which I’m sure will make instructive reading. I really know very little about the history of trade unionism in the United States. As you know, that subject is not included in most books about this country’s history.

I’ve had no difficulty in regularly receiving both the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial, as well as Granma Internacional. I’m sincerely grateful for the effort you’re making in providing us with these and other publications.

I hope you’re completely settled in your new offices.

Fernando González
Federal Corrections Institution
Oxford, Wisconsin  
 
René González
I too felt great relief when they went to get me out of the hole. I’m getting back to my routine and I am recovering lost time. All of this thanks to the solidarity of people like you who gave us their support at that juncture.

I should tell you that since they lifted the sanction, mail delivery has been normalized, and I’m regularly receiving Granma Internacional, Perspectiva Mundial, the Militant, and Cuba Socialista. Shortly before I was confined, I received Marianas in Combat and Malcolm X Talks to Young People--in both English and Spanish. I read the first one, which I found extremely enjoyable. The second one is waiting in line after I finish the magnificent biography of Nelson Mandela that I’m reading at the present time, courtesy of some friend whose identity I’ve been unable to discover. Through your newspapers, I’m kept up to date on the titles Pathfinder publishes, so from time to time I will continue requesting one or another of your magnificent books.

René González Sehwerert
Federal Corrections Institution
Edgefield, South Carolina  
 
 
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