These five Cuban revolutionaries are currently serving prison terms of between 15 years and a double life sentence after being framed up and convicted in June 2001 in a U.S. federal court.
The five revolutionaries were in the United States on an internationalist mission to defend the sovereignty of their country and the Cuban Revolution. They were gathering information on the activities of counterrevolutionary groups in Florida that have a history of launching violent attacks on Cuba from U.S. soil. These groups have been able to operate with impunity from Florida, often with the assistance of, training by, and funding from the U.S. government.
Unable to prove any illegal acts by the five, the federal government pushed through convictions on a series of conspiracy charges, including conspiracy to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign power, to commit espionage, and to commit murder. The five are René González, Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, and Fernando González. Hernández got the harshest sentence— two consecutive life terms plus 80 months in jail on the trumped-up conspiracy charges, including conspiracy to commit murder.
In March, the five appealed their convictions at a hearing in Miami of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has not ruled on the appeals yet.
An international campaign is being waged by various organizations to explain the truth about the cases of the five and to demand they be released from prison. Extensive information on this fight can be found at www.themilitant.com.
As an aid to new readers we are reproducing on this page a short biographical note on Hernández that the Militant first published in 2002 along with similar material for the other four Cuban militants incarcerated in U.S. jails. We also reprint the addresses where cards, letters, and books can be sent to the five.
The letter below was sent by Hernández to the National Committee to Free the Five, one of the main groups that organize their defense campaign in the United States, which can be contacted at www.freethefive.org.
On August 11, I was transferred to Victorville prison by highway in a trip that lasted about four hours. Since the Lompoc prison will no longer be designated “maximum security,” all those prisoners who, according to the [Federal] Bureau of Prisons, have to be in a “maximum” regime, will be transferred over time to the new prison in Victorville, also in California.
This place is recently built and we were the first to occupy it. Compared to Lompoc, whose installations are very old and neglected, the conditions of life here are better in a general sense. At least the cells are a little bigger and with better lighting. As it will take some time to fill the prison, I may be able to be without a cellmate for two or three months.
On the other hand, and also because it is a new place, the disciplinary regime is stricter, and there are regulations and rules that we didn’t have in Lompoc. But as we Cubans say, “nothing so terrible.”
The prison is in an area that I understand is part of the Mojave desert. The climate is much hotter than in Lompoc, very similar to that of the island [of Cuba].
The new address to correspond with me is [below].
Before leaving Lompoc, since they didn’t let me bring the hundreds of letters that I need to respond to, I had to pack them up and send them to companeros who will see that they get to my family in Cuba. Please excuse me again, for those of you who haven’t received a reply.
I’d like to take this opportunity to express anew our appreciation of the Five to friends around the world who have continued to support and inspire us with your solidarity, especially our Cuban brothers and sisters, who are working with extreme care and dedication to repair the damage caused by hurricane Charley. It is moments like these that we lament even more not being able to be together with you physically. We are convinced as always that our battle-tested people will prevail.
Receive all our gratitude and revolutionary embrace of the Five.
Gerardo Hernández
USP Victorville
August 2004
Soon after his graduation, together with thousands of Cuban volunteers, Hernández joined the internationalist mission to Angola in which Cuban military forces played a decisive role in defeating an invasion of newly independent Angola by the South African army of the apartheid regime. He was stationed in Cabinda, an area of strategic importance because of oil wells located there, and headed a scouting platoon in a tank brigade.
In Angola, Hernández distinguished himself in 54 combat missions. After completing his tour in 1990 he was awarded medals of honor for his courageous role in combat. Three years later he was admitted into the ranks of the Cuban Communist Party after being nominated by his co-workers.
In the mid-1990s Hernández and the other four Cuban revolutionaries undertook an internationalist mission in the United States. In 1997, in his absence, he was elected as an honorary delegate to the 14th World Festival of Youth and Students, organized by the World Federation of Democratic Youth and celebrated in Havana that year.
Urbano Bouza, a Cuban combatant who fought under Hernández’s command in Angola, said Hernández was politically, humanely, and psychologically prepared for the dangerous mission in the United States. “A scout must be observant, show level-headedness in the face of danger, and be discreet and courageous. I can appreciate all these qualities in Hernández,” said Bouza.
Bouza described how he was initially surprised when the news about the frame-up trial first appeared in the press. But once he realized that “it was the same Hernández, just a little more bold, I felt so proud, and I began to excitedly tell people: that was my chief in Cabinda!”
Hernández is a cartoonist who has been published in the national press and presented in diverse galleries. A book of his work has also been published.
|