Vol. 72/No. 42      October 27, 2008

The protests, called by the Cuba Solidarity Campaign, were part of activities around the world to mark the 10th anniversary of the imprisonment of Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González, René González, and Antonio Guerrero, known as the Cuban Five.

They were arrested in 1998 on frame-up charges that included “conspiracy to commit espionage” and in one case, “conspiracy to commit murder.” The five had been keeping the Cuban government informed about rightist groups that have a long record of carrying out bombings and armed attacks against Cuba from U.S. soil.

Joining both actions were Olga Salanueva and Adriana Pérez, wives of René González and Gerardo Hernández respectively. Both have been denied the right to visit their husbands. In an extensive interview with London’s Guardian newspaper October 6, Salanueva described how she has “applied to see René nine times and been refused nine times.”

Pérez explained, “They have used the families as a sort of additional tool to blackmail them and weaken them.” Pérez was granted a visa in 2002 but on arrival at the Houston airport, she was detained and denied entry into the country.

Salanueva said the five men are not broken. “They have good relations with the other prisoners. I think they have a lot of respect,” she told the Guardian. Other media coverage included an article in Glasgow’s Herald, an interview on BBC Radio Scotland, and a protest advertisement signed by prominent figures in a number of papers, including the Independent.

Three hundred joined the London action, with some coming from Sheffield, Manchester, and Birmingham. The speakers platform included Trades Union Congress general secretary Brendan Barber and Unite union general secretary Tony Woodley.

More than 40 participants from across Scotland joined the protest in Edinburgh. Elaine Smith, Labour Party member of the Scottish Parliament, reported to the crowd that some 30 other parliamentarians had signed a protest motion in support of the five. Other speakers included representatives of the Scottish Cuba Solidarity Campaign, Communist Party, and Communist League. At an earlier meeting held at the Scottish parliament, Salanueva pointed to the appeal the five are making to the U.S. Supreme Court as a “window of time to intensify the campaign work and raise awareness. ”

A high point of both protests was the reading of a message from Gerardo Hernández on the 10th anniversary of their imprisonment. In it he says, “We know that right is on our side, but to win justice we need a jury of millions of people throughout the world and we need you, defenders of just causes, to make our truth known.” He finished by pledging “our firm determination to resist, with our heads held high, for as long as it takes.” (See full statement on page 10).
 
 
Related articles:
Gerardo Hernández: ‘With our heads held high’
March in Spain demands Free the Cuban 5
Help us get ‘Militant’ out to prisoners  
 
 
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