Vol. 73/No. 1      January 12, 2009

The U.S. rulers arrogantly claim to be the foremost defenders of democracy and human rights. Yet the sheer number of people behind bars and the conditions they face expose the reality of life for working people in the most powerful capitalist country on earth. Nearly 2.3 million men and women—one out of every 99 residents of the United States—sit behind bars. More than 3,000 of those incarcerated are on death row, nearly half of them African American.

We salute prisoners Gerardo Hernández, Fernando González, René González, Antonio Guerrero, and Ramón Labañino—known as the Cuban Five—for the example they have set by defending the Cuban Revolution and working-class struggles around the world from their jail cells for the last 10 years. Framed up on charges of “conspiracy to commit espionage,” and in one case, “conspiracy to commit murder,” they were singled out by Washington for monitoring the activities of right-wing Cuban exile groups in Florida that have carried out armed attacks on Cuba with Washington’s blessing. Three of these men—Hernández, Labañino, and Guerrero—face life in prison.

Greetings also to Carlos Alberto Torres, Oscar López Rivera, Haydée Beltrán Torres, and Avelino González Claudio, imprisoned for their activity in support of independence for the U.S. colony of Puerto Rico.

We extend our solidarity to Moisés Mory, former president of United Steelworkers Local 13742 in New Jersey, who remains in jail facing deportation, one of the thousands of workers in this country unjustly jailed by immigration cops.

We also send greetings to framed-up inmates Troy Davis, who is fighting from death row for a new trial; Black rights activist Mumia Abu Jamal, also on death row; Leonard Peltier, a leader of the American Indian Movement; Lex Wotton, sentenced to six years by an Australian court for his part in protests against the police killing of an Aboriginal while in custody; and Fahad Hashmi, a Pakistan-born man framed-up and in a U.S. jail on “terrorism” charges. Hashmi is one of many people in prison today as a result of the U.S. “war on terror,” including the 255 incarcerated at the Guantánamo prison camp.

The capitalist rulers like to think that when they slam the prison doors shut they lock away the ability of prisoners to resist the abuse aimed at dehumanizing and depoliticizing them. Decisive to reinforcing prisoners’ capacity to continue asserting their self-worth is the solidarity they receive from working people on the outside.

We urge all our readers to join the fight to win release for these prisoners. And we invite you to contribute to our Prisoners’ Fund, which makes it possible to send steeply discounted subscriptions to working people behind bars. Send a donation today to the Militant, 306 W. 37th St., 10th Floor, New York, NY 10018.  
 
 
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