Vol. 73/No. 21      June 1, 2009

The five Cuban revolutionaries have been held in U.S. prisons for more than 10 years on frame-up charges ranging from “conspiracy to commit espionage” to, in the case of Gerardo Hernández, “conspiracy to commit murder.”

Everything about this case exposes the way the so-called justice system in the United States is used to attack the rights of working people.

Every day they are kept in prison is another day of injustice. Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González, and René González—known internationally as the Cuban Five—must be freed.

The FBI secretly broke into their homes, copied documents, and listened in on their conversations. Unable to find any evidence they were “spying,” Washington brought trumped-up conspiracy charges against them. Documents seized from the five’s own computers were classified “secret” and their attorneys were given limited access to them. The government then selectively used and manipulated those same documents to bolster the frame-up.

In spite of an atmosphere of intimidation in Miami, the court refused to grant a change of venue. Numerous Blacks were excluded from the jury with no explanation. And in an attempt to break them, the five were placed in the hole—solitary confinement—for 17 months before and seven weeks after the trial. The wives of Hernández and René González have been denied the right to see their husbands for nearly 11 and 9 years respectively.

Government tactics like these are routinely used against working people and in other cases, including the Fort Dix Five in New Jersey, Troy Davis in Georgia, and the Liberty City Six in Miami.

The Cuban Five set an example for all those fighting against the class “justice” meted out under capitalism. They continue to speak out from prison and to conduct themselves there as revolutionaries on the frontlines of the U.S. class struggle. Their resolve, dignity, optimism, and commitment to the Cuban Revolution and the working class shine through in the recent interview by Saul Landau with Gerardo Hernández.

The campaign to free the Cuban Five is part of the fight to defend our rights and as such should be supported by working people the world over.

Free the Cuban Five now!
 
 
Related articles:
Int’l youth conference: free Cuban Five now!
Cuban revolutionary speaks from U.S. jail
Interview with Gerardo Hernández, one of Cuban Five  
 
 
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