Vol. 74/No. 5      February 8, 2010

Wafia Ibrahim welcomed the participants on behalf of the Solidarity Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five. “We are here, united, friends of Cuba—Lebanese and Palestinian, Christians and Muslims, communists and nationalists—to defend Cuba against the embargo imposed by Washington and demand freedom of the Cuban Five from U.S. jails. We are also here to demand freedom of all Arab and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails,” she said.

The Cuban Five—Antonio Guerrero, Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González, and René González—were arrested in 1998 and convicted in 2001 on frame-up charges that included “conspiracy to commit espionage” and, in the case of Hernández, “conspiracy to commit murder.” They were in Miami monitoring the activities of rightist Cuban exile groups that have carried out armed attacks against Cuba with Washington’s complicity.

In his speech Serrano Acosta explained that “2009 was particularly challenging for the ability of our people to resist the criminal blockade of the U.S. Negative events resulting from the world economic crisis as well as the numerous storms that hit all parts of the country led to reassessing our programs.”

“The Cuban people are working with discipline towards increasing agricultural production, reducing expenses by increasing the national product, and also in developing our services to strengthen our socialist society,” he said. Serrano also pointed to the continued assistance by 37,000 internationalist Cuban volunteers in various countries as well as 7,200 students from 30 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America studying for free in Cuba as part of the revolution’s continued determination and commitments.

He added, “the Cuban Five remain steadfast while incarcerated in U.S. prisons.”
 
 
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