Vol. 74/No. 14      April 12, 2010

The White House and capitalist media worldwide paint Zapata as a political dissident and martyr. The fact is over 10 years he was repeatedly picked up for assault, theft, and other such crimes. He went on a hunger strike to demand privileges such as a cell phone and a television for himself. A small number of opponents of the revolution in Cuba, who work hand-in-glove with Washington, convinced him to use his strike to attack the revolutionary government. Havana spared no effort in trying to prevent his death.

As Cuban president Raúl Castro said February 24, Cuba’s revolutionary government has never carried out murders, tortures, or extra-judicial executions. The only torture on Cuban territory, he noted, has taken place at the U.S. prison camp in Guantánamo.

Washington’s attitude toward the human rights of prisoners is amply demonstrated by its treatment of five Cuban revolutionaries unjustly incarcerated in U.S. prisons for the last 11 years. They were arrested for monitoring right-wing Cuban groups in Florida who have launched attacks on Cuba with Washington’s backing. For 17 months leading up to their trial, the men were kept in solitary confinement. Convicted on frame-up “conspiracy” charges, they received draconian sentences, with three of them initially sentenced to life. Washington has consistently denied two of these fighters, Gerardo Hernández and René González, the right to visits by their wives.

The Cuban Five are among the 2.3 million working people behind bars in the United States, which has the highest incarceration rate in the world. One out of every 31 adults is either in jail or on probation or parole. African American males are 6.5 times more likely to be imprisoned than white males.

In response to the renewed slanders against Cuba, defenders of the revolution reiterate our demands for an end to the U.S. embargo and travel ban against the island, restoration of normal diplomatic relations, and freedom for the Cuban Five.
 
 
Related articles:
White House promotes latest slanders on Cuba
Victory of Cuban Revolution dealt major blow to racist discrimination
Two Cuban students speak to 350 at meetings in Georgia
‘Cuba and the Coming American Revolution’  
 
 
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