Vol. 75/No. 44      December 5, 2011

Reprinted below is a translation of a front-page article from the November 16 Cuban daily Granma reporting on the opening of the Seventh International Conference for the Release of the Five and against Terrorism, held in Holguín, Cuba.

The Cuban Five—Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González, and René González—were convicted in 2001 on trumped-up charges that included “conspiracy to commit espionage” and, in the case of Gerardo Hernández, “conspiracy to commit murder.”

They were given sentences ranging from 17 years plus nine months for René González to double life plus 15 years for Hernández. Each has been held in separate prisons for more than 13 years.

On October 7, René González was released on probation, but is barred from returning to Cuba under a three-year “supervised release.”

The five, who are heroes in Cuba, were arrested and framed by the FBI in 1998 as they waged an effort to keep the Cuban government informed about the actions of counterrevolutionary Cuban American groups that have a long history of organizing bombings and other deadly attacks on Cuba from U.S. soil with Washington’s complicity.

The conference is part of the ongoing international campaign to publicize their fight for freedom.
 

International Conference
for the Five Open
 
BY GERMAN VELOZ PLACENCIA
HOLGUÍN—The example René González set by leaving prison with his head held high and determined to continue fighting for his compañeros was hailed by Martín Koppel, a participant from the United States in the Seventh International Conference for the Release of the Five and against Terrorism. The conference starts today and concludes Saturday, November 19.

Koppel, a member of the Socialist Workers Party of the United States, is one of more than 300 delegates from 50 countries present at the event, which is organized by the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP). He said the gathering will continue the effort to mobilize forces to return the Five to their homeland.

He said the U.S. government made clear its unwillingness to end the injustice by imposing supervised release on René González after he served his sentence.

Mary-Alice Waters, also from the United States and president of the publishing house Pathfinder Press, is attending for the second time this event that has taken place every year since 2005. She will share her experiences on publicizing the case.

Among the highlights of the activities planned for the next few days is a panel discussion entitled “The People of the World Condemn [Luis] Posada Carriles.” The event, which will be held November 17 in the city of Holguín, will demand prosecution of the man responsible for the crime in Barbados [the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people].
 
 
Related articles:
5,000 rally to ‘free the Cuban 5’ in Holguín, Cuba  
 
 
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