Vol. 76/No. 19      May 14, 2012

Most came in support of the Cuban Five, which in addition to Hernández, includes René González, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero and Fernando González.

Hernández’s cartoon exhibition, “Humor from My Pen,” is showing at the gallery along with three other painting exhibitions. “Humor from My Pen” is jointly sponsored by the art gallery and the Australia-Cuba Friendship Society in Sydney.

“Before their arrests in 1998,” explains the exhibit brochure, “these five Cuban revolutionaries had been gathering information for their government about the activities of counterrevolutionary Cuban-American organisations in south Florida.

“These groups have a long record of carrying out deadly attacks against Cuba and its supporters around the world with Washington’s complicity.

“The five were convicted in June 2001 on trumped-up ‘conspiracy’ charges. Sentences ranged from 15 years in jail for René González to double life plus 15 years for Hernández.”

At the exhibit opening, Pedro Monzon Barata, Cuba’s ambassador to Australia, reviewed the history of Cuba, its 1959 socialist revolution and the role of the Cuban Five in its defense.

Chela Weitzel, president of the Australia-Cuba Friendship Society, read a message from Hernández, expressing his gratitude to all those present, to the organizers of the event, and to the representatives of Justice Action and the Indigenous Social Justice Association supporting the exhibit, “whose continual work for prisoners’ rights and Aboriginal rights we respect and admire.”

Hernández called for doubling the efforts “for our claim to be heard in every corner of the world.”

The opening event was also for other art showings, including Box Brownie by Elizabeth Rankin and iWitness by Bubaloo Fahy. Rankin said in her remarks that she was “proud to be associated” with the Hernández exhibit. Fahy said later she was “inspired to learn more” by the “passionate commitment” from supporters of the Cuban Five she had met.

Afterwards, the band Mojitos played Cuban and Latin music.

A visiting Cuban educator and AIDS medical worker, Ofelia Delgado Padrón, said she was moved by hearing Gerardo’s message and seeing his art, halfway round the globe. “This battle can only win if people around the world get together and support their freedom,” she said.

In Australia, Humor from My Pen has already been shown in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Albury and will later move on to Canberra and Brisbane. The exhibit will also be presented in Auckland, New Zealand, May 12-26. (See ad below.)

In Sydney, guest speakers will talk and answer questions at 2 p.m. each Sunday during the exhibit.

Mary-Alice Waters, who edited The Cuban Five: Who They Are, Why They Were Framed, Why They Should Be Free, a booklet by Pathfinder Press, spoke on April 29. Others include Delgado (April 22), Ray Jackson from the Indigenous Social Justice Association (April 28), and Reinaldo Garcia Perera, Consul General of the Republic of Cuba (May 12).

A promotional graphic and essay for the exhibit can be viewed at www.atthevanishingpoint.com.au.  
 
 
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