Vol. 76/No. 26      July 16, 2012

González is one of five Cuban revolutionaries framed up and jailed by the U.S. government. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. After 13 years incarcerated he was released on Oct. 7, 2011. The other four—Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González and Ramón Labañino—remain in prison. (See article on page 7.)

This is González’s second request to be allowed to return to Cuba. The first was filed in February 2011 and rejected in September as “premature” by U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard, the same judge that presided over the 2001 trial of the Cuban Five, as they are known.

The new motion highlights the fact that González has complied with all conditions of his supervised release. It also stresses the fact that “for a foreign national … deportation is often a condition of supervised released.” González is both a U.S. and Cuban citizen, but “absolutely for all practical purposes Cuban,” says the request.

His wife Olga Salanueva, their two daughters Irma and Ivette, and his parents live in Cuba. So did his brother Roberto, who died from cancer the day René’s motion was filed. After a protacted battle, René was eventually allowed to visit his terminally ill brother three months ago.

González’s new motion also highlights some of the onerous conditions imposed on him as part of his supervised release in Florida. He is “essentially living in hiding because his conviction as an agent of the Cuban government puts him at risks of reprisals,” says the motion.
 
Related articles:
Olga Salanueva, wife of Cuban 5 revolutionary, describes her years as immigrant worker in US
Where to write to Gerardo, Ramón, Antonio and Fernando
 
 
 
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