Vol. 76/No. 29      August 6, 2012

The following letter was sent June 26 to Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González, Antonio Guerrero and René González by James Harris and Maura DeLuca, the Socialist Workers Party candidates for president and vice president of the United States.

The Cuban Five, as they are widely known, are Cuban revolutionaries jailed in the U.S. since 1998 on trumped-up charges, including “conspiracy” to commit espionage and, in the case of Hernández, “conspiracy” to commit murder. They were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 15 years to double life plus 15 years.

The five were living and working in southern Florida gathering information for the Cuban government on activities of Cuban-American counterrevolutionary groups with a history of violent attacks on Cuba and supporters of the Cuban Revolution, with the complicity of Washington.

All but René González remain in prison. He was released Oct. 7 but is forced to serve an additional three-year parole in the U.S.

Dear Gerardo, Ramón, Fernando, Antonio and René,

As the Socialist Workers Party candidates for president and vice president of the United States in the 2012 elections, we will be campaigning from one end of the country to the other over the coming months. Broadening the worldwide battle for freedom of the Cuban Five will be an essential part of our work as we talk with workers on picket lines, at factory gates and unemployment centers, at gatherings of struggling small farmers, at protests against police brutality and attacks on immigrant workers, with students facing unpayable debt loads, and families whose homes have been foreclosed.

It is the Cuban Revolution itself—the ongoing work of millions of Cuban workers and farmers of all ages—that comes to life through your example. And that revolution is the best example we can put before working people in the United States to show what our class, together with our allies, is capable of. The best example of what we can accomplish as we transform ourselves through mighty battles, taking and using political power to defend our own interests, as we work together to build a world on new economic and social foundations.

As the crisis of capital intensifies worldwide, and working people increasingly respond to the attacks on our livelihoods, our rights, and our dignity, it is those on the front lines of these battles who will most readily identify with each one of you as fellow fighters, adding their voices to those demanding your release. This is the jury of millions we fight for—and we will campaign to reach every single one of them.

With revolutionary greetings,

James Harris
Maura DeLuca
 
 
Related articles:
‘What matters most are fights by working people’
SWP candidates join in labor, social battles  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home