The L.A. Times today has a quite favorable article on the Cuban Five, who have been unjustly imprisoned here for spying on the US even though there was no proof they did so. Recent disclosures have shown there were, and are, serious threats to Cuba from anti-Castro Cubans and the right, thus bolstering the Five’s contention they were protecting Cuba from violence.
Among the developments is the admission by Jose Antonio Llama, a 75-year-old exile, that he financed a 1997 mission to kill Castro for which he had already been tried and acquitted.
In addition to Llama’s admission, Robert Ferro, a Cuban exile in Upland, Calif., said in April that he collected 1,500 guns and grenades for an assault on Cuba during U.S. military exercises in the Caribbean in May. Ferro was charged with illegal weapons possession. And trial begins next month in the case of Miami developer Santiago Alvarez on charges of amassing guns last year for an attack on Castro.
“The Five should never have been arrested. They were fighting terrorism,” said Gloria La Riva, committee coordinator. “New terrorist plots have been revealed since their convictions in Miami which give further weight to the arguments that Miami was a place where they should never have been tried.”
[Richard Klugh, who represents Fernando Gonzalez] points out the five were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage without ever having spied. No evidence was presented suggesting any of the five had obtained classified information.
“Were they here to hurt the United States, or were they here to protect Cuba from crime and violence?” Klugh asks of the five. “It really goes to the core of the case.”
You can get more information at Free the Five who are currently organizing a march in D.C. on Sept. 23 and fund-raising for the next round of court battles in the eight years since the Five were imprisoned.
This case is a grotesque micarriage of justice. Again, no proof was ever given that the Five did any spying or got any classified information. Yet they are doing long prison terms and aren’t even allowed visits from family.
[tags]Cuban Five[/tags]
Thanks for the info!
I live in Norway, and can not remember having read about this case in national media as of yet.
We seldom get satisfactory news articles or commentary on Cuba, as almost anything published by Norwegian
bloggers or journalists is politically charged – either anti- or pro-Castro.
It is a forceful presentation of your country’s intrinsic double standards that you
(and the Los Angeles Times) can freely print this
news item, yet the Cuban Five received such harsh sentences that they obiously did.
Freedom of speech and action has to be judged by the standards of the justice system, where freedom-questions
are finally resolved; can judges withstand political pressure from D.C. or state/commonwealth administrations?
The endresult of the White House-appeal on the recent controversial court-ruling against the NSA will prove
highly indicative of the answer – although it doesn’t help the Cuban five, or (until their fates are
legally resolved to a satisfactory degree) the prisoners of Guantanamo, held captive in outrageous contempt of the
habeas corpus-principles. (Thanks to the US Supreme Court for their ruling on this, and may the Cuban Five
receive the same level of clear and just legal judgement).
Best regards,
Agile, Norway
(feel free to visit my blog: Musings of a diamond geezer)