[NYTr] Mumia Speaks Out for Cuban 5
 
Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2007 17:36:52 -0500 (CDT)

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Prensa Latina, Havana
http://www.plenglish.com

Mumia Speaks Out for Cuban 5

Havana, sep 15 (Prensa Latina) In a special news release, journalist
Mumia Abu-Jamal writes from his cell in the US about five Cubans also
doing time unfairly.

This fellow political prisoner provides an eloquent analysis of the
absurd situation created by the United States government when it jailed
people who were fighting terrorism.

Prensa Latina issues below the text of Mumia Abu-Jamal: For "Los
Cinco" (The 5) Another Try for Justice Mumia Abu-Jamal [col. Writ. 8 25
07] For five Cuban men held in US gulags, there is at least a chance at
justice as they try to reverse what happened in 2001, when they were
convicted of spying, conspiracy and being unregistered foreign agents.

The men, known as the Cuban 5 in the US, and simply Los Cinco back in
their homeland, came to the US not to hurt Americans or engage in acts
of terror. They came because Miami was the site of a fevered campaign
of attacks on Cuban tourist sites.

Thus, they came to protect their country from aggression planned,
armed, and propelled from these shores.

In the eyes of the US government, however, they are now part of the
so-called "war on terror", and at their original trial, the prosecutor
argued that they were "bent on the destruction of America".

Such an argument would be dangerous anywhere, but in Miami, where the
original trial took place, it was virtually lethal. For Miami is the
core of an anti-Castro community, that breathes enmity for the
revolutionary government in Havana.

A trial in such an atmosphere, where Cuban-Americans wield economic and
political power, is the very antithesis of a fair trial before one"s
peers, and could only have one result. The men moved for a change of
venue, but the trial court denied the motion.

Of the 5 men, Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon LabaC1ino and Antonio Guerrero,
are facing life sentences. Two others, RenC) Gonzalez and Fernando
Gonzalez, face 15 and 19 years bits, respectively.

To call them "terrorists" is to misuse the term, for, if anything, they
are anti-terrorists, for they tried to find ways to halt attacks on
their homeland, Cuba.

In an interview with the BBC in July, Hernandez explained why he and
the others came to the US: "They are people that have training camps
there and paramilitary organizations and they go to Cuba and commit
sabotage, bombs and all kinds of aggressions." The case of the Cuban 5
is one in stark contrast to the legal proceedings around 79-year old
Luis Posada Carriles, who was released from US jails, despite the fact
that he is wanted in Venezuela and Cuba for his role in hotel bombings
and even airline bombings from the 1970"s to the 90"s.

To the US, this guy who did his deeds at the behest of the CIA isn"t
even a criminal, he"s not a terrorist! Bombings hotels and airplanes
are apparently acceptable, if the US government doesn't like the people
on the planes.

The struggle for the Cuban 5 is growing into an international movement.

hr mf PL-18

 
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