On 17 December, Raul Castro welcomed Ramon Labañino, Gerardo Hernandez and Antonio Guerrero back onto Cuban soil after 16 years of incarceration in US prisons. They were reunited with Rene Gonzalez and Fernando Gonzalez who were released in 2013 and 2014 respectively. The return of the Cuban 5 is an historic victory for Cuba. It also represents a defeat for the corrupt US justice system and for the right-wing Cuban exile community whose political leverage is weakening.
The prisoners’ return was part of a swap in which Cuba agreed to release 53 prisoners named by US authorities and a US spy. Raul Castro also announced the release on humanitarian grounds of US mercenary Alan Gross, detained in December 2009 for participating in a $500,000 USAID-funded programme of subversion. The Cuban government has made clear that black revolutionary Assata Shakur, who is in exile in Cuba, will not be extradited to the US.
The Cuban 5 were trying to prevent acts of terrorism against Cuba by infiltrating violent counter-revolutionary groups in Miami. Since 1959, nearly 3,500 Cubans have died and over 2,000 have been permanently injured as a result of terrorist attacks or aggression. Evidence gathered by the Cuban 5 about terrorist plots was passed by the Cuban government to the US in 1998. The US’s response was to arrest the Cuban agents. Their trial took place in Miami where a fair trial was impossible. Journalists whipped up public hostility. They were convicted of false identification, conspiracy to commit espionage and, in Gerardo Hernandez’s case, conspiracy to commit murder. They received sentences ranging from 15 years to double life. Meanwhile, infamous terrorists like Luis Posada Carriles, who boasted about organising the 1976 bombing of a Cubana airlines flight killing 73 civilians, live freely in Miami. So much for the ‘war on terrorism’!
The Cuban 5’s legal representatives had pointed out that given the political nature of the case, a political movement was needed to demand justice. Cuba demanded their freedom from every platform – a call taken up around the world. In his 17 December speech Raul Castro thanked the international movement: ‘The enormous joy of their families and of all our people, who have relentlessly fought for this goal, is shared by hundreds of solidarity committees and groups, governments, parliaments, organisations, institutions, and personalities, who for 16 years have made tireless efforts demanding their release. We convey our deepest gratitude and commitment to all of them.’
Since their return, the Cuban 5 have made many public appearances, being swamped with admiration and gratitude by Cubans in the streets and neighbourhoods. Adding to the joy was the news that Gerardo’s wife, Adriana, was heavily pregnant with Gerardo’s baby. US authorities had denied Adriana a visa to visit her husband, but this ‘remote control’ pregnancy, as Gerardo referred to it, was part of the secret negotiations between Cuba and the US. Their daughter, Gema, was born on 6 January 2015.
In 2011 Fidel Castro stated, ‘The unyielding resistance of Cuban patriots is symbolised in our five heroes. They will never falter! They will never surrender!’ It was a long, hard battle full of suffering and sacrifice for the Cuban 5 and their families, but in the end their resistance won through – and so will Cuba’s!
Rock around the Blockade campaigned for the release of the Cuban 5 throughout their imprisonment. In March 2014 we organised a successful rally in Trafalgar Square which was attended by representatives of campaigns from around the world, and photos appeared in the Cuban press. We will continue campaigning against the US blockade and for an end to the US occupation of Guantanamo Bay. See ratb.org.uk for more information.
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 243 February/March 2015
