On June 8, 2001, a U.S. federal court in Miami convicted five Cubans – René González, Ramón Labaniño, Fernando González, Antonio Guerrero, and Gerardo Hernández – on various conspiracy charges concocted by the FBI. These included conspiracy to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign power and to commit espionage for the government of Cuba. Hernández was also convicted of "conspiracy to commit murder" on the doubly-absurd charge that while in Florida he was somehow involved with the Cuban Air Force’s legitimate downing of two hostile aircraft.

The convictions of these five men and the sentences imposed – 15 years to double-life – are a travesty of justice. They are not only an attack on Cuba, but a blow to democratic rights in the United States. This includes the unconstitutional way in which the FBI carried out its so-called investigation of these men, the frame-up character of their trials, and the brutal prison conditions they are subjected to.

The real crime of these heroic men was defending their country by gathering information on the activities of counterrevolutionary groups operating on U.S. territory – groups with long records of launching violent attacks against Cuba, carried out with the knowledge and complicity of the U.S. government.

Thanks to an international outcry as a worldwide campaign began getting out the facts of this case, this August case a U.S. Court of Appeals overturned their guilty verdicts and ordered a new trial. Now, even according to the U.S., the Five are officially innocent.

Yet they remained scattered around the country in maximum security prisons, two of them even denied the right to receive family visits.

Please become part of the efforts to win complete justice for the Five!

• Learn more about the Cuban Five:
  www.antiterroristas.cu
  www.granma.cubaweb.cu/miami5/ingles/index.html
  www.freethefive.org
  Understanding the Appeals Court Ruling (CubaSolidarity.com article)
  
  
• Help get the word out about their fight. Download flyers to distribute to your friends:
  www.freethefive.org/pdf/brochure.pdf
  
  
• Write to the five compañeros. Cards and letters will be very much appreciated. They can help break the isolation Washington has tried to impose by sending the men to jails thousands of miles from each other. (Please note that in several cases a name appears in parentheses. These are pseudonyms under which they are listed in prison and must be included in the address.) Click on their names to read their stories.
  
  
• Write to the families of the five patriots to lend your moral support:
  familia5h@hotmail.com
  
  
• Organize a forum at your campus, community center, labor organization, or elsewhere to get out the truth about the five and broaden support for demanding their freedom. Even house meetings with a few friends and coworkers to explain this case are an invaluable part of this effort. Check the Events & Groups directory for help from Cuba solidarity activists near you.
  
  
• Circulate petitions or gather statements of support demanding freedom for the five.

^ Top

Home  |  Events & Groups  |  Topics  |  Lies About Cuba  |  Latest News  |  Visit Cuba
Get Involved  |  Contact Us  |  Site Map

Non-commercial reproduction of this site material is welcome if credited with – © copyright 2004 National Network on Cuba.