Free The Miami Five! - Father Geoff Bottoms
So, just who are the Miami Five?
3rd March 2005

For more than 40 years the United States has organised an economic and political blockade against Cuba. Since 1959 more than 3000 innocent Cuban civilians have been killed in terrorist attacks organised in the USA with the complicity of Washington.

Who are the Miami Five?
They are five Cubans who were trying to stop right-wing terrorist groups in Miami from carrying out attacks against Cuba.

Gerardo Hernandez, Antonio Guerrero, Ramon Labanino, Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez (pictured above) were living and working in Miami monitoring these terrorist groups to prevent future violence or sabotage against the Cuban people.

What happened?
On 17th June 1998 the Cuban authorities delivered to the FBI information on US based right-wing terrorist groups and the activities that they were planning against Cuba.

Instead of arresting the terrorists the FBI arrested the five Cubans who had provided much of the information.

They were first arrested on 12th September 1998. They have been held in solitary confinement for long periods without contact with their families and lawyers.

The Five were tried in Miami, an environment entirely hostile to the accused. It is widely accepted that the huge anti-Castro Cuban-American community in Miami wields enormous political influence within the district. This influence was demonstrated most seriously at the time of the trial by the local media who created a frenzy of public intimidation against the defendants in the wake of the Elian Gonzalez affair.

It was clearly impossible for the Five to receive a fair hearing and despite several attempts by the defence teams to move the trial to a neutral venue (a civil right under the 6th amendment of the US Constitution), they were convicted on 8th June 2001 on charges ranging from being agents of a foreign power without disclosure, to conspiracy to commit espionage and murder.

In December 2001 the five men received disproportionate and unprecedented sentences ranging between fifteen years and two life terms. They were sent to prisons that are far apart and at a great distance from Cuba making visiting very difficult for their families who are denied regular visits and in the case of two of the wives refused visas to enter the US.

During the trial witnesses were bullied by the prosecution and intimidated by the press while the Judge denied the defence access to much of the evidence. The jury reached a unanimous verdict on all charges without once seeking clarification of any of the evidence.

Why are they innocent?
The Five were found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage against the US without any evidence or testimonies to prove that they had ever obtained or even sought to obtain classified information.

In the case of Gerardo Hernandez, who was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder in the case of the shooting down of light aircraft that invaded Cuban airspace on 24th February 1996, there was no evidence whatsoever to link him to this event. It was proved beyond doubt by the defence that the Five were acting exclusively against ultra-right extremists based in Miami. Indeed prominent US military officials testified that the Five had not accessed any classified information.

After the trial, Jose Basulto, a former CIA agent and self-confessed anti-Castro paramilitary, was seen embracing the prosecution lawyer.

The Five are appealing against their sentences. Amnesty International has drawn the attention of the US authorities to the serious violations of the human rights of the prisoners and their families since their incarceration while making enquiries about the development of the trial.

Join the campaign to free the Miami Five
As part of the growing international campaign to free the five Cubans imprisoned in the US the Cuba Solidarity Campaign has launched a major drive in the UK to raise the issue of the Miami Five and work actively for their release.

Write to the five prisoners expressing your support. The addresses are available on the CSC website or from the CSC office.

Join the Cuba Solidarity Campaign and keep up to date with the campaign to release the Miami Five. A Campaign Pack is available on request.

Ask your trade union branch/trades council to pass a resolution in support of the Five (a model resolution is available from CSC).

Send a letter of protest to President George W Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Sign the petition circulated by CSC

Write to the US Attorney General Alberto Gomez demanding entry rights to the US for two of the wives of the prisoners who are consistently denied visits to their husbands (a sample letter is available on request).

Invite a CSC speaker to your organisation’s meeting to explain the case.

You can find up to date information on the case at the following web sites:

www.cuba-solidarity.org
www.freethefive.org
www.antiterroristas.cu
www.blackpoolandfyldecsc.org.uk