WHO ARE THE CUBAN FIVE

• VOICES OF SUPPORT
• THE CASE
• DENIALS OF FAMILY VISITS
• MEDIA COVERAGE
• ACT NOW

Strong Support for the Cuban Five at the 4th National Latino Congreso

El Paso, Texas

February 1st, 2010

The 4th National Latino Congreso took place in El Paso Texas from January 29 to 31, bringing together more than 400 people from 150 Hispanic organizations from around the US.

Leaders, organizers, activists and local elected officials met to strategize on a number of issues  affecting the Hispanic community. The Latino Congress took place at a time when there is a growing disappointment with the current administration for not coming through on the promises Obama made during his election campaign.

The Latino Congreso was convened by the Hispanic Federation (HF), the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) Mexican American Political Association (MAPA), National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities (NALACC), National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), National Hispanic Environmental Council (NHEC), Southwest Voter Registration Education Project (SVREP), and the William C. Velasquez Institute (WCVI)

During the three days of activities, delegates participated in a number of plenary sessions that include a variety of themes such as immigration reform, the economy, climate changes, and the 2010 Census. 

The last day of the Congreso, after the plenary session on Latin America and Foreign Policy, delegates approved a number of resolutions and amendments to some resolutions approved in the previous year. 

An amendment to a resolution on the Cuban Five Political Prisoners being held in the US and another on Luis Posada Carriles were unanimously and enthusiastically approved by delegates to the Congreso.  

The resolution on the Five asked that delegates to the Congreso send a letter to President  Barack Obama demanding the immediate release of Fernando Gonzalez, Ramón Labañino, Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero and René González. The resolution also requests that until the Cuban Five are free that the US complies with its obligations under international laws to allow family visits, including the granting of humanitarian visas for Adriana Perez and Olga Salanueva to visit their husbands.

The Resolution on Luis Posada Carriles asked delegates of the Congreso to demand that the US government carry out the immediate extradition of Luis Posada Carriles to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to be judged for the terrorist acts he committed. The resolution also called on President Barack Obama to take Cuba off the list 0f countries that sponsor terrorism. 

Coincidentally, in a month, on May 1st, in the same city of El Paso, Luis Posada Carriles will be on trial, but he will not to be judged for the crimes of terror that he committed but instead for lying to the immigration authorities for his role in the bombings of hotels in Havana in 1997 that ended the life of a young Italian tourist Fabio DiCelmo and wounded many others. 

Besides presenting the two amendments to the Resolutions, the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuba Five had an informational table for the duration of the Congresso about the Cuban Five and distributed hundreds of postcards of a new campaign directed to President Barack Obama. Many people who had never heard about the Five before asked to receive regular updates and others committed themselves to join in the struggle upon the return to their communities. 

It is important to mention that two of the organizations that convened the National Latino Congreso, the William C. Velásquez Institute and the Mexican American Political Association presented, along with many other progressive US organizations, an amicus curie in support of the petition presented to the Court by the defense team of the Cuban Five asking the US Supreme Court to review the case.

RESOLUTIONS in English and spanish

English

Resolution 6.10 - Resolution on the Cuban Five Political Prisoners in the US

Whereas, Cuba has been the target of terrorist activities directed from the United States of America for over 50 years that have caused 3,478 deaths, 2,099 injuries and millions of dollars in losses for the Cuban economy; and

Whereas, a great number of terrorist attacks have been carried out against Cuba, including against civilian installations, economic and tourist targets, which were organized by criminal Cuban-American groups based in South Florida; and

Whereas, Cuba has repeatedly requested that the government of the United States take measures in order to put an end to such attacks; and

Whereas, a state of necessity led the Cuban government to send a group of men to South Florida with the aim of infiltrating and monitoring the aforementioned terrorist organizations in order to detect and avoid such actions; and

Whereas, the government of the United States, instead of acting to prevent future terrorist attacks with information gathered by the Cuban Five accused the men of multiple crimes never committed and submitted them to a trial held in Miami, where these men had no possibility of the right to a fair process due to the prejudice against Cuba existing in that community; and

Whereas, Fernando Gonzalez, Ramón Labañino, Gerardo Hernandez, Antonio Guerrero and René Gonzalez neither had firearms, nor afflicted any civil, economic, political, military objectives, nor the National Security of the United States; and

Whereas, their rights were violated since the moment of their detention on September 12, 1998, subjected to solitary confinement during 17 months and were originally condemned to four life sentences, plus 77 years for non-judicially proven crimes; and

Whereas,  on August 9th, 2005 a panel of three judges revoked their sentences, ordering a new trial and that on May 27 of the same year the Group of Arbitrary Detentions of the United Nations declared their detentions illegal and expressly requested that the government of the United States put an end to their detentions; and

Whereas, all legal avenues have been exhausted without justice being done; and

Whereas, in the process of re-sentencing, both the Eleven Circuit Court of Appeal and the Miami Federal Court, recognized that there was no evidence of secret information being obtained or transmitted by the Five and the US government recognized that they did not represent a threat to US national security; and

Whereas, an unprecedented support for a legal case was shown were by twelve separate amicus briefs that were presented in support of the Cuban Five’s petition for certiorari, including one from the William C. Velasquez Institute and the Mexican American Political Association, both conveners of the National Latino Congreso; and

Whereas, Amnesty International has denounced as a “grave violation” the government of the United States’ refusal to grant visas to Adriana Pérez and Olga Salanueva for more than a decade these women being the wives of Gerardo Hernandez and René Gonzalez, respectively; and

Whereas, the most serious violation of the right of family visits have been applied to the prisoners Gerardo Hernandez and Rene Gonzalez whose wives Adriana Perez and Olga Salanueva, have been denied entrance into the U.S. without any legal reasons; and

Whereas, the U.S. government on 10 separate occasions has refused visas for Adriana Perez and Olga Salanuvea, therefore denying them to see each other for a decade; and

Whereas, the right of family visits have been violated in all five cases, impeding regular visits to their loved ones in prison; and

Whereas, these five men, acting in defense of the lives of Cuban, U.S. and third-country citizens, have offered their lives to the world fight against terrorism.

1. Therefore Be It Resolved, that the National Latino Congreso sends a letter to President Barack Obama demanding the immediate release of Fernando Gonzalez, Ramón Labañino, Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero and René González, also known as the Cuban Five, who are political prisoners held in the United States, and

2. Be It Further Resolved, that the National Latino Congreso demands that until these men are freed the government of the United States must comply with its obligations under international law to allow the right of regular visits to all of the prisoners’ relatives, including the immediate granting of humanitarian visas to Adriana Pérez and to Olga Salanueva in order that they may visit their husbands Gerardo Hernández and René González, respectively.

 

Resolution 6.02 - Resolution on Luis Posada Carriles

Whereas, Cuba has been the target of terrorist activities directed from the United States of America for over 50 years that have caused 3,478 deaths, 2,099 injuries and millions of dollars in losses for the Cuban economy; and

Whereas, Cuba have not history of aggression against any other country, nor shelters, protects or finances terrorists; and

Whereas, ironically in 1982, the Ronald Reagan government unjustly included Cuba into the State Department’s annual list of “state sponsors of international terrorism”  and this month, the Obama administration ordered enhanced screening procedures for US-bound air passengers traveling though "state sponsors of terrorism or other countries of interest, including Cuba; and

Whereas, despite that Cuba is a poor country that has been blockade by the U.S. for five decades, has still been able to extend a helping hand to any country in need including Pakistan, Indonesia, and dramatically in the current situation in Haiti; and

Whereas, Luis Posada Carriles, a citizen of Cuban origin and nationalized Venezuelan, was recruited and trained by the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) in order to participate in terrorist actions against the Cuban people and properties; and

Whereas, Luis Posada Carriles, together with Orlando Bosch were the masterminds of the 1976 bombing of flight 455 of Cubana de Aviacion killing 73 people on board, including members of the Cuban national fencing team, and that they have been involved in many other violent actions that have affected citizens not only from Cuba, but also Latin America, the Caribbean and even the United States; and

Whereas, in May, 2007, the Department of Justice of the United States set free Luis Posada Carriles, who now lives freely in Miami; and

Whereas, in the Court proceedings of May 2008, the government of the United States persisted in its prosecution of Posada only for having omitted the truth on his declaration to the Integration Service (ICE) instead of judging him for his crimes against humanity; and

Whereas in 2009, a federal grand jury issued a superseding indictment, marking an official link by the US government to the 1997 bombing in Cuba, yet this indictment does not charge Posada, with planting the bombs or plotting the bombings but with lying in an immigration court about his role in the attacks at hotels, bars and restaurants in the Havana area; and

Whereas US judge Kathleen Cardone put off a trial against international and confessed terrorist Luis Posada Carriles until March 1, 2010, en El Paso, Texas; and

Whereas, the Panamanian authorities had confiscated on Posada Carriles several kilos of explosives that were to be used not only against the Cuban leader and other government members, but to also to blow up the National University of Panama, putting in danger the life of hundreds of Panamanians and for this reason they are asking an extradition request back to Panama; and

Whereas, Luis Posada Carriles is a fugitive of Venezuelan justice and that the Venezuelan Government has demanded his extradition so that he may face charges related to the downing of Cubana flight 455 in 1976; and

Whereas, there is an Extradition Treaty between Venezuela and the United States, ratified by both countries in 1922, which has been implemented for a century; and   

Whereas, the Bush administration and now the Obama administration ignored the Montreal Convention for the Suppression of Illicit Acts Against Civil Aviation and the Protection of Passengers and the International Convention against Terrorist Acts Committed with the Use of Bombs; and

Whereas, if any State does not comply with an extradition request, it shall be obligated to immediately prosecute and put on trial the alleged criminal for the same crime as if it had been committed in its own territory; and

Whereas, the United States, when setting free terrorist Luis Posada Carriles violated Resolution 1373 of the Security Council of the United Nations and also international treaties of which the United States is a signatory.

1. THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the organizations represented by delegates of the 2010 National Latino Congreso demand that the government of the United States of America immediately extradite Luis Posada Carriles to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in order for him to be judged for the acts of terrorism which he committed and

2. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the organizations represented by delegates of the 2010 Congreso Latino ask President Barack Obama to take Cuba off the list of countries that sponsors terrorism.

SPANISH

Resolution 6.10 - sobre los Cinco Prisioneros Politicos Cubanos

 

Considerando que Cuba ha sido el blanco de actos terroristas dirigidos desde los Estados Unidos por más de 47 años que han ocasionado 3478 muertos, 2099 lesionados y millones de dólares en pérdidas para la economía del país; y

Considerando que contra Cuba se realizaron un sinnúmero de atentados terroristas contra instalaciones civiles, objetivos económicos y turísticos organizados por grupos criminales cubano-americanos radicados en el Sur de la Florida; y

Considerando que Cuba ha solicitado reiteradamente al gobierno de los Estados Unidos que tome medidas para poner fin a dichos actos; y

Considerando que en virtud del estado de necesidad el gobierno cubano envió a un grupo de individuos a infiltrar y monitorear dichas organizaciones terroristas  para detectar y prevenir esos actos; y

Considerando que el gobierno de Estados Unidos en lugar de actuar sobre la información subministrada por esos individuos, los acusó de múltiples delitos no cometidos y los sometió a un juicio en Miami donde no tuvieron derecho al debido proceso por el prejuicio contra Cuba existente en esa comunidad; y

Considerando que Fernando González, Ramón Labañino, Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero y René González no tenían armas, ni afectaron objetivos civiles, económicos, políticos, militares ni de la Seguridad Nacional de los Estados Unidos; y

Considerando que sus derechos fueron violados desde el momento de sus detenciones el 12 de septiembre de 1998,  que sufrieron confinamiento solitario por 17 meses, y fueron condenados originalmente a 4 cadenas perpetuas más 77 años colectivamente  por delitos no probados judicialmente; y

Considerando que el 9 de Agosto del 2005, un panel de tres jueces revocó sus condenas ordenando un nuevo juicio y que el 27 de Mayo del mismo año el Grupo de Detenciones Arbitrarias de Naciones Unidas declaró arbitraria e ilegal sus detenciones y solicitó expresamente al gobierno norteamericano poner fin a las mismas; y

Considerando que todas los recursos legales han sido agotados sin que se haya hecho justicia; y

Considerando que en el proceso de resentencia tanto el Onceno Circuito de la Corte de Apelaciones como la Corte Federal de Miami, reconocieron que no ha existido   evidencia de obtención ni trasmisión de información secreta por parte de los Cinco y que el gobierno de EEUU ha reconocido que ellos no representan ningún daño a la seguridad nacional de los EEUU; y

Considerando que un apoyo sin precedentes en un caso legal significaron los 12 Amicus briefs presentados ante la Corte Suprema para que considere el caso de los Cinco Cubanos, incluidos uno de parte del Instituto William C. Velásquez y otro de la Asociación Política México Americana, quienes junto a otras organizaciones convocaron al Congreso Latino; y

Considerando que Amnistía Internacional ha denunciado como una grave violación la negativa del gobierno de Estados Unidos de otorgar visas a Adriana Pérez y Olga  Salanueva por mas de una década,  esposas de Gerardo Hernández y René González respectivamente; y

Considerando que la violación mas seria ha sido aplicada a los prisioners Gerardo Hernandez y Rene Gonzalez cuyas esposas Adriana Perez y Olga Salanueva se les ha negado la entrada los EEUU sin ninguna razon legal; y

Considerando que el gobierno de los EEUU en 10 ocasiones le ha negado visas a Adriana Pérez y Olga Salanueva, por lo tanto negándoles la posibilidad de verse por una década; y

Considerando que el derecho a las visitas familiares ha sido violado en todos los casos, impidiendo las visitas regulares a las prisiones de sus seres queridos; y

Considerando que esos cinco hombres, al defender a Cuba, han ofrendado sus vidas a la lucha mundial contra el terrorismo.

Por lo tanto, el Congreso Latino resuelve que:

1.     Delegados al Congreso Latino envíen una carta al Presidente Barack Obama demandando la libertad inmediata de Fernando González, Ramón Labañino, Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero y René González, conocidos como los Cinco Cubanos, quienes son prisioneros políticos en los Estados Unidos; y

2.     Hasta que sean puestos en libertad, el gobierno de los Estados Unidos cumpla con sus obligaciones bajo las leyes internacionales de permitir el derecho de visita regular a todos sus familiares y que inmediatamente otorgue visas humanitarias a Adriana Pérez y a Olga Salanueva para que  puedan visitar a sus esposos Gerardo Hernández y Rene González respectivamente.

31 de enero, 2010

El Paso, Texas, USA

 

Resolution 6.02 - Resolution on Luis Posada Carriles

 

Considerando que Cuba ha sido blanco de actos terroristas dirigidos desde los Estados Unidos por mas de 50 años que han ocasionado 3.478 muertos, 2.099 lesionados y millones de dólares en pérdidas para la economía cubana; y

Considerando que Cuba no tiene historia de agresión contra ningún país; y que no ha albergado, protegido, o financiado a terroristas; y 

Considerando, que irónicamente en 1982, el gobierno de Ronald Reagan injustamente incluyó a Cuba en la lista anual del Departamento de Estado de “Estados que patrocinan el terrorismo internacional” y este mes, la administración Obama ordenó aumentar los procedimientos de control  de pasajeros procedentes de “países que patrocinan al terrorismo y otros países interesados, incluyendo a Cuba; y

Considerando que a pesar de que Cuba es un país pobre que ha sido bloqueado por los EEUU por cinco décadas, y que aun así ha podido extender una mano a cualquier país que lo necesite incluido Paquistan, Indonesia y en gran medida en la situación actual de Haití; y

Considerando que Luis Posada Carriles, un ciudadano de origen cubano y nacionalizado venezolano fue reclutado y entrenado por la Agencia Central de Inteligencia para participar en actos de terrorismo contra el pueblo y propiedad en Cuba; y

Considerando que Luis Posada Carriles junto a Orlando Bosch fueron los actores intelectuales de una bomba colocada a bordo del vuelo 455 de Cubana de Aviación en 1976, matando a 73 personas a bordo incluyendo miembros del equipo nacional cubano de esgrima y que han estado envueltos en muchos otros actos de violencia que han afectado no solo a Cuba sino también a ciudadanos de América Latina, el Caribe y de los propios Estados Unidos;  y

Considerando que en mayo del 2007 el Departamento de Justicia de los Estados Unidos, dejo en libertad a Posada Carriles y vive ahora libremente en Miami; y

Considerando que en Mayo del 2005, Luis Posada Carriles fue arrestado por autoridades migratorias de los EEUU, y en Mayo del 2007 el Departamento de Justicia lo dejo en libertad y actualmente vive libre en Miami; y

Considerando, que en los procedimientos de una Corte en Mayo del 2008, el gobierno de los Estados Unidos persistió en perseguir a Posada solo por haber mentido en su declaración a los servicios de inmigración en lugar de juzgarlos por crímenes contra la humanidad; y

Considerando que en 2009, un gran jurado federal emitió un cargo que tiene precedente sobre el cargo anterior, haciendo oficial la conexión por parte del gobierno de los EEUU a la bomba del 1997 en Cuba, sin embargo el cargo no acusa a Posada de poner la bomba o planear  hacerlo pero por mentir en una corte de inmigración sobre su papel en el ataque a los hoteles, bares y restaurantes en áreas de la Habana; y

Considerando que la Jueza Kathleen Cardone, postergó el juicio contra el terrorista internacional confeso Luis Posada Carriles hasta el 1 de marzo del 2010, en El Paso, Texas; y

Considerando, que las autoridades panameñas confiscaron a Posada Carriles varios quilos de explosivos que iban a ser usados no solo contra el Lider Cubano y otros miembros del gobierno, pero además que ocasionarían la voladura de la Universidad Nacional de Panamá, poniendo en peligro la vida de cientos de panameños y por esa razón ellos están pidiendo la extradición a Panamá; y

Considerando, que Luis Posada Carriles es prófugo de la justicia venezolana y que el gobierno de Venezuela ha demandado su extradición para que pueda enfrentar cargos relacionados a la voladura del vuelo 455 de Cubana de Aviación de 1976; y

Considerando, que existe un Tratado de Extradición entre Venezuela y Estados Unidos, ratificado por ambos países en 1922, el cual ha sido implementado por un siglo; y

Considerando, que la administración Bush y ahora la administración Obama ignoraron la Convención de Montreal de Actos Ilícitos contra la Aviación Civil y la Protección de Pasajeros y la Convención Internacional contra Actos Terroristas Cometidos con el Uso de Bombas; y

Considerando, que si cualquier Estado no cumple con un pedido de extradición, estaría obligado a juzgar al criminal por el mismo crimen como si hubiese sido cometido en su propio territorio; y

Considerando que los EEUU, al dejar en libertad al terrorista Posada Carriles viola la Resolución 1373 del Consejo de Seguridad de Naciones Unidas y Tratados Internacionales de los cuales es signatario.

 Por lo tanto, el Congreso Latino resuelve que:

1.     Las organizaciones representadas por delegados ante el Congreso Latino 2010, demandan al gobierno de los Estados Unidos la extradición inmediata de Luis Posada Carriles a la Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela para que sea juzgado por sus crímenes; y

2.      Las organizaciones representadas por delegados ante el Congreso Latino 2010, le pidan al Presidente Barack Obama que quite a Cuba de la lista de países que patrocinan al terrorismo.

31 de enero, 2010

El Paso, Texas