WHO ARE THE CUBAN FIVE

To write to Ramón Labañino address the envelope as following

Luis Medina
#58734-004
U.S.P. Beaumont
P.O. Box 26030
Beaumont TX 77720-6035

RAMÓN LABAÑINO SALAZAR

Born in the City of Havana on June 9, 1963, Ramón Labañino graduated summa cum laude in Economy from the University of Havana in 1986. In 1990 he married Elizabeth Palmeiro and they have two daughters: 15-year-old Laura and 11-year-old Lizbeth. Ramon also has another daughter, 21-year-old Ailí, from his first marriage.

On September 12, 1998 Ramón was arrested. He was held in preventative custody for thirty-three months before the sentence was passed and was isolated in special cell, known as “the hole”, designed for prisoners with serious disciplinary problems for almost 17 months prior to the trial and for 48 days after the verdict was passed. In February 2003 he was once again held in solitary confinement for almost a month without any reason being given.

His trial, held at the United States District Court Southern District of Florida, under Case No. 98-721-Cr-Lenard(S), began on November 26, 2000 and concluded on June 8, 2001, in Miami, Florida, home to over half a million Cuban exiles. Miami is a community with a long history of hostility toward the Cuban government - a record which a federal appellate court in the United States later described as a “perfect storm” of prejudice, precluding a fair trial.

Following his conviction, on December 13, 2001 he was sentenced to one life term plus 18 years of imprisonment for the charges of General Conspiracy, Conspiracy to commit espionage, False Identity and Conspiracy to act as a non-registered foreign agent.

Ramón is serving his sentence in Beaumont United States Penitentiary (USP) in Texas.

On 8 separate occasions, the U.S. government has denied entry visas to Adriana Perez (TOP) and Olga Salanueva (BOTTOM) to visit their imprisoned husbands.

It has been almost 10 years since they last embraced.