Immediate release of the Miami Five!

On 12th September 1998, Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González and René González, were arrested in Miami. They were combating reactionary exile Cuban terrorist networks. The US authorities ignored this and later the 5 received severe prison sentences. Only international solidarity and continuous and unrelenting action can end their imprisonment.

Defend the gains of the Cuban Revolution!

Down with the imperialist blockade!

Free the Miami 5! On 12th September 1998, five young Cubans: Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González and René González, were arrested in Miami and accused with a number of crimes. The most serious were conspiracy to commit espionage and conspiracy to commit a crime against the United States. The Five had gone from Cuba to the US with the task of infiltrating terrorist organisations within the Cuban ex-pat community in Florida, all of which have been tolerated and protected by successive US administrations. They were to obtain information on their plans and prevent acts of aggression against Cuba. These groups' terrorist activities include sabotage, arms and drugs dealing and people trafficking, and they had even hatched plans to assassinate the Cuban president, Fidel Castro, and commit terrorist acts in the US and other countries.

Between 1959 and 1999, acts of aggression, invasions and provocations against Cuba left 3,478 dead and 2,099 disabled. All protests to the US government have fallen on deaf ears. During that entire period, despite repeated allegations made and evidence provided, not a single criminal has been prosecuted.

The Five were convicted at a rigged trial in Miami, the only city in the US where the terrorists are able to boast openly about their crimes. They proclaim in the media that they are preparing bomb attacks, or have done so in the past, with impunity from prosecution. In this city, which is completely hostile and dominated by the US Cuban mafia, a fair and impartial trial was impossible. The anti-Cuban lobby launched an intense propaganda campaign in the media which had a very strong influence over the jury. This was denounced by the defence solicitors, who on numerous occasions requested the trial be moved to another location. The requests were consistently turned down.

The defence team came up against numerous obstacles during the legal process. The authorities only allowed it access to 20% of the prosecution documents, saying they were classified as secret. It is still being denied access to thousands of documents it needs for the appeals process. During the trial no evidence was given that the Five had obtained information on the US government, nor any information that posed a threat toUS security. Various military experts testified to this. Even James Clapper, former director of the Pentagon's Intelligence Agency and a prosecution witness, admitted that the accused had not committed espionage against the US. These testimonies were not taken into account, an arbitrariness that once again demonstrated the political nature of the trial.

At the end of an illegitimate and fraudulent trial, the judge, who accepted none of the defence's evidence but all the prosecution's, passed unjust and disproportionate sentences, applying the maximum sentence in each case even though the main charges were not proven. In December 2001, Gerardo Hernández was sentenced to double life imprisonment, Antonio Guerrero y Ramón Labañino to life and Fernando González and René González to19 and 15 years, respectively.

Severe treament was inflicted on the Five to try to break them down psychologically and physically. They suffered psychological pressures and solitary confinement in punishment cells for periods of 17 months and 48 days despite not having committed any acts of misconduct. They were separated and held in high-security prisons hundreds of miles apart. The US government systematically placed difficulties in the way of visits from their mothers, wives and children, which was an additional hardship for the five and their families. It also obstructed visits from their defence solicitors and Cuban embassy staff in the US.

Once the trial was over, the five immediately appealed against their sentences in the 11th Circuit of Atlanta, Georgia. Following a detailed review of the documents, a panel of three judges publicised an exhaustive 93-page analysis of the process and evidence on August 9th 2005 and unanimously overturned the verdict on the grounds that the Five had not received a fair trial in Miami. Exactly one year after that panel's decision to revoke the sentences, the plenary court of the 11th Circuit of Atlanta issued its findings over a review of the initial ruling of 9th August 2005. This judicial review ratified the verdict of the Miami trial and rejected the call for a retrial. It sent for consideration to the panel of three judges questions they had not debated during their review. This decision is prolonging the legal process and bringing no end in sight to the disgraceful and unjust imprisonment of five heroes who have already spent eight years in jail.

The latest events have done no more than confirm an incontestible truth: this has been a political issue from the start, and in jailing the Five they have taken out on them their vengeance, their hatred, and their impotence during more than four decades of defeat in the face of the Cuban Revolution.

El Militante and the International Marxist Tendency view these comrades as the finest, first-rank fighters, the vanguard of world socialism. Their struggle to defend the gains of the Cuban Revolution from attacks from the most reactionary, murderous extreme right is the struggle of revolutionaries worldwide. The demand for their release is, therefore, not only a duty for Cubans but for all who believe in the socialist future of humanity.

Only international solidarity and continuous and unrelenting action can end their imprisonment. We therefore call for a tireless struggle to achieve their release. We cannot leave their destinies in the hands of a corrupt bourgeois legal system and the chicanery of imperialist courts, particularly since this case is clearly so overtly political. Only pressure and action by the working class and youth on a world scale can redress this colossal injustice.

Argentina

Comité Editorial "El Militante"
Comité Promotor de la Campaña Internacional "Manos Fuera de Venezuela" en Argentina
Corriente Socialista "El Militante"
Fernando Buen Abad Domínguez, Miembro del Comité Consultor de Telesur y representante de la Fundación Federico Engels en Argentina

Austria

Gernot Trausmuth, Editor "Der Funke" (La Chispa)
Emanuel Tomaselli, Coordinador Nacional Campaña Manos Fuera de Venezuela, Austria
Lukas Riepler, presidente de la Juventud Socialista, Vorarlberg y miembro de la Ejectutiva Nacional de la Juventud Socialista Austria

Belgium

Roland Vanderbeke, Comisión Ejecutiva del Sindicato Socialista de los Servicios Públicos, Oostende (ACOD)
Eddy Decreton, Vicepresidente del Sindicato Socialista de Maestros, Flandres Este
André Gonsalis, Presidente del Sindicato Socialista de los Servicios Públicos en Veurne y delegado sindical del Sindicato Socialista de Maestros (ACOD)
Wim Benda, Comité de redacción del periódico marxista "Vonk" (La Chispa)
Erik Demeester, Coordinador Nacional Campaña Manos Fuera de Venezuela, Bélgica
Brecht Desmet, Representante estudiantil electo Universidad de Ghent

Canada

Alex Grant, Coordinador Nacional Campaña Manos Fuera de Venezuela, Canadá
Mike Palecek, Comité de redacción "Fightback"
Camilo Cahis, Comité de redacción "Fightback"

Denmark

Comité editorial "Socialistisk Standpunkt"
Comité Promotor de la Campaña Internacional "Manos Fuera de Venezuela" en Dinamarca

France

Greg Oxley, Editor "La Riposte"
Jérôme Métellus, Coordinador Nacional Campaña Manos Fuera de Venezuela - Francia
Hubert Prévaud, PCF Toulouse
Boris Campos, MJCF Escalquens

Germany

Comité Editorial "Der Funke" (La Chispa), Alemania
Hans-Gerd Öfinger, Coordinador Nacional Campaña Manos Fuera de Venezuela, Alemania
Christoph Mürdter, Portavoz de Solid, jóvenes del Partido de Izquierdas en el estado de Hessen, miembro del comité regional del Partido de Izquierdas, región de Wiesbaden

Great Britain

Alan Woods, Editor "In Defence of Marxism" - www.marxist.com
Jorge Martin, Secretario Internacional Campaña Manos Fuera de Venezuela
Jeremy Dear, Secretario General Sindicato de Periodistas NUJ
Ron Graves, Secretario Sindicato Sector Públic UNISON East Anglia
Phil Waker, Ejecutiva Nacional Sindicato de Postales y Telecomunicaciones CWU
Pam Woods, Secretaria Sindical Sindicato del Sector Público UNISON Islington
Rob Sewell, Vicesecretario Sindicato de Periodistas Londres Centro NUJ

Greece

Comité editorial "Marxistiki Foni"
Stamatis Karagiannopoulos, Coordinador Nacional Campaña Manos Fuera de Venezuela - Grecia

Italy

Comité editorial "Falcemartello"
Claudio Bellotti, Ejecutiva nacional, Partito della Rifondazione Comunista
Jacopo Renda, Comité político nacional, Partito della Rifondazione Comunista
Simona Bolelli, Comité político nacional, Partito della Rifondazione Comunista
Alessandro Giardiello, Comité político nacional, Partito della Rifondazione Comunista
Mario Iavazzi, Comité político nacional, Partito della Rifondazione Comunista
Roberto Sarti, Coordinador nacional Campaña Manos Fuera de Venezuela
Matteo Molinaro, Coordinador nacional Comité en defensa de la educación publica (CSP)
Paolo Brini, Comité central Fiom Cgil (sindicato del metal)
Samira Giulitti, Comité central Fisac Cigil (sindicato de los trabajadores de los seguros)
Sara Cimarelli, Comité central Fisac Cigil (sindicato de los trabajadores de los seguros)

Mexico

Adrián Alvarado, Redactor "Militante"
Edén Alcívar Cruz, Campaña Manos Fuera de Venezuela (México)
Ricardo Nataren Delgado, Secretario General de Comité Ejecutivo Municipal del PRD en Pijijiapan, Chiapas
Francisco Barrios, Asociación de Técnicos y Profesionistas de la Costa Michoacán A.C. (Sicartsa)
Amauri Solís Cortés, Consejero Estatal PRD Chiapas
Rodrigo Cruz García, Comité Estudiantil en Defensa de la Educación Pública
José Teodoro Cardoza, Catedrático de la Universidad Obrera de México, SNTE Sección X y Abogado laborista
Juan Olguín Ortiz, Sindicato Independiente de la Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana
Gabriel Santamaría, Comité de Lucha Estudiantil del Politécnico

Pakistan

Manzoor Ahmed, Miembro de la Asamblea Nacional, Presidente Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign
Lal Khan, Editor "The Struggle" (La Lucha) y "Asian Marxist Review"
Kabir Khan, Secretario de Información Sindicato de Telecomunicaciones
Mohammad Irshad, Dirigente Sindical, Sindiacato del Agua y la
Electricidad
Nasrren Taj, Dirigente de la Asociación de Maestras de Baluchistán
Nazar Mengal, Dirigente del Sindicato de Postales, Baluchistán
Parshutum Das, Secretario General del Sindicato de Trabajadores de
Hospitales, Sindh
Ali Akbar, Presidente Divisional del Sindicato de Telecomunicaciones
South Punjab
Sheikh Majeed, Dirigente del Sindicato de Obreros de la Línea Aérea PIA
Amin Jamali, Dirigente de la Asociación de Maestros del Sindh
Hashmat lodhi, Presidente de la Organización del Trabajo de Okara,
Punjab
Munir Ahmed, Presidente de la Asociación de Abogados de Kasur, Punjab
Abbas Taj, Presidente del Sindicato de Artistas y Pintores Sadiqabad,
Punjab
Nazar Shah, Presidente del Sindicato de Trabajadores de la
Cervercería Murree Brewery Rawalpindi, Punjab
Hardil Kumar, Presidente de la Asociación de Zapateros de Karachi, Sindh
Mushtaq Meo, Vicesecretario General del Sindicato de Ferroviarios
Mehnatkash Sukkur Division, Sindh

Spain

Juan Ignacio Ramos, Presidente Fundación Federico Engels
Juanjo López, Secretario General Sindicato de Estudiantes
Miriam Municio, Comité de Redacción "El Militante"
Jordi Rosich, Campaña Manos Fuera de Venezuela (España)
Xaquin Gª Sinde, CC.OO. Ejecutiva Astilleros Navantia-Ferrol
Santiago Jiménez, Secretario General de CC.OO. en Villa Verde del Río (Sevilla) y Concejal de Izquierda Unida en el Ayuntamiento de Villa Verde del Río
Lluis Perarnau Reyesl, UGT, Secretario de Organización Sección Sindical y Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB), miembro de la Junta de PAS funcionario
Txus Rodríguez, Delegada por UGT en Eclayr Prim, Álava
Salvador Aranda, Presidente del Comité de Empresa de Musersa por la CGT (Confederación General del Trabajo), Girona
Jaime Vázquez, Delegado Sindical UGT - Madrid Transporte
Bárbara Areal, Coordinadora del Sector de Enseñanza de Izquierda Unida, Madrid

Sweden

Jonathan Clyne, Editor del periódico obrero "Socialisten"
Egil Karlow, Coordinador Nacional Campaña Manos Fuera de Venezuela

United States

John Peterson, Editor "Socialist Appeal" (USA), Minneapolis, MN
Cort Greene, Coordinador Nacional Campaña Manos Fuera de Venezuela (EEUU), Miami, FL
Gabriel Cabrera, Redactor de "El Militante Sin Fronteras", San Francisco, CA
Karl Belin, Jóvenes por el Socialismo Internacional, Pittsburgh, PA
David May, Partido Laborista (Tesorero de la Agrupación de St. Louis)

Venezuela

Corriente Marxista Revolucionaria "El Militante"
Comité Editorial "El Militante"
Jose Antonio Hernández, Coordinador nacional Campaña Manos Fuera de Venezuela
Luis Primo, Coordinación UNT Caracas-Miranda.
Jorge Paredes, Presidente de Inveval, bajo cogestión obrera
Francisco Rivero, Director nacional de ideología del Movimiento Democracia Directa