“Justice now! Free the five!” - Report of vigil for Cuban Five in London

Yesterday saw an impressive show of solidarity for the Miami Five in front of the US embassy at London's Grosvenor Square. About five hundred people turned up to the annual candlelit vigil organised by the Cuba Solidarity Campaign in Britain. Hands Off Venezuela joined the protest, which marked the 10th anniversary of the arrest of these five courageous men.

10 years ago these five Cubans were arrested in the United States not because of terrorism, but because of opposing terrorism. Since the existence of the Cuban Revolution the campaign of terror on the part of the Miami based counter-revolutionary Cuban-American mafia has not stopped. The mafia planned and performed acts of sabotage, assassinations, bomb attacks and terrorist activities, which had its unfortunate highlight in an attack on a Cuban airliner in Barbados, in which 73 people lost their lives. In total more than 3,000 Cubans have died over the last 50 years as a consequence of US-backed terrorism, aimed at the restoration of capitalism and imperialist rule on the island. The five Cubans Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González, and René González, infiltrated the extreme right wing of the Cuban-American mafia in Miami in order to prevent other terrorist attacks from happening. On September 12th, 1998, they were arrested by the US government under false accusations.

Since then they have been imprisoned in a cruel and unjust manner. René González and Gerardo Hernández have not been allowed to receive visits from their wives for 8 and 10 years respectively, because they have been denied visas to visit their husbands. Although there had been solid arguments in favour of their innocence, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has just recently ended their appeal to review the case and it upheld the convictions against all five Cuban fighters.

As the sun set yesterday more and more people gathered in front of the US embassy listening to fourteen speakers, including Tony Woodley (joint general secretary of Unite, UK's largest union), Norma Stephenson (UNISON president), Rob Miller (director of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign), and many other trade unionists and social activists. In total 25 trade unions are affiliated to the Cuba Solidarity Campaign in Britain, which represent 95% of workers organised in unions. Many of the speakers said they had the honour to speak directly to the Miami Five, and since then have never stopped in campaigning for their release. Earlier in the day a high level delegation handed in a petition with over 14,000 signatures to the US Embassy calling for visiting rights for the wives of five Cuban nationals and asking for justice for the men.

A very moving moment was when Olga Salanueva and Adriana Pérez, the two wives who have been denied visas to visit their husbands since the frame-up trial, came on the stage. A message they had prepared was read out to the crowd:

"Dear Friends,

"In the name of the families of the Miami 5 we want to express our thanks one more time for all the activities that you are carrying out to help us obtain visas to visit our husbands. This vigil is just one example of the value, persistence and unity of members of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign and British trade union movement on our behalf. The day that we are united with our husbands in Cuba and regain our happiness we will remember with gratitude all the efforts that you made to help us achieve that joy. We need the support you give us and one day, together with you and with the Five, we will celebrate our victory.

"Freedom for the Five"

The two women had already addressed a fringe meeting at this year's Labour Party conference in September to mark the 10th year of their husbands' arrests. With almost 350 people attending, including trade union leaders, MPs and members of the Labour Party national executive committee, it was one of the largest fringe meetings of the entire conference.

Gerry Fernandez, international director of the United Steel Workers, came over from the US especially for the Miami Five solidarity events in Britain. He pointed out that the "US government said the Miami Five are a threat to the security of the US, but it is Wall Street which is a threat to our security". Referring to the anthem he closed his speech with "we are the land of the free" - but you couldn't miss hearing the sarcastic tone. The moderator thanked Gerry and said that his visit is also a good indication of the improving relations of British unions with the unions across the Atlantic.

Afterwards a letter of one of the imprisoned, Gerardo Hernández, was read out. He thanked everybody who was involved in tireless campaigning for their release and that he can count on our solidarity in the future:

"Someone recently mentioned that now the Supreme Court has the last word. I would say, the second-to-last word. The final word in the case of the Cuban Five rests with you, our sisters and brothers of Cuba, the United States and the whole world, who throughout all these years have been our principal source of encouragement. Our hopes are not placed in any court. Ten years are more than enough to have cured us of any such naïve notion.

"You are our hope, who through sacrifice and swimming against the current, have succeeded in making people on all continents aware of the injustice committed against the Five. You are the ones who are not taking time out or resting in your homes but instead are honouring us with your presence in different activities, commemorating the 10th anniversary of our imprisonment.

"We know that right is on our side, but to win true justice we need a jury of millions of people throughout the world, and we need you, defenders of just causes, to make our truth known."

The letter continues:

"Ten years after that September 12, 1998, we thank you once again for walking this long and rough road together with us. We know, that to continue this march, we can keep counting on you, and you can also always count on our firm determination to resist, with our heads held high, for as long as it takes. ¡Hasta la Victoria Siempre!" (Read the complete message)

Then the crowd started to shout for a few minutes: "Justice now! Free the five!" We will definitely not tire of fighting for justice and to broaden the support for the release of the Miami Five.

For more information visit Cuba Solidarity Campaign.