Cuban Five Case is Priority for Cuba’s Foreign Policy

Cuba will intensify actions aimed at achieving justice in the case of the antiterrorist fighters held in US prisons since 1998. The Cuban Five issue is priority for the country’s Foreign Policy, said deputy foreign minister Ana Teresita Gonzalez.

Addressing deputies with the Parliament Commission on International Affairs at Havana’s Conventions Palace, Gonzalez said that some of the actions considered by the Foreign Ministry include an international colloquium in Havana beginning September 12, a day that will mark fifteen years of the imprisonment of Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González and René González. The latter one is already free in Cuba.

The initiatives will mainly aim at breaking the silence wall raised by the US mainstream media against the case and at informing public opinion in that country about the injustice committed against the Cuban Five.

The deputy foreign minister briefed lawmakers on legal actions filed with US courts, which include a Habeas Corpus and a Discovery Motion allowing the judge in charge to order the release of confidential documents in the hands of the US administration.

Cuba is still waiting to hear a word from Washington in this process, which has been delayed despite the growing international support of the Cuban Five cause expressed through statements by personalities, such as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay.

Presidents of five countries joined the international claim over the past six months, said the deputy minister. The world claim has also been backed by Nobel laureates and important figures from the political and culture arenas.

Speaking with reporters, Adriana Perez, who is the wife of Gerardo Hernandez, called for actions on the social Internet networks and alternative media in order to break the silence of the mainstream media.

Perez also stressed the need to reach out to international institutions and agencies backing the cause and to all those who have not yet joined in, in order to have Washington take a fair and humanitarian decision with respect to the Cuban Five case.

President Barack Obama can give a definitive solution to the case and end the anguish of these patriots and their families after nearly 15 years of suffering, said Perez. (ACN)

Tags: human rights, politics