Action Plan adopted by participants at the 5th International Colloquium

 "For the Release of the Cuban Five and Against Terrorism"

 

Nov. 21, 2009

The 5th Colloquium held in Holguin is especially relevant after the rejection by the Supreme Court to review the case in June, 2009; the resentencing process of Antonio on October 13th with the unjust sentence of 21 years and 10 months, the next resentencing of Fernando and Ramon dated for December 8th; and the unchanged sentences of Rene and Gerardo, the latter being the most difficult, and the current rejection to grant visas to Adriana and Olga.

This has been a political case, but it was never before required to exert the power of international condemnation and solidarity before Obama´s Administration that has the legal and constitutional power to put an end to this injustice.

All our efforts in the struggle for the release of the Five are intended to influence United States, where the big media continues to ignore the case. The work of more than 300 committees in over 100 countries has begun to bear some fruit. This a fact acknowledged by the prosecution in Miami itself in the view for the resentencing of Tony: "There is much international noise around the case, it is necessary to improve the image of U.S. justice."

Regarding this, we need to set our goals towards strengthening those aspects that we will work harder on.

Main proposals made by participants to attain the release of the Five

 

1 - Widen working spaces

     

      • Continue spreading the case and demand solidarity among all social    movements and broaden the political spectrum of sectors to which we bring our message, mainly governments, parliaments, religious organizations, celebrities, legal organizations, human rights organizations, trade unions.

      •  Promoting the participation of activists for the freedom of the Cuban Five in the U.S. Social Forum 2010.

      •  Continue to strongly denounce the double standards of the U.S. government that keeps five innocent people in jail and shelters, self-confessed terrorist like Luis Posada Carriles  and Orlando Bosch.

 

2 - Working with Parliamentarians

      • Bond the request of parliamentarians from every country to U.S. Congressmen.

      • Favor the visit of activists for the freedom of the Five to U.S. Congressmen and to the  Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi herself.

      • Bring about the visit of parliamentarians from other countries to the five in their prisons.

 

3 - Working with Trade Unions

      • to have activities organized by or related with trade unions impacting on U.S. counterpart  trade union.

      • To carry posters of the Cuban Five in the demonstrations to take place coming May 1st in  each country.

 

4 - Expand the use of new ICT (Information and Communications Technology)

      

      • Use youtube to upload videos on personalities that could have an impact in the U.S.                  audience.

       • Improve our websites, bulletins and messages, use the social networks that provide the  opportunity to create Blogs, and use Facebook and Twitter.

       • Achieve a larger presence in big media, even publishing a page on a national newspaper in the U.S.

     

        • Disseminate www.cubadebate.cu and www.antiterroristas.cu sites as language reference  centers on the case of the Cuban Five.

 

5 - Cultural Resources

       • Spread knowledge about the intellectual work and artistic sensibility of the Cuban Five.

       • Make use of all cultural events, ranging from concerts to exhibitions, including world known personalities and to strengthen our efforts to bring the case to the media.

 

6 - Solidarity

        • Thousands of people work in the world to lift the genocidal blockade against Cuba, for several reasons not all of them work for the release of the Cuban Five. We must gather the work of all those who are in solidarity with Cuba because demanding the release of the Five is to demand the right of Cuba to live in peace.

 

7. Nobel Peace Prize for the Five

 

8. Demand that the U.S. government must grant humanitarian visas to Olga Salanueva and Adriana Perez.

       * Take advantage of the existence of the International Commission for the Right to Family Visits, whose members are recognized international figures from 27 countries.

        * Carry out actions in every country where there are members of the Commission in order to petition for visas and join with other important personalities who are not involved.

           The petitions should be directed to Barack Obama, and other officials of the United States government.

        * Take advantage of important dates for families and women: Christmas and New Year’s, Valentine’s Day and International Women’s Day.

 

9. Continue the support for the legal battle of the case

         * Regularly report on developments in the case.

     

         * Publicize the contents of the amicus briefs delivered to the Supreme Court, as well as other published legal documents.

         *Continue identifying important figures in the judicial sector in order to involve them in the struggle to free the Cuban 5.

 

10. Work with Governments

         * Obtain statements on the case by  heads of state and other high officials of governments

         *Ask heads of state to request that Obama commute the sentences of the Five

 

11. Work with the younger generations

         * Prioritize teachers as sources to get out information about the Five

         * Use literary work by and about the five to teach young people and reinforce in them ethical and human values

          * Produce literature and other educational tools for people of very young age

          * incorporate the subject of the Five as a component of community projects

 

Important dates to Remember:

December 8:   Resentencing of Fernando and Ramón

December 10; International Human Rights Day

December 24, 25: Christmas Eve and Christmas

December 31, January : New Years Eve and 51st Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution

February 14;   St. Valentine's Day

March 8: International Women's Day

May 1: International Workers Day

2nd Sunday of May: Mother's Day

June 17: Anniversary of the Open Letter to the People of the United States

Participants of the Colloquium for the Freedom of the Cuban 5, Holguin, Cuba

Read More...

The San Francisco Labor Council Passes a Resolution in Support of the Cuba Five. Comité Internacional por la Libertad de los Cinco 2009-10-28

http://www.antiterroristas.cu/index.php?tpl=./interface.en/design/reading/special-article.tpl.html&aNews_lang=en&aNews_obj_id=1002118

On Monday October 26th, 2009, the San Francisco Labor Council (SFLC) passed a resolution in support of the Cuban Five and their rights for family visitation. The Cuban Five are five men who came to the United States to monitor anti Cuban terrorist groups in Miami to protect the lives of not just Cubans but U.S. citizens as well. They are facing lengthy sentences and have been incarcerated for over 11 years. As this case gains international support there has been a significant increase in the number of resolutions by unions and city councils and the support of personalities in the U.S. This particular resolution was brought up to the Executive Board of the SFLC by the American Federation of Teachers local 2121, that passed a similar resolution on August 25th and amongst other things stated that they will ask the SFLC for endorsement. The San Francisco Labor Council is the local body of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and serves as headquarters to the Labor Community in San Francisco. The SFLC represents more than 100,000 union members and their families who belong to over 150 affiliate unions. The AFL-CIO is the largest federation of unions in the United States and Canada. The SFLC Resolution, calls for President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to consider the violation of International Covenant and due process for a fair trial associated with the conviction and imprisonment of the Cuban Five. The resolution also calls for diplomatic improvement in the relationship between the United States and Cuba. Additionally it calls for the pardon and release of the Cuban Five to their homeland. It also demands that the US government to immediately grants visas to Olga Salanueva and Adriana Perez to visit their husbands in prison. And finally the SFLC calls on President Richard Trumpka of the AFL-CIO to send a letter to President Obama expressing support for content of the resolution. Copies of this important resolution will be sent to President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Attorney General Eric Holder, California Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other Bay Area Congressional members, including State Senate members Mark Leno and Leland Yee, California State Assembly members Tom Ammiano and Fiona Ma, and all the members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. For more information please visit: http://www.antiterroristas.cu

Read More...

ACFS Perth Statement

United Nations General Assembly Resolution on Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba, October 2009

The Australia Cuba Friendship Society Perth Branch applaud the 187 principled countries for the stand they have taken to condemn the United States blockade of Cuba in the United Nations General Assembly for the 18th consecutive year.

The vote in favor of the resolution to condemn the blockade was higher than ever, with 187 votes in favor of the condemnation, 3 votes against (the United States, Israel and the tiny Pacific island of Palau), and two abstentions (The Marshall Islands and Micronesia, also tiny Pacific states which, like Palau, are highly dependent on U.S. aid).

Every year of voting sees increasing condemnation of this inhumane blockade. The brutality of the blockade is so blatant that every single one of the United States NATO allies voted to condemn the U.S. policy.

We applaud also the spirit of the Cuban people who continue to move forward with great humility and dignity sharing freely with others in need what they have been able to achieve despite the blockade.

This US blockade, classified, as genocide by Section C of Article II of the Geneva Convention of 1948 must end. President Obama must exercise his presidential prerogative to cease this murderous policy.

We demand

That the new Obama administration accepts the UN Resolution 63/7 and end the US blockade against Cuba immediately as this is political barbarism. The recent measures taken by the Obama administration don’t go far enough and do not represent a serious attempt to remedy the policies regarding Cuba of the last 10 US administrations.

That the Obama administration immediately closes the Guantanamo Naval base and returns full sovereignty over the land to the Cuban people.

That the US administration grants visas to the wives of Gerardo and Rene, Olga Salanueva and Adriana Perez.

That the Obama administration releases the Cuban Five heroes because the charges brought against them and their imprisonment is politically motivated.

Perth, Western Australia, 31^st October 2009.

Read More...