Dear Friends:
The National Committee to Free the Cuban Five would like to inform you of
recent developments. We ask, after reading the update, that you respond to the
call below and contact Secretary of State Colin Powell to protest.
We need to let the U.S. government know that the national and
international campaign for the Five, in coordination, will mobilize
against the injustices imposed on the five brothers, and that we will
not stop fighting until they are free.
Please send us a copy of your e-mail or letter.
Read the latest on:
1) The U.S. State Department's new restrictions on Cuban consular
visits to the Five;
2) Antonio Guerrero's return to Florence prison;
3) Media outreach.
The U.S. State Department has recently informed the Cuban consular
officials in Washington
that visits to Cuban prisoners in the U.S. will be restricted to one
visit every three months. This is obviously directed against the
Cuban Five, and comes on the heels of restrictions of Cuban consular
representatives in being
able to accompany family members to see the Five. It is an outrage,
especially given that the Cuban Five have less opportunity for visits
than prisoners who are from the U.S., because their family lives in Cuba.
In addition, virtually all their requests for approval of visits by
people in the U.S. are denied. What could be more evident than that
the United States government fears the solidarity and recognition
that the Five heroes are gaining every day?
1) CONTACT COLIN POWELL! By e-mail:
http://contact-us.state.gov/ask_form_cat/ask_form_secretary.html
or letter:
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell
U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street
NW Washington, DC 20520
Write to: Colin Powell to demand that he:
a.) Reverse the restrictions imposed on Cuban consular officials, in
their visits to Cuban prisoners, noting that there is reason to
believe such restrictions are directed against Gerardo Hernández,
#58739-004; Fernando González (aka Ruben Campa), #58733-004; Rene
González, #58738-004, Ramon Labañino (aka Luis Medina) #58734-004,
and Antonio Guerrero, #58741-004, collectively known as the Cuban Five.
b.) Reverse the State Department's denial to Cuban consular
officials, their right to accompany the family members who come from
Cuba to visit their loved ones.
c.) Immediately grant entry visas to Olga Salanueva, wife of Rene
González, and to Adriana Perez, wife of Gerardo Hernández.
Stop the punitive treatment of the Five and their families. There are
very good informational points in the following statement from the
Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, such as the violation of
international conventions regarding diplomatic relations:
March 4th, 2004, In the afternoon of February 27, the head of the
Cuba Bureau of the U.S. Department of State delivered Diplomatic Note
058/2 to the Cuban Interests Section in Washington. The note states
that, with immediate effect, the Department of State only will
approve consular visits once every three months to "Cuban nationals"
imprisoned in U.S. jails.
In practice, this measure means that the U.S. government has reduced
the consular visits to the five Cuban patriots imprisoned in U.S.
prisons by Cuban diplomatic officials based in Washington from
monthly to three monthly visits.
The Ministry of Foreign Relations denounces this new attack on our
five heroes, compounding a long list of aggressions, psychological
torture and violations of their most elemental human rights by the
U.S. government since the moment they were arrested in 1998.
This action once again reveals the cruelty and irrationality of the
U.S. government in its vain attempt to break the indomitable spirit
of our compatriots. This decision is in flagrant violation of
international law; specifically, the 1963 Vienna Convention on
Consular Relations, which clearly establishes in various of its
articles facilities that should be granted by governments for
unhindered access by diplomatic missions to nationals
imprisoned in the country in question.
Among other consequences, this unjust action against our five
political prisoners of the empire rules out a visit to our comrades
prior to the appeal hearing scheduled for March 10, given that State
Department officials have stated that visits for the first quarter of
the year have been used up, and thus subsequent visits must be
scheduled starting April 1. In this way, the right of our diplomatic
officials – likewise acknowledged by the Vienna Convention on
Consular Relations – to support our compatriots has been impeded
and, of course, their right to support from our diplomatic mission.
This new aggression comes in addition to the recent refusal by the
Department of State to allow Cuban diplomatic officials to accompany
our heroes' relatives when they are in the United States, the
repeated denial of visas for Olga Salanueva and Adriana Pérez, the
wives of René González and Gerardo Hernández respectively, and the
general delay in granting visas to family members, including several
of our comrades' heroic mothers, who have been waiting for a response
from the U.S. Department of State since August and September 2003.
Cuba reiterates that neither these aggressions nor any other outrage
will overcome the stoicism, morale and noble spirit of our five
heroes, their families and our people. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs
March 4, 2004)
2. Antonio Guerrero, who was moved for a time to a Springfield, MO
prison for medical treatment, was just moved back to Florence prison
in Colorado. He called our office today, March 6, to say hello and
announce his return. He is in fine health and very excited about the
ad's publication (as are Ramón, René, Gerardo, and Fernando!). He
wishes to express his thanks to everyone who supported the ad
campaign, and all who have written him recently. Some mail was
returned to senders lately, so correspondence can begin anew to him
at Florence.
Please be conscious that he will have a very big backlog. It will
take time for him to adjust and answer all the letters he received.
Keep the letters coming, but let him know it is ok if he can't write
back. All the five are getting a lot of mail, and it is hard to
correspond so promptly or individually.
3. Very soon we will send out photocopies of the ad so committees can
send a copy of the ad to supporters. We have a very limited number of
newspapers, and one original copy will be sent to the organizations
abroad. It is an opportune time to contact your local media, because
with a national Associated Press story that came out today, the Feb.
21 Fox TV program on the Five, local radio, tv and newspapers can
pick up the stories and expand on them locally. Urge them to cover
the upcoming oral arguments hearing in Miami, and your local
solidarity efforts for the Cuban Five.
Local angles work well. Now, you can download all the media-packet
materials, to mail to media. The "Analysis: of the Case" piece is
especially useful for the facts of the case. Download materials at:
http://www.freethefive.org/media.cfm and read the latest media
coverage at: http://www.freethefive.org/updates.cfm#uspress.
Check the latest AP storyat:
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/florida/MGAJAE23IRD.html
Peace and Solidarity,
National Committee to Free the Cuban Five