On December 18, 2009, US Department of
Homeland Security denied Olga Salanueva her humanitarian parole
request to enter in the territory of the United States with the only
purpose of visiting her husband, René González, who is serving a 15-year
sentence in prison.
Olga’s request, submitted on October
23, 2009, was endorsed by letters from important religious and human
rights organizations, among them the World Council of Churches, the
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA and the Cuban
Council of Churches, as well as Amnesty International.
The denial failed to mention the
reasons for such decision, with which the US Government, preventing
visit of Rene’s wife, once again violates not only the human rights
of one of the 5 Cubans, who serve unfair sentences in jails of that
country for acting against terrorism, but also the human rights of
their relatives.