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The
Untold Story of the Cuban Five (Part I)
By Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada
“It takes all the running you can do,
to keep in the same place”
Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll
• REMEMBER Elian?
The case of Elian González, a six year-old boy
forcefully retained by his unknown great-uncles
against the will of his father and in clear defiance
of US law and decency was widely reported by media
around the world. Miami, the place of the
kidnapping, became a kind of secessionist city in
North America when the Mayor, the chief of police,
the politicians, every newspaper and local radio and
TV broadcasters, together with religious and
business institutions, joined with some of the most
notorious terrorist and violent groups in opposing
the courts' and government's orders to free the
boy.
It was necessary for a Special Forces team sent from
Washington DC to launch a surreptitious and swift
operation to occupy several houses, disarm the
heavily armed individuals hidden there and in the
neighborhood to save the child and restore law.
Everybody followed that story. Day in and day out.
But practically nobody knew that, at the very same
time, in exactly the same place--Miami--five other
young Cubans were arbitrarily deprived of their
freedom and subjected to a gross miscarriage of
justice.
Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero,
Fernando González and René González were detained in
the early hours of Saturday September 12th, 1998,
and locked for the next 17 months in punishment
cells, in solitary confinement. The main accusation
against them--as recognized by the prosecutors and
the judge from their indictment to the last day of
the trial--was that they had peacefully, with no
weapons, penetrated ant-Cuban terrorist groups with
a view of reporting back to Cuba about their
criminal plans.
Was it conceivable to have a fair trial in Miami for
any Cuban revolutionary facing such an accusation?
Could that happen while the kidnapping of Elian was
going on with its surrounding atmosphere of
violence, hatred and fear?
According to the prosecution it was perfectly
possible. In their words Miami was “a very large,
diverse, heterogeneous community” capable of
handling any sensitive issue, even those involving
the Cuban Revolution. The prosecutors repeated that
line when rejecting the more than ten motions
presented by the defense lawyers requesting a change
of venue before the start of the trial.
The same government that was obligated to deal with
Miami as a sort of rebel city and to secretly send
there its forces to restore legality, lied
repeatedly about the venue issue, denying the
defendants a right so cherished by Americans, and
refused to move the proceedings to the neighboring
city of Fort Lauderdale, half an hour away from
Miami.
Ironically, a few years later, in 2002, when the
government was the object of a civilian complaint of
an administrative nature, of far lesser
significance--later resolved by an out of Court
settlement--and only indirectly related to the Elian
case, they asked for a change of venue to Fort
Lauderdale, affirming that “anything related to
Cuba” was impossible to get a fair trial in Miami. (Ramírez
vs. Ashcroft, 01-4835 Civ-Huck, June 25, 2002)
Such a flagrant contradiction, a clear proof of
prosecutorial misconduct, of real prevarication, was
one of the main factors leading to the unanimous
decision of the Court of Appeals panel, in 2005, to
vacate the convictions of the Five and order a new
trial. (Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit,
No. 01-17176, 03-11087).
That historic decision was later reversed by the
majority of the entire Court under pressure from
Attorney General Alberto González in an action that
went contrary to the normal US legal practice. Mr.
González's successful move, a manifestation of his
peculiar legal philosophy, foreclosed the
possibility of a just resolution of this case in a
manner that would have honored the United States.
The panel decision, an exceptionally sound and solid
93 pages document, including irrefutable facts about
the half century old terrorist war against Cuba,
remains an outstanding moment in the best American
tradition and will continue to be a text to be
analyzed with respect by scholars and law school
students.
But that’s another chapter in the long saga of the
Cuban Five.
Elián González now is about to finish High School
and continues to attract the attention of foreign
media and visitors who keep going to Cardenas, the
beautiful town where he lives. When traveling
towards Elian’s home they will be surprised by
billboards demanding freedom for five youngsters
they never heard off before.
In Leonard Weinglass’s words:
“The trial was kept secret by the American
media. It is inconceivable that the longest trial in
the United States at the time it was taking place
was only covered by the local Miami press,
particularly where generals and an admiral as well
as a White House advisor were all called to testify
for the defense. Where was the American media for
six months? Not only was this the longest trial, but
it was the one case involving mayor issues of
foreign policy and international terrorism. The
question should be directed to the American media,
with continues to refuse to cover a case with such
gross violations of fundamental rights, and even
violations of human rights of prisoner”. (Response
by Leonard Weinglass in the forum organized by
www.antiterroristas.cu on September 12, 2003).
Elian was saved because Americans knew about his
case and got involved and made justice prevail. The
Five are still incarcerated--it will be 11 years
next September--victims of a terrible injustice,
because Americans are not permitted to know.
The Five are being cruelly punished because they
fought against terrorism. They are heroes. But
forbidden heroes. |
