Fernando González Antonio Guerrero Gerardo Hernández Ramón Labañino

First of the Cuban Five freed but still imprisoned

René González

René González, one of the five men known as the Cuban Five, has been released after 13 years in a U.S. penitentiary. Yet, while Gonzales was freed on October 7, 2011, he is still imprisoned — by being ordered to remain in the United States while serving three years probation in Florida.  On March 19, 2012 René was granted a request to return to Cuba to visit his terminally ill, cancer stricken brother for two weeks.  However, this was not met without resistance from the US Department of Justice, who argued that he could get new spying instructions if he met with officials from the Cuban Intelligence agency.  González is determined to renounce his U.S. citizenship once he is able to make his permanent return to Cuba.  In fact, it is said to be his “promise”, along with a determination to write a book that sets the record straight as to the judicial violations that the Five were subjected to during their trial. 

Even so, isolation is very much entrenched in René’s everyday life, as his legal status must be divulged to anyone he meets, essentially placing his life in potential danger from the public.  He is noted to have had access to better health care while in prison than when he was released from prison, and he cannot take part in common processes, such as obtaining a driver’s licence because it would require for him to disclose his current address.  "Even out of prison, René González is still being unjustly punished," says Wayne Hanley, the National President of UFCW Canada. "Inside and outside of jail, Gonzales and the Cuban Five continue to suffer inhumane treatment in a travesty of justice that has gone on too long."

René González is an American citizen and the son of Cuban immigrants. In 1998, René González and four other Cuban men living in Florida — Fernando González, Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, and Ramón Labañino —were arrested, jailed and falsely accused by the American government of committing espionage against the United States. In fact, the five men were actually monitoring Miami-based terrorists groups in the hopes of preventing terrorist attacks on Cuba. Nonetheless, the five were wrongfully convicted on trumped up charges in June 2001, and collectively sentenced to four life sentences and 75 years.

As a result of worldwide protest and pressure, two of the Cuban Five’s cases were reviewed and resentenced. Antonio Guerrero, who was originally condemned to a life sentence plus ten years, was resentenced to 21 years and 10 months after the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida was obliged to admit there was no evidence against him of gathering or transmitting secret information. Likewise, the original sentence of Fernando González (19 years) was changed to 17 years and 9 months, while Ramon Labañino’s sentence (a life sentence plus 18 years) was reduced to 30 years of imprisonment.

UFCW Canada joins the Canadian Labour Congress in advocating and supporting freedom for the Cuban Five.  As the largest private-sector union in the country, representing over 250,000 members, UFCW Canada has advocated and continues to demand justice for the Cuban Five, with actions that have resonated across the Canadian labour movement.  We encourage you to get involved in this important campaign which gives voice to our five brothers and their courageous struggle with the American judicial system.

René González has now joined the movement to demand clemency and freedom for his innocent colleagues still behind bars.  To take part in the upcoming Tribunal and People’s Assembly on the Cuban Five, go to www.freethe5peoplestribunal.org

To find out more and to add your voice to the campaign visit:

http://www.thecuban5.org

http://www.freethefive.org

http://www.mawovancouver.org/cuban5victory.htm

http://www.pacificfreepress.com/news/1/4672-free-the-cuban-five-vancouver.html

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Dear President Obama, I am writing to demand the release of Fernando González, Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, and Ramón Labañino from the U.S. prisons in which they are held captive. I urge you, President Barrack Obama, to release René González to serve the remainder of his probationary period in Cuba, as his current situation and requirement to remain in Florida remains a cruel injustice to his human rights and freedoms.

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