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Appeal from UPEC
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To all honorable journalists
everywhere
AS
asked to do by the current U.S. government, the
Supreme Court of that country has refused to
consider the petition to review the case of the five
Cuban anti-terrorists as submitted by their defense
team.
Beyond the arbitrary elements of the proceedings,
the decision entails a profound disdain for the
sentiments of the Cuban people, who, with good
reason, consider the Five to be their
self-sacrificing and heroic sons who were protecting
them from acts of terrorism.
In
its response to the unanimous demand for justice
that has spread throughout the world, the U.S.
government has thus revealed its decision to favor
the demands of the anti-Cuban extreme right
established in the pro-annexation enclave of Miami,
where for half a century that group has manifested a
violent intolerance against anything related to the
ideas of our Revolution.
The
media has not been indifferent to that
confrontation. On the one hand, there is a powerful
system of radio and television aggression against
Cuba, led by broadcasters owned by the federal
government, commercial ones and shortwave
counterrevolutionary ones based in Florida that
transmit 1,955 hours weekly over 31 frequencies on
medium wave, AM, FM and television, which moreover
have had at their disposition specialized planes and
satellites.
Of
course, not one minute nor one cent of the $34
million approved for these transmissions in the U.S.
budget for this year will be invested in
broadcasting a single opinion coinciding with the
demand for justice for the Five.
But
what hurts just as much or even more is the
additional condemnation dictated by the
transnational hegemonic media, champions of freedom
of the press, against the anti-terrorist fighters,
and it is their silence, censorship or indifference
in the face of their situation, despite the
exceptional nature of many scandalous aspects of the
trial that would make it sensational news on the
prime time programs of the major networks.
On
the side of human decency is the so-called
alternative press, comprising thousands of popular
networks, community radio stations, and organs of
social and trade union movements, those in
solidarity with Cuba and of progressive governments,
which have embraced the cause of freedom for the
Five as a permanent, priority issue.
The
general reaction of these apparently small media to
the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court has been to
publicly call upon the initial rhetoric of that
country’s new administration, which has so often
mentioned the word “change.”
That
media, without the economic or financial interest of
big capital behind it, will remain faithful to truth
and justice, together with the Cuban journalists in
this legal battle with its political backdrop, to
ensure that these patriots of humanity return home.
The
sister people of the United States has the right to
know the truth about the five Cuban heroes. The
corporate media of that empire, if it wishes to make
a genuine contribution to the fight against
terrorism, has the obligation not to remain silent
for one minute more in the context of the injustice
and cruel imprisonment of Gerardo, Fernando, Ramón,
Antonio and René.
President’s Office,
Union of Journalists of Cuba
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