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The order to arrest the Five came
from
the White House
•
Speaking on behalf of President
George W. Bush, Condoleezza Rice, U.S. national
security advisor, reveals that the decision was part
of a series of measures aimed at satisfying
anti-Cuba demands from the leaders of
counterrevolutionary organizations in Miami
BY JEAN-GUY ALLARD —Special for
Granma International—
 SPEAKING on behalf of President George W. Bush,
Condoleezza Rice, U.S. national security advisor,
has openly admitted that the order to arrest the
Cuban patriots who infiltrated Cuban-American
terrorist groups in Miami was given by the White
House in the framework of a series of measures taken
to appease leaders of the Miami community.
In a
letter dated September 3, 2003 to Republican state
representative David Rivera, Rice thanked the
politician for sharing his points of view with the
regarding U.S. policy on Cuba with the president,
adding that she was responding on his behalf.
After stating that the President “remains committed
to helping the Cuban people,” she then refers to the
anti-Cuba campaigns currently underway, thanks to
the support of the State Department, as part of “an
international effort to support” the Cuban people.
“Our
efforts are manifest in our accomplishments…” writes
Rice before listing a series of measures taken by
Bush as a demonstration of the White House’s
willingness to damage the island and the Cuban
Revolution. Amongst these measures, all of them well
known, Rice mentions: “Shutting down Cuban spy rings
in the United States”, using the same disparaging
terms as the FBI and the anti-Cuba press in Miami.
These same descriptions justified a rigged trial in
which the five Cubans were accused and convicted of
espionage having never come close to discovering the
least significant U.S. state secret.
The
Five’s case is currently being studied by the
Atlanta Appeals Court.
Condoleezza Rice’s statement confirms the totally
political nature of the order that led to the
imprisonment of the five Cuban patriots whose
mission was essentially to discover the terrorist
plans of extremist groups in South Florida and
prevent them from carrying them out.
ANYTHING TO PLEASE
In
the same way, Rice lists other measures designed to
punish the Cuban Revolution, such as “actively
opposing all efforts to loosen sanctions and travel
restrictions on Cuba” as well as “taking steps to
end abuses of the travel licensing process”, that is
to say, punishing U.S. citizens who travel to Cuba
with fines of several thousands of dollars. She also
acknowledges that Washington actively encourages
sending counterrevolutionary material to Cuba
“through printed materials, broadcasting and the
Internet”, replacing the corrupt Radio Martí
executive, using satellite transmissions and
“funneling assistance to the families of Cuban
political prisoners” – that is to say, the
distribution of funds to individuals at the CIA
Havana office (aka the U.S. Special Interests
Section).
In
this strangely revealing confession concerning the
U.S. policy of interference, Rice speaks of the
“formation of a multilateral coalition for change;”
that is to say, she admits that they are trying to
organize people to bring down the Cuban government.
Finally, she describes the “recent indictments in
the Brothers-to-the-Rescue aircraft shoot down case”
that “follow the conviction of individuals in a
related Cuban spies trial”, confirming once again
the reasons why the White House provoked the “spy
scandal.”
REVENGE FOR THE CONSPIRATORS
Rice’s letter also supports the hypothesis that the
arrest of the Five was ordered in response to the
anger of leaders of the Cuban-American National
Foundation (CANF) when several individuals linked to
this organization were arrested in Puerto Rico. In
October 1997, the U.S. coastguard intercepted La
Esperanza yacht that had sailed out of Miami and
discovered seven boxes of weapons, military
uniforms, six radios, a satellite telephone, night
vision lenses, and two assault rifles, worth more
than $7,000 each and capable of hitting targets over
a mile away.
One
of the crewmembers confessed that the vessel was
headed for the Venezuelan island of Margarita where
they planned to assassinate the Cuban president. The
majority of the conspirators had direct links with
the CANF. The investigation revealed that
61-year-old Francisco “Pepe” Hernández – the
self-same president of CANF, former U.S. Navy
captain and millionaire businessman – was the owner
of a 50-caliber Barret, one of the powerful rifles
found on board La Esperanza.
Thanks to various political interventions in the
case and the compliance of Héctor Pesquera, the
FBI’s Special Agent in Charge in Puerto Rico, all of
the defendants were acquitted.
Pesquera was then sent to South Florida in his new
post as Miami FBI chief and was given the task of
personally announcing the arrests of those who had
already been described as “Cuban spies.”
He
then announced that they had been investigating the
group since 1995 – look at the date! – and that the
arrests represented “a significant blow to the Cuban
government.”
And
he wasted no time at all in launching a witch-hunt:
“We’ve done this to call public attention to the
matter,” he affirmed, requesting information on
those “suspects.”
Terrorist ringleaders publicly celebrated the
sentences handed down to the five patriots; CANF
even held a special event to congratulate the FBI on
its “work”. Appearing at the celebration was not
just Special Agent in Charge Héctor Pesquera, but
also Raúl Martínez, then Miami police chief and CANF
director Joe García.
SO
RUBIN WAS LYING
James P. Rubin, State Department spokesperson no
less, in a statement on the trial, felt obliged then
to deny allegations that the “spies” operation had
been carried out for the sole purpose of satisfying
Cuban-Americans after the incident in Puerto Rico.
“There is no basis for such allegations,” he told
journalists who questioned him.
Condoleezza Rice has just contradicted these denials
and confirmed that the arrest of the Five was the
result of a political conspiracy in a country that
constantly boasts of being the greatest human rights
defender in the world. |
--
Five years of struggle
for justice
September
29, 2003
FIVE years after the detention in the United
States of Fernando González, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero,
René González and Gerardo Hernández on September 12, 1998,...
•
Appeal is
issued demanding visas for wives of Cuban militants in U.S.
prisons
July
24, 2003
"We are urgently requesting
your support to help win the right of Olga Salanueva, wife of
René González, and Adriana Pérez, wife of Gerardo
Hernández, to enter the United States for the purpose of
visiting their husbands, who, as you know, ...
--
Five’s
case in violation of international regulations
July
15,
2003
IN
the case of the five Cuban patriots (Gerardo Hernández,
Antonio Guerrero, René González, Ramón Labañino
and Fernando González) their human rights are still
being violated. The men received long and unjust
prison sentences for having acted against Miami
terrorists and in defense of the U.S. people. |
