Resolutions and Statements

Whereas the U.S. government has financed, armed, and trained Cuban rightwing extremists to conduct terrorist attacks against the people of Cuba;

Whereas 3,478 Cubans have been killed by hundreds of terrorist attacks, including bombings, assassinations, biological warfare and other sabotage, and more than 2,500 injured;

Whereas despite Cuba’s urging to the U.S. government that it take action to stop the terrorist plots that emanate from U.S. soil, Washington has failed to thwart those attacks;

Whereas Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González and René González, known as the Cuban Five, entered the United States in the early 1990s to infiltrate the terrorist organizations in order to monitor their actions and prevent terrorism against their compatriots;

Whereas the Cuban Five were arrested by the FBI on September 12, 1998 in Miami, and subjected to false espionage conspiracy and other charges, and held in solitary confinement for 17 months;

Whereas the trial judge refused to move the Cuban Five trial out of a Miami venue, despite extensive evidence presented by the defense attorneys that an impartial trial jury was improbable due to the pervasive prejudice in Miami against any defendant who is related to the Cuban government;

Whereas the Five were wrongly convicted on June 8, 2001 and sentenced to unjust prison terms of 77 years and four life sentences collectively;

Whereas even a three-judge panel of the 11^th Circuit Court declared that the convictions of the Cuban Five had been unjust and ordered a new trial;

Whereas the U.S. government has treated the Cuban Five harshly at every turn, separating them into five different prisons all across the country, placing them in solitary confinement despite exemplary prison records, and other mistreatments;

Whereas, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions, with five judges, jas ruled that there were irregularities in the Five’s trial and arrest, effectively denying them a fair trial and called on the U.S. government to remedy the injustice done to them;

Whereas the U.S. government has repeatedly denied U.S. entry visas to wives of two of the Cuban Five, Adriana Pérez, wife of Gerardo Hernández, and Olga Salanueva, wife of René González, thus prohibiting them from the constitutional right to family visits;

Whereas people around the world have expressed their outrage over the unjust imprisonment of the Cuban Five, forming over 300 solidarity including in many cities of the United States, to demand and fight for the liberation of the Cuban Five;

Whereas, the Cuban Five are heroes, who risked their lives to prevent acts of terrorism and defend the gains of the Cuban Revolution;

Whereas September 12, 2008 will be the 10th anniversary of their unjust imprisonment;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

That The Peace and Freedom Party of California communicate immediately to President George W. Bush, to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, to U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, and to Homeland Security director Michael Chertoff a letter demanding the immediate freedom of the Cuban Five and unrestricted visiting rights to the families of the Five, including Adriana Pérez and Olga Salanueva;

That a copy of the letters to government officials be sent to State Central Committee members, and to each of the Cuban Five.

That The Peace and Freedom Party encourage its members to take active part in the solidarity actions for the Cuban Five during the months of September and October 2008 and beyond.

Adopted by the State Central Committee on August 2, 2008