The Workers’ Party of Ireland welcomes the release of the remaining members of the Cuban Five after long years of false imprisonment in the US. The WPI salutes the Cuban heroes who were unjustly arrested by the FBI on 12 September 1998, falsely charged with espionage, wrongfully convicted in a U.S. federal court in Miami in 2001 after a political prosecution by the U.S. government and unlawfully imprisoned in the United States in maximum security prisons for 16 years. Their release after this long time is a cause for celebration.
It is important, however, to remember the context in which these brave men lost their liberty.
The Cuban people have had to fight from the earliest days to preserve the gains of their revolution. From the beginning the U.S. commenced a campaign of aggression including economic and financial sanctions, sabotage, assassination attempts, slander and misinformation, military training of Cuba’s enemies, attempted invasion and open terrorism. These acts of imperialist aggression continued with the aim of destroying the Cuban Revolution, reversing its gains and bringing Cuba under U.S. control.
Terrorist groups, hostile to socialism and the government of Cuba, operated openly in the U.S., particularly in the southern Florida region. The existence of these terrorist organisations and individuals has been well documented and despite its obligations to prevent and prosecute terrorism within its jurisdiction the U.S. government failed to take steps to prevent terrorist attacks against Cuba and, on the contrary, provided a safe haven for such terrorists and provided them with sustenance and support contrary to the provisions of UN Resolution 1373.
Throughout the 1990s attacks against Cuba continued. The U.S. disregarded reasonable requests from the government of Cuba for assistance in the prevention of terrorist acts against Cuban territory and failed to take any or reasonable steps to prevent incursions into Cuban airspace at a time of increased terrorist activity against the citizens and territory of Cuba. Faced with U.S. complicity in acts of terrorism and the necessity of preventing terrorist acts against its territory and citizens, the Government of Cuba, as a sovereign nation, was obliged to take steps to defend its national territory and people.
Against this background the Cuban Five were on a mission in Miami to monitor the actions of Miami-based terrorist groups which acted with impunity and which, with the active assistance of the U.S., carried out a campaign of terrorist attacks on Cuba. This was a legitimate project which posed no threat to the U.S.
It was in the course of this mission that the five Cuban heroes were subjected to a grotesque perversion of justice which violated the most basic rules of fairness which led to their unjust conviction and to the imposition of excessive and disproportionate sentences. Earlier this year the Centre for Human Rights and Constitutional Law produced a detailed report which comprehensively challenged the basis of their imprisonment.
The continued imprisonment of the five Cuban patriots in the US together with the ongoing economic war against Cuba and the EU restrictions and “common position” on Cuba remained evidence of imperialism’s efforts to extinguish Cuba as a beacon of hope and socialism for progressives throughout the world.
USAID which operated a multi-million dollar program, disguised as humanitarian aid, aimed to incite dissent in Cuba. Alan Gross, who worked with a contractor for USAID was convicted under Cuban law of illegally smuggling and distributing satellite communications technology with subversion as its object. It also engineered a subversive programme using social media designed to create political unrest with the aim of overthrowing the Cuban government.
It is now clear that these efforts have failed and will fail. The Cuban Revolution remains an inspiration. International respect for Cuba has grown stronger and the commitment of the Cuban people to national independence, socialism and solidarity is undiminished.
The Workers’ Party of Ireland has persistently campaigned for the release of the Cuban Five. We extend our congratulations to the heroic Cuban Five and their families, to the Communist Party of Cuba and the Cuban people. We will continue to support socialist Cuba and work to end the criminal blockade.
Central Executive Committee
Workers’ Party of Ireland