Brazilian Congress members call for release of Five

BRAZILIA.—Brazilian Congress members called for the liberation of the five Cuban anti-terrorists detained in the United States during a special session in the Chamber of Deputies, attended by legislators, senators and members of solidarity with Cuba groups.

The deputies agreed to undertake actions within Congress to demand the release of Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, René González, Antonio Guerrero and Fernando González, detained in the United States since 1998 and sentenced to long prison terms in a rigged trail in Miami, Florida.

Members of the Foreign Relations and National Defense Commission and Human and Minority Rights Commissions, the Brazil-Cuba Parliamentary Group and the Brazilian Committee for the Freedom of the Five also proposed that a legislator from the country travel to the United States to visit Gerardo, Ramón, René, Antonio and Fernando and verify their living conditions and treatment.

Perpetua Almeida, a Congress member from the Partido de los Trabajadores (PT) and president of the Foreign Relations and National Defense Commission, noted that the cause of the Five, as they are known internationally, is a political issue, concerning the defense of sovereignty and self-determination of Cuba.

It is for this reason that Brazilians support and demand the liberation of these patriots, so that "a genuine culture of peace" can be consolidated on the continent.

Almeida and other colleagues and representatives of social, cultural and political groups signed a letter to be sent to President Barack Obama, calling on him to release the Five, condemned to harsh prison terms for monitoring acts of terrorism against Cuba from Miami.

"This is not a legal issue, it is political, and Obama has the power to release these anti-terrorists," she affirmed.

A statement from Brazilian theologian Frei Betto was read during the session, in which he asks for the solidarity of all Brazilians to demand that the United States end the kidnapping of Gerardo, Ramón, René, Antonio and Fernando.

Betto described as unjust and illegal the sentences handed down to these Cubans who were defending their country from criminal and violent acts organized from U.S. territory.

A nation which says that it is Christian, like the United States, cannot ignore evangelical principles, must recognize the dignity of all human beings and must liberate the Five, the theologian emphasized.

GRANMA