Cuban Five Relatives Meet with Leaders of SA Council of Churches

HAVANA, Cuba, Dec 20 (acn) Relatives of the five Cuban antiterrorist unjustly incarcerated in the US met with the President and Secretary General of the South African Council of Churches, Reverend Jo Seoka and Mr. Eddie Makue, respectively, in Pretoria

At the meeting, Irma González, Antonio Guerrero Junior and Ailí Labañino, the children of three of the Cuban Five, as they are known internationally, spoke of the current status of the case and explained that legal alternatives for appealing their sentences had been exhausted.

They added that the only resource that is left is the international campaign to put pressure on President Obama to give attention to the case and to act in keeping with the laws of his country by making use of his executive powers to put and end to their cruel and unjustifiable confinement.

Irma Gonzalez, daughter of René González, explained the religious leaders how the sentences were unusually harsh against the Cuban antiterrorist because the hatred and irrationality of the U.S. legal system that permeated the trial.

The youngster, that are in South Africa as part of the Cuba delegation to the XVII World Festival of Youth and Students, talked about their experiences while visiting their respective fathers in U.S jails and recounted the difficulties faced by the relatives of the Five due to the various obstacles put by the U.S. authorities trying to prevent their visits to the prisons.

Especially, they referred to the violations of the rights of Olga and Adriana, to whom for more then a decade the United States government has continued to deny visas to visit their husbands in prison, Rene González and Gerardo Hernandez respectively.

Their visas have been denied on the absurd grounds that they might meet with terrorist groups while they are in the United States or that they might try and remain in the U.S. illegally.

They stressed that alter 12 years of cruel and unjustifiable confinement for Gerardo, Ramón, Antonio, Fernando and René, the only fair solution would be their immediate release.

The South African religious leaders reiterate the commitment of the Council of Churches to continue supporting the cause of the Cuban Five.

They mentioned the different actions that have been carried out in South Africa as part of the international campaign for their release, in which the Council of Churches has taken part. They also expressed their willingness to be part of new efforts aim to achieve the immediate freedom of the Five.

Cuban News Agency