Danny Glover defends the Five at Howard University

WASHINGTON.—Well-known actor Danny Glover defended the cause of the five Cuban anti-terrorists detained in the United States on a panel organized at Howard University in this capital, according to a press release.

Glover, a social justice activist, talked about one of the Five, Gerardo Hernández, who is serving two life sentences plus 15 years in Victorville Penitentiary, and called him "my brother."

He commented, "Every time I've gone (to the prison), I come away with renewed energy and capacity, just sitting there for four to six hours, with Gerardo," as cited by the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five.

Gloria la Riva, coordinator of the solidarity group, detailed the antecedents of the case and explained that Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González and René González (on supervised release) defended their country from terrorist attacks.

She emphasized that the accused were victims of political persecution by the U.S. government.

Some 200 law students and professors at Howard University and other interested persons, in their majority African American, attended the meeting.

Other speakers included Martin Garbus, a member of the Five’s legal appeals team.

Garbus referred to U.S. government misconduct, and its secret payments of millions of dollars to Miami journalists who worked to convict the Five during trial.

"Those of you who are law students or lawyers will think about all the cases you have seen and all the claims of governmental injustice, and you will not find another case in the United States that bears any relation to what happened down in Miami," he noted.

Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff for Secretary of State Colin Powell from 2002-2005, condemned the grievous injustice committed after the wake of the arrest of the Five in September 1998.

"If we were to summarize in one sentence what has kept us in prison all these years, it would be: silence to cover up injustice," affirmed Antonio Guerrero, in a message read during the forum.

"We were absolutely justified in acting clandestinely against counterrevolutionary groups who were organizing and are still organizing acts of terrorism against Cuba from this country," continued Guerrero, re-sentenced in 2009 to 21 years and 10 months in prison and five years of supervised release. (PL)

GRANMA

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