*****Important Message***** Regarding the Upcoming October 7th Release from Prison of René González

Dear friend,

You, who share the idea that a better world is possible; You, who understand the importance of family; You, who love freedom and defend the reasons of all human beings that are struggling for their human and civil rights; this message is directed to You.

Next October 7th, René González, one of the five Cuban victims of undeserved incarceration in U.S. prisons, will have finished serving the unjust sentence he was condemned to serve for the “crime” of protecting his fellow citizens from terrorism.

Adding insult to injury, after thirteen years of being subjected to the disgraceful treatment at the hands of the U.S. justice system, René’s release condition is to continue living separated from his family for three additional years (his wife was not granted a visa to visit him throughout his imprisonment).  Besides the risks that this condition represents for his personal safety, considering the fact that he will be restricted to residing in Miami (the same place from which terrorist attacks were and continue to be planned; the same plans that René tried to and was successful in preventing), this is another clear violation of his rights as a human being.

Although René submitted a request to Judge Joan Lenard to allow him to return to his family in Cuba upon completion of the terms of his sentence, in an absurd and unusual decision, she has determined that he must be confined to living in Miami during those three years while he is on parole, or on what they refer to as “supervised release”.

Friend, regardless of your political views and guided by the inspiration of love in all noble deeds, you, who suffer when an injustice is committed against any human being, can help in making justice prevail. 

We ask that you please raise your voice in the name of solidarity and in consideration of the Cuban Five’s noble deeds and demand that the United States government put an end to this injustice.

Can we count on you?

Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples - Granma Branch