"Many good things await René in Cuba"

"WE are in a strange situation this August 13. It’s René’s 56th birthday, he is not behind bars but he is not free; we could say that he’s in solitary, apart from when he is visited by someone in the family. He’s alone," affirmed Olga Salanueva, wife of anti-terrorist René González Sehwerert, in an exclusive interview with the Cuban Trabajadores newspaper.

"René cannot have a social life, develop relationships, befriend his neighbors, or receive anyone because there is danger everywhere. That was recently confirmed with the loss of his brother; if he had been in prison that day, at least somebody would have placed a hand on his shoulder and talked with him for a while. But in the present circumstances there was none of that.

"Parole wasn’t created for what is happening with René, it is there to aid the social reintegration of people who have completed prison terms. This is where the discrepancy lies: that is not René’s society and he cannot reincorporate himself within his family because, on the orders of the government of the United States, I was deported and came back to Cuba with my daughters; they didn’t manage to break René and neither was he a prosecution witness.

"Another objective of parole is to allow the person to be retrained. After spending time in prison, people lose their skills. René is a pilot and has no possibility of renewing his license or obtaining a driver’s license because he would have to give his personal address. It is his responsibility to economically support his family, but in what way? He should be at home with us to celebrate his birthday in real freedom."


MODIFCATION OF SUPERVISED RELEASE REFUSED

Yet another political maneuver is preventing justice from being done in the case of the Five. Evidencing its habitual merciless toward the Cuban anti-terrorists, the U.S. District Court of South Florida rejected the motion presented on June 22, asking for a modification of the conditions of René’s supervised release and allowing him to complete the rest of the three-year parole period in Cuba.

"The district court is seeking ways to force the Five to fulfill every last minute of the sentences they were given as revenge. They are saying that René is a danger to that society and on three occasions the judge stated that he has not repented; what does he have to repent when they were in the United States because of the our people’s need to defend themselves from death and terror?

"That is why they were given these long sentences. René fulfilled his to the last day, because of his commitment to doing the right thing. In a letter which I sent to the judge, I suggested that if he is a danger to the United States, then they should send him to Cuba and thus put a just end to this case; they would get rid of the supposed danger and we would receive him with all our love.

"The court’s response is evidence of the little regard the U.S. government, and their terrorists, have for Cuban families. Because of this lack of regard that we have this huge number of people injured and killed in criminal acts.

"Why are they trying to give René and his family more pain, when he is one of the few citizens in the world who, after leaving prison, cannot rejoin his loved ones? They are making the pain worse.

"This additional punishment has been imposed on René because he is a U.S. citizen, but he has stated his willingness to renounce that citizenship. There has not been any response from the judge as yet on this issue; the court is ignoring the proposal."


ANOTHER VISA DENIED

The U.S. Interests Section in Havana has once again denied Olga Salanueva a visa to travel to that country and meet with her husband. But she is not going to give up applying for a visa.

"It is our right, recently Adriana (wife of Gerardo Hernández) and I applied, and they told us that it wasn’t the right time. This need is also presented in the motion and I am not going to stop demanding a visa; there’s no longer any need to ask permission to enter a prison, René is in a house and there is nothing logical to prevent me from being with him. If I cannot enter that country, let René come to ours." (Extracts from Trabajadores weekly)

Pie de foto
Olga Salanueva and René González

GRANMA