Ricardo Alarcon Demands Freedom for the Cuban Five at Forum of Sao Paulo

HAVANA, Cuba, May 19 (acn) The president of the Cuban National Assembly (Parliament), Ricardo Alarcon, said on Wednesday that U.S. President Barack Obama has to free the five Cuban antiterrorists who remain unjustly imprisoned in the United States since 1998.

Speaking at the 17th Forum of Sao Paulo that began on Wednesday in Managua, Nicaragua, Alarcon noted that Obama knows that Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez —internationally known as the Cuban Five— were arrested only for fighting terrorism.

According to Prensa Latina news agency, Alarcon referred particularly to the situation of Gerardo Hernandez, who was sentenced to two life terms plus 15 years in spite of the fact that, ten years ago, the U.S. Government publicly and officially recognized that it did not have evidence to support their accusation.

Commenting on recent statements by the American President, who said that he was not satisfied with the results of the Sixth Congress of the Cuban Communist Party last April, the president of the Cuban Parliament pointed out that Obama has no say in the decisions and future of the Cuban people.

He insisted that the U.S. head of state has to end the blockade against the Caribbean nation and fulfill the electoral promise he made to close the torture center at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo.

Alarcon is heading the Cuban delegation to the Forum of Sao Paulo, which is also attended by representatives from 47 leftist parties and movements from 32 countries.

The main topic of the event is the integration of Latin America and the Caribbean and the alternative projects of progressive popular sectors of the Left in the region.

Cuban News Agency