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The Release of Posada Carriles: A BRUTAL REPLY
George W. Bush is undoubtedly the most genuine representative of a system of terror forced on the world by the technological, economic and political superiority of the most powerful country known to this planet.
The Release of Posada Carriles: A BRUTAL REPLY
Fidel Castro Ruz
2007-04-11
George W. Bush is undoubtedly the most genuine representative of a system of terror forced on the world by the technological, economic and political superiority of the most powerful country known to this planet. For this reason, we share the tragedy of the American people and their ethical values. The instructions for the verdict issued by Judge Kathleen Cardone, of the El Paso Federal Court last Friday, granting Luis Posada Carriles freedom on bail, could only have come from the White House.
It was President Bush himself who ignored at all times the criminal and terrorist nature of the defendant who was protected with a simple accusation of immigration violation leveled at him. The reply is brutal. The government of the United States and its most representative institutions had already decided to release the monster.
The backgrounds are well-known and reach far back. The people who trained him and ordered him to destroy a Cuban passenger plane in midair, with 73 athletes, students and other Cuban and foreign travelers on board, together with its dedicated crew; those who bought his freedom while the terrorist was held in prison in Venezuela, so that he could supply and practically conduct a dirty war against the people of Nicaragua, resulting in the loss of thousands of lives and the devastation of a country for decades to come; those who empowered him to smuggle with drugs and weapons making a mockery of the laws of Congress; those who collaborated with him to create the terrible Operation Condor and to internationalize terror; the same who brought torture, death and often the physical disappearance of hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans, could not possibly act any different.
Even though Bush’s decision was to be expected, it is certainly no less humiliating for our people. Thanks to the revelations of “Por Esto!” a Mexican publication from the state of Quintana Roo later complemented by our own sources, Cuba knew with absolute precision how Posada Carriles entered from Central America, via Cancun, to the Isla Mujeres departing from there on board the Santrina, after the ship was inspected by the Mexican federal authorities, heading with other terrorists straight to Miami.
Denounced and publicly challenged with exact information on the matter, since April 15, 2005, it took the government of that country more than a month to arrest the terrorist, and a year and two months to admit that Luis Posada Carriles had entered through the Florida coast illegally on board the Santrina, a presumed school-ship licensed in the United States.
Not a single word is said of his countless victims, of the bombs he set off in tourist facilities in recent years, of his dozens of plans financed by the government of the United States to physically eliminate me.
It was not enough for Bush to offend the name of Cuba by installing a horrible torture center similar to Abu Ghraib on the territory illegally occupied in Guantánamo, horrifying the world with this procedure. The cruel actions of his predecessors seemed not enough for him. It was not enough to force a poor and underdeveloped country like Cuba to spend 100 billion dollars. To accuse Posada Carriles was tantamount to accusing himself.
Throughout almost half a century, everything was fair game against our small island lying 90 miles away from its coast, wanting to be independent. Florida saw the installation of the largest station for intelligence and subversion that ever existed on this planet.
It was not enough to send a mercenary invasion on the Bay of Pigs, costing us 176 dead and more than 300 wounded at a time when the few medical specialists they left us had no experience treating war wounds.
Earlier still, the French ship La Coubre carrying Belgian weapons and grenades for Cuba had exploded on the docks of Havana Harbor. The two well synchronized explosions caused the deaths of more than 100 workers and wounded others as many of them tool part in the rescue attempts.
It was not enough to have the Missile Crisis of 1962, which brought the world to the brink of an all-consuming thermonuclear war, at a time when there were bombs 50 times more powerful than the ones dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
It was not enough to introduce in our country viruses, bacteria and fungi to attack plantations and flocks; and incredible as it may seem, to attack human beings. Some of these pathogens came out of American laboratories and were brought to Cuba by well-known terrorists in the service of the United States government.
Add to all this the enormous injustice of keeping five heroic patriots imprisoned for supplying information about terrorist activities; they were condemned in a fraudulent manner to sentences that include two life sentences and they stoically withstand cruel mistreatment, each of them in a different prison.
Time and again the Cuban people have fearlessly faced the threat of death. They have demonstrated that with intelligence, using appropriate tactics and strategies, and especially preserving unity around their political and social vanguard, there can be no force on this earth capable of defeating them.
I think that the coming May Day celebration would be the ideal day for our people, --using the minimum of fuel and transportation-- to show their feelings to the workers and the poor of the world.
Fidel Castro Ruz
April 10, 2007.
Websites related:
http://www.antiterroristas.cu
http://www.freethefive.org/
http://www.freeforfive.org/
http://www.cubavsterrorismo.cu/
http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/secciones/conclusiones/index.html
http://www.familiesforjustice.cu/interface.sp/design/home.tpl.html
http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/secciones/crimen_barbados/index.html
http://www.ain.cubaweb.cu/2005/abril/17cmfidel.htm
http://www.fabiodicelmo.cu/home.asp
Videos:
- "Misión contra el terror", acerca de los Cinco héroes cubanos prisioneros en cárceles del imperio:
http://es.arcoiris.tv/modules.php?name=Unique&id=824
- Videos de Ivette e Irmita, hijas de René González y Olga Salanueva:
http://www.freethefive.org/updates/USMedia/USMIrmaIvette32107.htm
- "El infierno de Guantánamo, territorio usurpado":
http://es.arcoiris.tv/modules.php?name=Unique&id=889
- "La guerra contra Cuba":
http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=44292
- "Sistema migratorio, Ricardo Alarcón":
http://es.arcoiris.tv/modules.php?name=Unique&id=999
- "CIA, la invasión silenciosa":
http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=46187
- "Bacardí, el secreto del murciélago":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szexqSWFP9I&mode=related&search
- "Sobre el terrorista Luis Posada Carriles":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1KAaWgaD3Q
Fidel Castro Ruz
2007-04-11
George W. Bush is undoubtedly the most genuine representative of a system of terror forced on the world by the technological, economic and political superiority of the most powerful country known to this planet. For this reason, we share the tragedy of the American people and their ethical values. The instructions for the verdict issued by Judge Kathleen Cardone, of the El Paso Federal Court last Friday, granting Luis Posada Carriles freedom on bail, could only have come from the White House.
It was President Bush himself who ignored at all times the criminal and terrorist nature of the defendant who was protected with a simple accusation of immigration violation leveled at him. The reply is brutal. The government of the United States and its most representative institutions had already decided to release the monster.
The backgrounds are well-known and reach far back. The people who trained him and ordered him to destroy a Cuban passenger plane in midair, with 73 athletes, students and other Cuban and foreign travelers on board, together with its dedicated crew; those who bought his freedom while the terrorist was held in prison in Venezuela, so that he could supply and practically conduct a dirty war against the people of Nicaragua, resulting in the loss of thousands of lives and the devastation of a country for decades to come; those who empowered him to smuggle with drugs and weapons making a mockery of the laws of Congress; those who collaborated with him to create the terrible Operation Condor and to internationalize terror; the same who brought torture, death and often the physical disappearance of hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans, could not possibly act any different.
Even though Bush’s decision was to be expected, it is certainly no less humiliating for our people. Thanks to the revelations of “Por Esto!” a Mexican publication from the state of Quintana Roo later complemented by our own sources, Cuba knew with absolute precision how Posada Carriles entered from Central America, via Cancun, to the Isla Mujeres departing from there on board the Santrina, after the ship was inspected by the Mexican federal authorities, heading with other terrorists straight to Miami.
Denounced and publicly challenged with exact information on the matter, since April 15, 2005, it took the government of that country more than a month to arrest the terrorist, and a year and two months to admit that Luis Posada Carriles had entered through the Florida coast illegally on board the Santrina, a presumed school-ship licensed in the United States.
Not a single word is said of his countless victims, of the bombs he set off in tourist facilities in recent years, of his dozens of plans financed by the government of the United States to physically eliminate me.
It was not enough for Bush to offend the name of Cuba by installing a horrible torture center similar to Abu Ghraib on the territory illegally occupied in Guantánamo, horrifying the world with this procedure. The cruel actions of his predecessors seemed not enough for him. It was not enough to force a poor and underdeveloped country like Cuba to spend 100 billion dollars. To accuse Posada Carriles was tantamount to accusing himself.
Throughout almost half a century, everything was fair game against our small island lying 90 miles away from its coast, wanting to be independent. Florida saw the installation of the largest station for intelligence and subversion that ever existed on this planet.
It was not enough to send a mercenary invasion on the Bay of Pigs, costing us 176 dead and more than 300 wounded at a time when the few medical specialists they left us had no experience treating war wounds.
Earlier still, the French ship La Coubre carrying Belgian weapons and grenades for Cuba had exploded on the docks of Havana Harbor. The two well synchronized explosions caused the deaths of more than 100 workers and wounded others as many of them tool part in the rescue attempts.
It was not enough to have the Missile Crisis of 1962, which brought the world to the brink of an all-consuming thermonuclear war, at a time when there were bombs 50 times more powerful than the ones dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
It was not enough to introduce in our country viruses, bacteria and fungi to attack plantations and flocks; and incredible as it may seem, to attack human beings. Some of these pathogens came out of American laboratories and were brought to Cuba by well-known terrorists in the service of the United States government.
Add to all this the enormous injustice of keeping five heroic patriots imprisoned for supplying information about terrorist activities; they were condemned in a fraudulent manner to sentences that include two life sentences and they stoically withstand cruel mistreatment, each of them in a different prison.
Time and again the Cuban people have fearlessly faced the threat of death. They have demonstrated that with intelligence, using appropriate tactics and strategies, and especially preserving unity around their political and social vanguard, there can be no force on this earth capable of defeating them.
I think that the coming May Day celebration would be the ideal day for our people, --using the minimum of fuel and transportation-- to show their feelings to the workers and the poor of the world.
Fidel Castro Ruz
April 10, 2007.
Websites related:
http://www.antiterroristas.cu
http://www.freethefive.org/
http://www.freeforfive.org/
http://www.cubavsterrorismo.cu/
http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/secciones/conclusiones/index.html
http://www.familiesforjustice.cu/interface.sp/design/home.tpl.html
http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/secciones/crimen_barbados/index.html
http://www.ain.cubaweb.cu/2005/abril/17cmfidel.htm
http://www.fabiodicelmo.cu/home.asp
Videos:
- "Misión contra el terror", acerca de los Cinco héroes cubanos prisioneros en cárceles del imperio:
http://es.arcoiris.tv/modules.php?name=Unique&id=824
- Videos de Ivette e Irmita, hijas de René González y Olga Salanueva:
http://www.freethefive.org/updates/USMedia/USMIrmaIvette32107.htm
- "El infierno de Guantánamo, territorio usurpado":
http://es.arcoiris.tv/modules.php?name=Unique&id=889
- "La guerra contra Cuba":
http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=44292
- "Sistema migratorio, Ricardo Alarcón":
http://es.arcoiris.tv/modules.php?name=Unique&id=999
- "CIA, la invasión silenciosa":
http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=46187
- "Bacardí, el secreto del murciélago":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szexqSWFP9I&mode=related&search
- "Sobre el terrorista Luis Posada Carriles":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1KAaWgaD3Q
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http://www.freethefive.org/usTerrorism/USTerrPressConf41107.htm
http://www.freethefive.org/usTerrorism/USTerrPressConf41107.htm
http://www.freethefive.org/usTerrorism/USTerrPressConf41107.htm
Alicia Jrapko
2007-04-11
On the afternoon of April 9th, 150 people filled a lecture hall at Northeastern University Law School in Boston, eager to hear Professor Howard Zinn discuss the roots of U.S. policy towards Cuba. Salim Lamrani, the editor of Superpower Principles, traveled from Paris where he teaches at the Diderot, to speak specifically about the case of the Cuban Five. Following the lecture in Boston, he flew to California to participate in a series of lectures throughout that state at law schools and universities
Nancy Kohn, from the July 26 Coalition of Boston, chaired the meeting. Setting the tone for the afternoon, Nancy said “Today, we want to explore the double standard used by the Bush administration in its so called war against terror.” In her introduction, she thanked Professor Zinn for being there. “He is an acclaimed historian, playwright and social activist, and the author of more than two dozen books, including A People’s History of the United States. He is truly a national treasure who brings total integrity to the study of history.”
It was Professor Zinn who started the afternoon with a little bit of sarcasm: “Nobody knows about the Cuban Five. You are lucky that by the end of the day, you will be among the smartest people in this country because you will know something that most people do not know. This is the horror of our media that such an important event in our history has been kept away from us.”
He presented an historical overview of U.S. relations with Latin America, particularly toward Cuba. He explained that because the “Soviet threat is no longer present, the United States government now justifies its policies saying that we are against Cuba because Castro is a dictator.” In joking about this reason, he said “But we like dictators; in fact we like them so much that we put them in power all over the world.” In closing, Howard Zinn said that the case of the Cuban Five is an embarrassing example of injustice in our country. The justice system in the U.S. is supposed to be democratic but instead we know that politics determines who goes to jail.” He concluded saying that “the case of the Cuban Five is an unforgivable act of cruelty.”
Following Professor Zinn, Salim Lamrani detailed the history of U.S. terrorism against Cuba, denouncing the hypocrisy of the Bush administration. Lamrani accused Bush of currently protecting the worst terrorist in the Western Hemisphere, Luis Posada Carriles. Posada is responsible for the death of 73 people in the downing of a Cubana airliner 40 years ago, and many other deaths since then due to his terrorist actions. Professor Lamrani explained the case of the Cuban Five and all the irregularities since they were arrested. He ended his remarks by denouncing the complicity of the media for hiding this important information from the people of the United States.
Alicia Jrapko from the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five, talked about the international campaign on behalf of Adriana Perez and Olga Salanueva who have been denied visas and so cannot visit their husbands in prison. She also mentioned all the difficulties that other family members go through to visit their loved ones in prison. “The Five and their families are not alone. In this struggle for Justice they are accompanied by the entire Cuban people, their government, and people and organizations from all over the world including many of us here in the United States” Jrapko said.
One of the highlights of the program was when Nalda Vigezzi from the July 26 Coalition of Boston and one of the co-chairs of the National Network on Cuba, read a message sent by Antonio Guerrero for the event. In his letter Antonio wrote that he could speak about many facts in this history of the Cuban Five, but “I do not need to explain anything when I know that at this meeting, will be speaking two admired, beloved and respected professors -- Howard Zinn and Salim Lamrani, recognized specialists in the relations between the United States and Cuba.”
At the end of the lecture, Nancy Kohn asked participants to get involved in the case and to keep the pressure on their elected officials. She explained that one easy way to do something was to send the postcards that were left in each seat at the beginning of the meeting. More that 65 people filled out the postcards and left them with the organizers to be mailed to Congress. They call attention to the injustice of the detainment of the Five Heroes and demand visas for Adriana Perez and Olga Salanueva. Many in the young audience also signed up to get further involved in work to free the Five.
The participation of Howard Zinn at a lecture addressing the case of the Cuban Five provides proof that the media silence surrounding the injustice of this case can be broken in a different way. For the most part, the case has yet to make it to the U.S. mainstream media but without doubt, talks like the one at Northeastern University Law School touched the heart and the conscience of many new people. In learning about an historical event, people can take action and become participants. As Professor Zinn wrote at the end of his masterpiece A People’s History of the United States, referring to other events in U.S. history where people are challenging the present, demanding a new future, “It is a race in which we can all choose to be participants or just watch.”
The Northeastern student chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the National Lawyers Guild helped publicize the event, as did Professor James Rowan, the clinical director of the Northeastern Poverty Law Clinic.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Protest in El Paso May 11!
Demand the extradition of Luis Posada Carriles!
While the U.S. government carries on a farce in the El Paso, Texas courtroom, by only trying Posada for immigration fraud, a protest will be held outside on the opening day of Posada's "trial", Friday, May 11.
Join this important international mobilization! National and local organizations will join together to hold a people's tribunal, to present testimony and documentation to the public, on Posada's terrorist crimes. Join us to demand that Alberto Gonzales declare Posada a terrorist, and to extradite him to Venezuela to face trial for the murders of 73 defenseless people. Demonstrations will also be held around the world on this day in protest against this travesty of "justice."
Contact the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, if you can mobilize carpools, buses or fly to El Paso for May 11, at 415-821-6545,
http://www.freethefive.org
http://www.freethefive.org/posadaprotest.htm
http://www.freethefive.org/posadaprotest.htm
http://www.freethefive.org/posadaprotest.htm