The Cuban News Agency (CNA) issued a pres release about the blocking of the delivery of books from the Frederick Engels Foundation to the Miami Five. Read the original here.
Havana, Oct 12 (ACN) The Spain-based Frederick Engels Foundation denounced US penitentiary authorities Thursday for prohibiting the Cuban Five anti-terrorist fighters from access to books published by the group.
Foundation president Juan Ignacio Ramos said that although all legal regulations have been met Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labanino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez, known as the Cuban Five, are being denied access to the books.
Sending books to the Cuban Five, held in five different US prisons, particularly Marxist literature, is part of solidarity actions carried out by the foundation and Spain's Student Union.
In responding to the support by the Spanish groups, the Cuban Five have sent both entities letters expressing their gratitude and their determination to remain firm despite the arbitrary and cruel US government actions, said Ramos.
Fernando Gonzalez stressed in his letter the importance of the Engels Foundation distributing socialist literature in today's complex and contradictory world, and particularly when new doors are opening for radical social transformations, PL news reported.
The five Cubans were arrested in September 1998 after they had infiltrated Florida-based ultra-right organizations that have committed terrorist actions against the island for the past 40 years. They were handed down harsh sentences after a biased Miami trial in a politically charge atmosphere.
The men are considered national heroes on the island and an international campaign for their release continues to gain momentum around the globe.
See also:
- US authorities block delivery of books from the Frederick Engels Foundation to the Miami Five
(October 13, 2006) - International days of solidarity with the Cuban Five have begun (September 18, 2006)
- Resolution for the Freedom of the Miami Five by the International Marxist Tendency (September 2006)
- The Cuban "Miami Five": Jailed in the US for fighting terrorism by Jorge Martin (October 15, 2004)