“The fact that the five Cuban heroes were imprisoned while real terrorists
—such as Luis Posada Carriles— live as free men in U.S. territory, is an
embarrassment” noted Sheehan, the mother of an American soldier killed in
the war against Iraq.

Sheehan was referring to Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labañino, Fernando
Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero, and Rene Gonzalez —internationally known as
the Cuban Five— who were arrested in 1998 and given harsh sentences for
monitoring anti-Cuba right-wing groups in South Florida that were planning
and carrying out terrorist actions against the Caribbean nation.
Hernandez, Guerrero, Labañino and Fernando Gonzalez remain unjustly
imprisoned while Rene Gonzalez was recently released, but he was forced to
stay in U.S. territory for three years on probation.

“I learned about their case during a visit to Venezuela in 2006 and I saw
many people, including their mothers and wives, demanding their release.
Since then, I joined their just cause until we achieve that goal,” said
Sheehan, one of 300 representatives from 45 countries who are
participating in the Seventh International Colloquium for the Freedom of
the Five and against Terrorism that ends on Saturday in the Cuban eastern
province of Holguin.

“The main objective of these men was to prevent terrorist actions from
taking place and, incredibly, they remain prisoners of a government that
drops bombs against civilians and practices torture all around the world,”
she added.

“He was one of the many victims of the pro-war policies of the Government
of my country,” Sheehan said referring to her son, who died during the
U.S. occupation of Iraq in 2004.
 

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The Cuban Five

National Committee to free the Cuban Five