Shame has recently taken over pride in those of us for whom journalism is
much more than a way of life, with a scandal involving Cuban professionals
at the service of the U.S. press, who were paid off to damage the public
opinion on the case of the five Cuban antiterrorists unjustly imprisoned
in the U.S. since 1998 with a defamatory campaign prior to their trial, in
which they were sentenced to harsh terms in prison.

The public opinion has found out the way the U.S. government used the
Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) to secretly finance journalists from
influential press media in Miami.

These journalists created a hostile environment against Gerardo Hernandez,
Rene Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez and Ramon Labañino
––internationally known as the Cuban Five––, who, in addition, were tried
in the same city where the right wing terrorist groups they were
monitoring are based.

Consequences: they received a biased trial, full of arbitrariness and
violations to the U.S. legislation itself.

Most champions of freedom of speech and expression in that country are
just mercenaries that respond to the worst interests of anti-Cuban groups
based in Florida, whose power is so big that they can even have an effect
in the Capitol halls, in Washington.

The “Liberation” newspaper published a contract that relates journalists
from several press media in Miami, including Radio and TV Marti, in this
scandal; and revealed double-standard principles by these institutions and
their staff.

That is the case of reporters of Pablo Alfonso, from The New Herald; and
Ariel Remos, from Las Americas newspaper, who played that role during that
period in the process of the Cuban Five.

The BBG paid almost 59,000 U.S. dollars to Alfonso for the work he did
from November 1999 to December 2001, the period of highest tension in the
process of these Cuban antiterrorists.

By August 2007, when the BBG dispensed with his services, Alfonso had
received more than 250,000 dollars.

Remo earned 10,400 dollars from November 1999 until February 2001, and
almost by the end of 2006 he had been paid a total of 24,350 dollars.

The list is enhanced by other figures from the journalism sector such as
Wilfredo Cancio and Olga Connor; as well as Helen Aguirre, Miguel Cossio
and terrorist Carlos Alberto Montaner.

The work of these reporters consisted in creating a negative atmosphere
against the Cuban Five, which was added to Miami’s usual hostility against
everything related to the Cuban Revolution, so as to bring about a biased
decision by the jury during the trial of Gerardo, Rene, Antonio, Fernando
and Ramon.

Fortunately, there is still an endless list of journalists that defend the
cause of these men, hopeful in that justice and reason will prevail over
hatred and lies.