Who are the Miami Five?
The Miami Five are Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González and René González, five Cubans falsely accused and jailed by the US government of committing espionage against the United States.
What did they do?
For more than 40 years, right-wing Cuban exile groups based in Miami have killed almost 3,500 people in terrorist attacks against Cuba, with the complicity of the CIA and US government.
The US government repeatedly failed to act against the perpetrators of such crimes, including the blowing up of a Cuban airliner in 1973 (killing 76 people) and a bombing campaign against Cuban tourist hotels in the 1990s (killing an Italian tourist).
But instead of arresting the terrorists, the FBI used the information to identify and arrest the Five anti-terrorists on September 12, 1998 in Miami, where they were illegally held in solidarity confinement for 17 months.
The trial began in November 2000 in Miami, a hugely hostile environment where the anti-Castro Cuban-American community wields enormous political influence.
Defence attorneys’ motions for a change of venue were denied five times by the judge, although it was obvious that a fair trial was impossible in the city.
During the trial, the judge, prosecution and US government officials suppressed defence evidence and ensured key witnesses would not testify.
Despite intimidation of witnesses by the press and testimonies by prominent US officials that the Five had not accessed any classified documents, the jury reached a unanimous guilty verdict on all charges, without once seeking clarification of any evidence.
The Five were convicted on charges ranging from being foreign agents to conspiracy to commit murder, and sentenced to between fifteen years and double life.
Families torn apart
On top of the severe sentences, the Five are denied regular family visits. The US infrequently grants visas to close family members.
Two of the prisoners wives, Olga Salanueva and Adriana Pérez, have been refused visas ten times and have not seen their husbands for 10 and 12 years.
Human rights organisations have condemned the trial and the treatment of the families. Amnesty International has described the treatment of the Five as ‘contrary both to the standards for the humane treatment of prisoners and to a states’ obligation to protect family life.”
