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The largest North American conference yet held in the
ongoing campaign to free the five Cuban political prisoners, imprisoned
nearly a decade in the United States for their anti-terrorist activities,
took place in Toronto, November 9-10. Participants
came from across English Canada, Quebec,
the U.S., Argentina and Cuba.
A highlight event was an inspiring public rally that
drew 400 people to the council chambers of Toronto City Hall to hear
attorney Leonard Weinglass, Cuban Ambassador Ernesto Senti, Elizabeth
Palmeiro (wife of political prisoner Ramon Labanino), organizer Gloria La
Riva, Judge Claudia Marcom, among others.
The weekend was capped by separate meetings on
November 11 of the Canadian and American Cuba solidarity networks.
Those bodies made concrete plans to advance the effort to Free the Five,
and to defend revolutionary Cuba from its enemies in imperialist high
places
Below are the texts of the two declarations issued by
the 'Breaking the Silence', Freedom for the Cuban Five Conference.
Please copy and circulate widely.
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To our dearest Brothers, Co-fighters, Companeros and Heroes Antonio,
Gerardo, Ramón, Fernando and René,
“The truth must not only be the truth, it must be told.” Fidel
We gathered this weekend, November 9th-10th 2007, to break the silence surrounding
your most important fight against terrorism and for all of humanity. We
are more than 250 people who gathered in these two days as members of the
National Network on Cuba (U.S.), Canadian Network on Cuba, La Table de
Concertation de Solidarité Québec-Cuba and many independent people
interested in advancing your cause, which is the cause of all human
beings. This is the first conference where these groups have come
together and we know, based on our unity and commitment to the Cuban
Revolution and to your case, this conference is the start of many. Our
conference tackled many important issues surrounding your cause: the
legal injustice, the abuse of human rights and the continued struggle for
your freedom.
We know the truth, and now our task is to make sure it is told. This
conference is a turning point to reinforce our commitment to continue
fighting until the day you are free and to continue telling your story
after you are free.
With love and solidarity,
Breaking the Silence: Solidarity Conference for the Cuban 5
(Organized by: The National Network on Cuba (U.S.), Canadian Network on
Cuba & La Table de Concertation de Solidarité Québec-Cuba).
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CALL
FOR THE FREEDOM OF THE CUBAN FIVE
We, participants in the two-day conference held in Toronto, Canada,
“BREAKING THE SILENCE: Solidarity Conference for the Cuban Five” issue
this call to all people of good will who want a world of peace and
justice:
1
To increase the momentum developed in countless movements around the
world to free Gerardo Hernández, René González, Ramón Laba ino, Antonio
Guerrero and Fernando González, five Cuban anti-terrorist political
prisoners incarcerated in the United States since 1998, whose only crime
was to work to prevent planned terrorists acts of Miami-based, anti-Cuba
groups responsible for nearly 3500 deaths and thousands of injuries in Cuba
since 1959.
2 To join together in an immediate response and a “Week of Free the Five”
actions whenever the decision of the Atlanta federal appellate court is
reached.
3 To support the formation of an international commission for the rights
of family visits to help secure U.S. visas for Adriana Perez and Olga
Salanueva to visit their husbands who they have been prevented from
seeing for nine years, and to issue timely visas to all family members.
To distribute the “100 Women in Each City” petitions for women to sign
demanding the right of family visits for Adriana and Olga.
4 To demand the extradition to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela of
the terrorist Luis Posada Carriles whose acts included the bombing of a
Cubana civilian airliner that caused the death of all 73 people aboard in
1976.
5 To call on the U.S. government to end its double standard on terrorism,
to cease its plans to change the constitutional order of Cuba and to end
the blockade.
6 To pressure the Canadian government not to cooperate with U.S.-imposed
“security” requests but rather to expand its bilateral relations and
strengthen its independent foreign policy towards Cuba.
7 To call for organizations all over the world to urge their elected
officials (parliamentarians, mayors, etc.) to sign letters and petitions
addressed to the U.S. Attorney General, U.S. Ambassadors and Ministers of
Foreign Affairs to demand justice for the Five and their families.
8 To join together in broadening the international campaign to free the
Cuban Five, to incorporate more youth, to link with other social
movements including movements in support of political prisoners, and to
engage in more frequent actions to “break the silence” of the mass media
on the rights of the Five and their families.
Issued and adopted on November 10, 2007 at : “BREAKING THE SILENCE :
Solidarity Conference for the Cuban Five,” at Toronto, Canada, organized
by the Canadian Network on Cuba, la Table de Concertation de Solidarité
Québec-Cuba, and the National Network on Cuba (U.S.) and attended by
hundreds of activists and prominent figures in the struggle for
constitutional and human rights.
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