Strong Support for the Cuban Five at the 4th National Latino Congreso in El Paso

By Redaction AHORA / redaccion@ahora.cu / Thursday, 04 February 2010 11:30

The 4th National Latino Congreso took place in El Paso Texas, from January 29 to 31, bringing together more than 400 people from 150 Hispanic organizations from around the US.

Leaders, organizers, activists and local elected officials met to strategize on a number of issues affecting the Hispanic community. The Latino Congreso took place at a time when there is a growing disappointment with the current administration for not coming through on the promises made during Obama's election campaign.

The Latino Congreso was convened by the Hispanic Federation (HF), the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) Mexican American Political Association (MAPA), National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities (NALACC), National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), National Hispanic Environmental Council (NHEC), Southwest Voter Registration Education Project (SVREP), and the William C. Velasquez Institute (WCVI)

During the three days of activities delegates participated in a number of plenary sessions that included a variety of themes such as immigration reform, the economy, climate changes, and the 2010 Census.

The last day of the Congreso, after the plenary session on Latin America and Foreign Policy, delegates approved a number of resolutions and amendments to some approved in previous years.

An amendment to a resolution on the Cuban Five Political Prisoners being held in the US and another on Luis Posada Carriles were unanimously and enthusiastically approved by delegates to the Congreso.

The resolution on the Five asked that delegates to the Congreso send a letter to President Barack Obama demanding the immediate release of Fernando Gonzalez, Ramón Labañino, Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero and René González. The resolution also requests that until the Cuban Five are free that the US complies with its obligations under international laws to allow family visits, including the granting of humanitarian visas for Adriana Perez and Olga Salanueva to visit their husbands.

It is important to mention that two of the organizations that convened the National Latino Congreso, the William C. Velásquez Institute and the Mexican American Political Association, presented along with many other US organizations, an amicus curie in support of the petition presented to the Court by the defense team of the Cuban Five asking the US Supreme Court to review the case.

The Resolution on Luis Posada Carriles asked delegates of the Congreso to demand that the US government carry out the immediate extradition of Luis Posada Carriles to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to be judged for the terrorist acts he committed. The resolution also called on President Barack Obama to take Cuba off the list of countries that sponsor terrorism.

Coincidentally on March 1st, in the same city of El Paso, Luis Posada Carriles will be on trial, but he will not to be judged for the crimes of terror that he committed but rather for lying to the immigration authorities for his role in the bombings of hotels in Havana in 1997 that ended the life of a young Italian tourist Fabio DiCelmo and wounded many others.

Besides presenting the two amendments to the Resolutions, the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuba Five had an informational table for the duration of the Congreso about the Cuban Five and distributed hundreds of postcards of a new campaign directed to President Barack Obama. Many people who had never heard about the Five before asked to receive regular updates and others committed themselves to join in the struggle upon the return to their communities.


To see the Resolutions visit: www.thecuban5.org

International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5

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