In another in a long series of outrageous decisions in the case, an appeals court has upheld the convictions of the Cuban Five, although it did order the reduction in sentences of three of them, including two of the three life sentences. You can read all about it at the website of the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five. I'd write more about it, but I've been working all day on a press conference that was held this morning, and now on the demonstrations, so a more insightful/detailed/scathing analysis will have to wait. Suffice it to say that the Cuban Five are heroes, now in their tenth year of outrageous imprisonment for the "crime" of trying to prevent acts of terrorism being committed by right-wing forces in Miami, actions that have been directed over the years not just at Cubans in Cuba but at Americans as well - close to 200 terrorist acts in Miami, 70 more in the New York-New Jersey area, and an additional 30 in Puerto Rico. It was to allow the continuation of such activities that the U.S. government arrested and imprisoned the Cuban Five, unarmed men whose only mission was to report on and prevent such activities.
Today and tomorrow in more than a dozen cities around the country and around the world, there is an emergency protest to demand the immediate freedom of the Cuban Five, along with the extradition of Luis Posada Carriles. Please be there if you can. Details for all the demonstrations can be found here.
Reprinted from Left I on the News