The Marxist-Leninist Daily

Last Friday, February 15, I promised you that in my next reflection I would deal with an issue of interest to many compatriots. Thus, this now is rather a message.

The moment has come to nominate and elect the State Council, its President, its Vice-Presidents and Secretary.

For many years I have occupied the honorable position of President. On February 15, 1976 the Socialist Constitution was approved with the free, direct and secret vote of over 95% of the people with the right to cast a vote. The first National Assembly was established on December 2nd that same year; this elected the State Council and its presidency. Before that, I had been a Prime Minister for almost 18 years. I always had the necessary prerogatives to carry forward the revolutionary work with the support of the overwhelming majority of the people.

There were those overseas who, aware of my critical health condition, thought that my provisional resignation, on July 31, 2006, to the position of President of the State Council, which I left to First Vice-President Raul Castro Ruz, was final. But Raul, who is also minister of the Armed Forces on account of his own personal merits, and the other comrades of the Party and State leadership were unwilling to consider me out of public life despite my unstable health condition.

It was an uncomfortable situation for me vis-à-vis an adversary which had done everything possible to get rid of me, and I felt reluctant to comply.

Later, in my necessary retreat, I was able to recover the full command of my mind as well as the possibility for much reading and meditation. I had enough physical strength to write for many hours, which I shared with the corresponding rehabilitation and recovery programs. Basic common sense indicated that such activity was within my reach. On the other hand, when referring to my health I was extremely careful to avoid raising expectations since I felt that an adverse ending would bring traumatic news to our people in the midst of the battle. Thus, my first duty was to prepare our people both politically and psychologically for my absence after so many years of struggle. I kept saying that my recovery "was not without risks."

My wishes have always been to discharge my duties to my last breath. That's all I can offer.

To my dearest compatriots, who have recently honored me so much by electing me a member of the Parliament where so many agreements should be adopted of utmost importance to the destiny of our Revolution, I am saying that I will neither aspire to nor accept, I repeat, I will neither aspire to nor accept the positions of President of the State Council and Commander in Chief.

In short letters addressed to Randy Alonso, Director of the Round Table National TV Program, --letters which at my request were made public-- I discreetly introduced elements of this message I am writing today, when not even the addressee of such letters was aware of my intention. I trusted Randy, whom I knew very well from his days as a student of Journalism. In those days I met almost on a weekly basis with the main representatives of the University students from the provinces at the library of the large house in Kohly where they lived. Today, the entire country is an immense University.

Following are some paragraphs chosen from the letter addressed to Randy on December 17, 2007:

"I strongly believe that the answers to the current problems facing Cuban society, which has, as an average, a twelfth grade of education, almost a million university graduates, and a real possibility for all its citizens to become educated without their being in any way discriminated against, require more variables for each concrete problem than those contained in a chess game. We cannot ignore one single detail; this is not an easy path to take, if the intelligence of a human being in a revolutionary society is to prevail over instinct.

"My elemental duty is not to cling to positions, much less to stand in the way of younger persons, but rather to contribute my own experience and ideas whose modest value comes from the exceptional era that I had the privilege of living in.

"...I am a firm supporter of the united vote (a principle that preserves the unknown merits), which allowed us to avoid the tendency to copy what came to us from countries of the former socialist bloc, including the portrait of the one candidate, as singular as his solidarity towards Cuba. I deeply respect that first attempt at building socialism, thanks to which we were able to continue along the path we had chosen."

And I reiterated in that letter that "...I never forget that all of the world's glory fits in a kernel of corn."

Therefore, it would be a betrayal to my conscience to accept a responsibility requiring more mobility and dedication than I am physically able to offer. This I say devoid of all drama.

Fortunately, our Revolution can still count on cadres from the old guard and others who were very young in the early stages of the process. Some were very young, almost children, when they joined the fight on the mountains and later they have given glory to the country with their heroic performance and their internationalist missions. They have the authority and the experience to guarantee the replacement. There is also the intermediate generation which learned together with us the basics of the complex and almost unattainable art of organizing and leading a revolution.

The path will always be difficult and require from everyone's intelligent effort. I distrust the seemingly easy path of apologetics or its antithesis the self-flagellation. We should always be prepared for the worst variable. The principle of being as prudent in success as steady in adversity cannot be forgotten. The adversary to be defeated is extremely strong; however, we have been able to keep it at bay for half a century.

This is not my farewell to you. My only wish is to fight as a soldier in the battle of ideas. I shall continue to write under the heading of 'Reflections by comrade Fidel.' It will be just another weapon you can count on. Perhaps my voice will be heard. I shall be careful.

Join in the Work to Free the Cuban Five!
Demand the Extradition of
Terrorist Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela!

TML strongly encourges you to support the many actions and events in support of the Cuban Revolution and the Cuban Five, political prisoners imprisoned in U.S. jails. The Cuban people have been heroically fighting to maintain their right to self-determination against the vicious attacks from the U.S. administration, including the unjust imprisonment of the Cuban Five, Gerardo Hernandez, Antonio Guerrero, Ramon Labañino, Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez; political prisoners held in U.S. jails since 1998 for protecting their country from anti-Cuban terrorist groups based in Miami, Florida.

While the Harper government is following in the Bush administration's footsteps to legalize the violation of human rights with Bill C-3, Canadian workers, women and youth are standing shoulder to shoulder with the Cuban people, rejecting double-standards in the so-called "war on terror," and fighting for the rights of all nations to self-determination.

In 2008, various campaigns and other actions to free the Cuban Five around the world are already well underway. On January 14, the U.S. National Committee to Free the Cuban Five made an call to organize international "Day After" actions, so that whatever the outcome of the current hearing of the Cuban Five to appeal their unjust convictions and whenever it comes, people will be ready to militantly respond. The hearing, which took place on August 20, 2007, dealt with in particular the charge of "Conspiracy to Commit Murder" laid against Gerardo Hernandez. According to the Cuban Friendship Institute (ICAP) there are almost two thousand organizations in solidarity with Cuba around the world and one of the main tasks of these groups is to fight for the release of the Cuban Five.

In Canada, Cuban solidarity organizations have started the year by continuing regular monthly pickets to free the Five. In Montreal on January 26, the Table de concertation de solidarité Québec-Cuba joined with many others to march through the streets as part of the Québec Social Forum/World Social Forum international actions held that day. In Vancouver, on January 17, the Free the Cuban 5 Committee-Vancouver held its first protest of 2008 to kick off a new year of fighting for the liberation of the Five. Committee coordinator Noah Fine reminded people of the two years of monthly protests in Vancouver and the work of over 300 committees worldwide demanding freedom for the Five. He concluded by informing the participants about the "Day After" Campaign.

At the 2008 World Social Forum (WSF) in Madrid activists made a firm demand for the release of the Cuban Five. The case was presented in a workshop by Jefferson Cardenas, a member of the Madrid Committee for the release of the Cuban Five, who put the case in the context of the U.S. government's continuing aggression against Cuba. Cardenas called on participants in the WSF to join the campaign for the release of the Cuban antiterrorist fighters, and announced the launch of the book Cronica de un Silencio (Chronicle of Silence) and the exhibition of the documentary "El Mayor Amor" (The Greatest Love) in Madrid. The two works deal with The Five and the irregularities and violations committed against them and their relatives during and after the trial.

In related news, known terrorist Luis Posada Carriles roams freely in Miami, enjoying the liberties granted him by the U.S. government when the minor immigration violations he was charged with were dismissed last May. The U.S. has consistently refused do its duty under international treaties on terrorism to try him as a terrorist or extradite him to Venezuela to be tried as a terrorist. Why? It is the unwritten position of the U.S. state that those who commit terrorist acts on behalf of U.S. interests are not really terrorists, much like its slippery definition of torture. Cuba, as a small nation which founded its independent socialist nation-building project in large part by rejecting U.S. hegemony, has been a constant target of the U.S. imperialists for nearly 50 years.

The late Philip Agee, a former CIA agent who directed anti-Cuban operations for a number of years in Ecuador and Uruguay from the U.S. embassy in Quito, Ecuador, pointed out in a November 20, 2007 speech the close ties between the U.S. secret police agencies and the anti-Cuban mafia in Miami, Florida (who are also closely tied to Posada Carriles).

"The terrorist organizations in Miami intensified their operations against Cuba in the 1990's with attacks from the sea and hotel bombings, one of which killed an Italian tourist in 1997. These terrorist activities were violations of U.S. law, but U.S. law enforcement authorities, including the FBI, did not stop them," Agee said in a November 20, 2007 speech.

As to why and how this took place, Agee explained, "In my opinion it's because the CIA has never ended its involvement with these terrorist groups. In Miami the Agency has close liaison with the FBI and local police, and all they have to do is ask for hands off these organizations and nothing will be done. For me there is no other explanation for the impunity with which these terrorists have broken U.S. law over so many years and continue to do so."

Agee also cited former CIA Director Richard Helms, who in 1975 gave testimony to the U.S. Senate, saying that the terrorist activities were "a matter of American government policy."

"At the same time the CIA was establishing counterrevolutionary networks on the island and infiltrating teams of terrorists and saboteurs," Agee remarked. "The soldiers in this army have been selected almost entirely from among the Cuban exile community living in Florida with historical ties to the Batista dictatorship," he stated.

"They were trained by the CIA in explosives and sabotage. But there has never been any sign that the CIA ended its links with these people. Various Miami-based organizations appeared through the years with names like Brigade 2506 (the defeated CIA invasion force at the Bay of Pigs), Alpha-66, Omega-7, CORU, Comandos L, Brothers to the Rescue and Comandos F-4, just to name a few. Over the years some would disappear and others appear, but the main organizations are still operating today, planning and attempting strikes against Cuba."

These ongoing ties between the secret police agencies of the U.S. state and the anti-Cuban mafia of Miami has made itself evident as U.S. activists launch a campaign to bring Posada Carriles to justice.

On January 24 in Caracas, Venezuela, CODEPINK founder and leader Medea Benjamin spoke at a joint press with Jesús Marrero from the Committee for the Extradition of Posada Carriles in Venezuela, where both organizations demanded the arrest and extradition to Venezuela of former CIA operative and international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles. Venezuela has been seeking the extradition of Posada Carriles since 2005, but the U.S. has resorted to saying it cannot do so because of fear Posada Carriles will be tortured while in Venezuelan custody.

When the U.S. government began posting photos of the most sought after terrorists in 20 cities, including Miami, earlier this year, the anti-war organization CODEPINK called the FBI to ask if Luis Posada Carriles was on the list. "No. He was on the list, but not anymore," was the cynical response from the agency. Consequently the organization initiated a campaign to include Posada on the list and is demanding his immediate arrest. CODEPINK founder and leader Medea Benjamin explained that when they attempted to peacefully collect signatures for the arrest of Posada at the Versailles Restaurant in Miami on January 12 their car was attacked by a violent mob of Posada's supporters from the Cuban exile community who threw bottles and eggs. The FBI and Miami-Dade police, "did nothing" to guarantee the activists' security she said.

Benajmin also pointed to the close links between the Bush family, Posada Carriles and Cuban exile community in Miami as an explanation for the reticence of the U.S. government to act on the Posada Carriles case. "George Bush senior was chief of the CIA and knows well the movements of Posada when he was acting as an agent of the U.S. government in Latin America. Jeb Bush was supported as governor of Florida by the same group of anti-Castro Cuban exiles that are now attempting to prevent actions against Posada."

Benjamin added: "We see that the Bush administration is looking in far off lands for terrorists: in Afghanistan, in Pakistan. However, there are many living peacefully in our own country. Posada Carriles is one case and he should be the most sought after. For that reason when we learned that he wasn't on the list we decided to launch a campaign to put him where he belongs, on trial in the United States or sent to Venezuela as provided in the valid extradition treaty between the two countries."

Marrero, himself a torture victim of operations directed by Posada Carriles in 1973 when Posada Carriles was Chief of Operations of Venezuelan Intelligence, the DISIP, detailed a series of abuses which he said occurred under Posada's command, including a massacre of 40 people.

He also said the Committee for the Extradition of Posada Carriles would continue the campaign to bring him to justice and has collected thousands of signatures in Venezuela demanding his extradition, which will be handed over to U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela, Patrick Duddy.

Benjamin assured that the document with 35,000 signatures would be delivered to the U.S. Justice Department, as well as several U.S. congressmen, including William Delahunt upon her return to the U.S.

CODEPINK planned to relaunch their campaign again at the Versailles Restaurant on February 9, asking that the FBI and Miami-Dade Police guarantee their right to free speech and free assembly.

Prepare for the Cuban Five Court Decision: Organize "Day After" Protests & Press Conferences!

The National Committee to Free the Cuban Five has issued a call for international "Day After" actions, immediately upon the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decision.

We urge supporters to organize press conferences and/or rallies at government offices in the United States, and at U.S. embassies or other U.S. symbols abroad, and to promote a massive letter-writing campaign to the U.S. President and U.S. Attorney General.

We also ask that organizations mobilize in larger numbers and intensify the support in the days and/or weeks following the court ruling.

Demand: Free the Five Now! No More U.S. Government Appeals!

The new decision of the three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit, on nine key issues of appeal for the Five, could come at any time. It may take weeks, months or even a year or more. Nobody will know the date of the court opinion until it is issued, but we can prepare ahead of time to act immediately when the ruling comes.

History has shown that political cases are won with the people's support and by exposing the truth. The struggle of the Cuban Five is no exception.

If the court decides favorably for the Five on any of the appeals issues, the U.S. government will likely try to appeal to the full panel of 12 judges of the 11th Circuit. We need to tell Washington with a united voice: Stop delaying the Five's freedom!

To the extent that pressure is brought to bear on Washington, and to the degree that the people are made aware of the U.S. government's persecution of the Five, much will depend on the coordinated, united and determined will of the Cuban Five's supporters.

Background to the Call

On August 9, 2005, the Cuban Five won an historic victory on their appeal before the three-judge panel of the federal 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

If a new trial for the Five had been held in another city in the United States, with the experience of the defense team, with the discovery of even more terrorist plots in Miami since the first trial, we are very confident that the Five would have been exonerated.

But the U.S. government fought against a new trial for the Five, because it is the U.S. government's policy of terror against Cuba that would have been on trial.

What happened to the Five's victory? Disgracefully but not surprisingly, the U.S. government, through U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and the Miami U.S. Attorney's office, appealed the 2005 decision of the 3-judge panel.

Exactly one year later--in what could only have been a political decision, on August 9, 2006 -- the full panel of 12 judges, in an extremely conservative court, ruled 10 to 2 to deny a new trial. The en banc panel reinstated the convictions and sentences of the Five. It was a cruel and very bitter blow to our brothers -- Gerardo, Ramón, Antonio, Fernando, and René -- who have had to suffer more years of imprisonment.

Worldwide Mobilizations for the Five Will Be Critical

The U.S. government has a double standard, which allows terrorists like Orlando Bosch and Luis Posada Carriles to go free in Miami, while the Five were arrested, tried and convicted in the midst of Miami's anti-Cuba hysteria.

The U.S. policy of supporting the terrorists and imprisoning the Five, has convinced virtually all who learn of their case, that the Five have been subjected to a great injustice and it must be reversed.

Coordinated rallies and/or press conferences, for both the Day After the court decision, and larger mobilizations in following weeks, will help expose this hypocrisy and show broad support for the Five's freedom.

Let us remember that when their supporters have come together, we have achieved our goals: from the New York Times ad in 2004, to the emergency response that helped free the Five from the cruel isolation cells in March 2003,

Suggested Plan of action:

1. Decide gathering place, and time (e.g., 5:00 pm on a weekday, 12 noon if the action is a weekend) and begin to publicize.

2. Produce a flyer that you can distribute at political events and to the contacts in your area; create a special list serve of new supporters you meet who want to be notified of the emergency actions.

3. Send us details of your planned actions to webmaster@Freethefive.org . We will post them on freethefive.org and help publicize them.

4. Do outreach to the media in your area ahead of time, so they are aware of the case, the pending decision and your plans. Send a press communique as soon as court decision is issued, with news of the decision, the demand for the Five's freedom and details of your event(s). We will hold a telephone press conference immediately after the court decision is announced and disseminate that information right away.

5. As soon as the court opinion is announced, we will launch a letter-writing campaign to the U.S. President and U.S. Attorney General, demanding the Five's freedom and no more government appeals against them.

Free the Five Billboard Unveiled in Los Angeles

On February 1, nearly two dozen solidarity activists gathered on the famous Hollywood Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles, California, to unveil a bulletin board boldly proclaiming "Free the Cuban Five Unjustly Held in U.S. Prisons" to motorists on the busy freeway. The U.S. National Committee to Free the Cuban Five organized the billboard campaign with important financial assistance from supporters of the Cuban Five around the United States and around the world.

The crowd was thrilled to see this tribute to five heroic men, and happy to know that the message of the Five will reach hundreds of thousands of people over the course of the next month. A series of prominent activists in solidarity with the Cuban Five spoke to the rally. Jim Lafferty, President of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Lawyers Guild and interim general manager of progressive Los Angeles radio station KPFK, highlighted the hypocrisy of the U.S. government. "If ever the bogus nature of the so-called 'war on terrorism' was made evident, it was made evident when the U.S. government did what they did and are continuing to do to our brothers from Cuba, the Cuban Five. It's important for the people of the United States to demand of their own government not only that we normalize relations with Cuba, but that we free the Cuban Five."

Blase Bonpane, the Executive Director of the Office of the Americas, noted the particular signficance of the Hollywood location of the billboard. "We're extremely happy to see this wonderful billboard here in the heart of Hollywood because Cuba has been victimized by terror for over 50 years, and some of the organizations involved over the past years have even struck here in Hollywood. We have groups named Alpha-66, Omega-7, and other groups of that type, that have been given free reign here in Hollywood. We had a gathering place known as the Haymarket. These people came in and burned it to the ground, practically killing those who were inside."

Cela Esguerra, student organizer with A.N.S.W.E.R., told the crowd "The Los Angeles chapter of the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition stands today with other community activists to inaugurate this billboard for the Cuban Five. This billboard is a dramatic display that will bring to light to tens of thousands of Angelenos not only a grave case of injustice, but the campaign to free them."

Gloria La Riva, Coordinator of the U.S. National Committee to Free the Cuban Five which initiated the billboard campaign, talked about the reason for the campaign. "If there was national coverage as there should be of this case, about a case involving United States support for terrrorism against Cuba and the United States' unjust imprisonment of the men who were fighting terrorism, we wouldn't have to place a billboard in the streets of Los Angeles. But we will do whatever we have to do to help free our men. We will do whatever we have to do involving collecting the thousands of dollars that it takes. This billboard was possible because we got donations from everywhere, from around the world and across the United States. So we'll move on to the next city after Los Angeles. In the meantime, the people of Los Angeles, the progressive movement, should be proud that it started here in L.A."

Arturo Garcia of the Alliance for Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines was the final speaker. "As a representative of the Filipino-American community in Los Angeles," he said, "I am proud to have this billboard that breaks the monopoly of the capitalists and imperialists. Cuba and the Philippines share the same fate. As it was on Dec. 10, 1898, the Philippines, Cuba, and Puerto Rico were sold down the river by the American imperialists to the tune of 10 million dollars. We want the Cuban Five freed!"

The committee received a moving message from Cuba from Roberto González, the brother of René González and an attorney on the legal team of the Cuban Five:

"Although we knew that it was coming, I couldn't help but feel emotion on seeing the billboard with the image of the Five on the boulevard, on television. When we spoke of that project a few years ago, it seemed like an unrealizable dream. It has only been possible for us to carry out this battle since the first days by counting on dreamers like yourselves.

"I don't know on behalf of how many people I can give you all thanks for the work you do, but I assure you that at least on this island yesterday, you made the lives of millions of people happier and you made us feel that the return of our brothers is that much closer.

"Receive our warmest embrace for this magnificent action that you all have achieved, the result of your tenacious effort and the sense of responsibility with which you all have worked. Please transmit our message of appreciation to each and every person who, in one form or another, has made it possible for this project to become a reality. This shows that we are not mistaken when we say, the people of the United States have it in their hands for justice to prevail in the case of our Five sons.

The U.S. National Committee to Free the Cuban Five is still collecting funds to continue and expand the campaign, extending the presence in Los Angeles past one month and bringing the message of "Free the Cuban Five" to other cities. "Donations are very much needed and welcomed," states the committee. Donations can be made online by visiting the committee's website: www.freethefive.org.

Women's Petition for Visiting Rights
of Cuban Five Families

- Canadian Network on Cuba & Table de concertation
solidarité Québec-Cuba, January 2008 -

In December 2001, a Miami Court sentenced five innocent Cubans for fighting against terrorism. Unjustly imprisoned in the United States since Sept. 12, 1998, they had infiltrated the anti-Cuban groups in Miami whose terrorist actions have killed 3,200 Cubans and injured more than 2,000 since 1959. When the Cuban government informed the United States of the new criminal activities that were being planned, the FBI arrested the five Cubans instead of the terrorists.

The wrongful convictions imposed by the United States government include four life sentences plus 75 years in prison. To date, the right to a new trial for the Five in another city than Miami has been denied.

To this enormous injustice is added another punishment: preventing regular visits from relatives. The case for two of the Five -- René González and Gerardo Hernández -- is even more inhumane since the U.S. government has consistently refused any visiting rights to their wives.

Olga Salanueva and Adriana Pérez, the wives respectively of Gerardo and René, have applied for visas eight times, and eight times they have been denied without just cause. An international campaign is underway so that they can obtain visas.

Olga, a 48-year-old industrial engineer and mother of two daughters, has been married to Rene for 24 years. She has been unable to visit her husband for the past seven years. René is 51 years old and is sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Adriana is a chemical engineer and has been married to Gerardo for 20 years. She has not been allowed to visit him since his arrest on September 12, 1998. Because of this unjust imprisonment, they have not had any children. Adriana is 37 years old and Gerardo 42. Gerardo was sentenced to two life sentences plus 10 years in prison.

In reaction to the perverse refusal of the George W. Bush government to grant humanitarian visas to Olga and Adriana to visit their husbands in prison, women around the world are circulating petitions.

This petition is the realization of one of the resolutions adopted by the «Breaking the Silence: Solidarity Conference for the Cuban Five» held in Toronto November 10, 2007, 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.

Signatures on the petitions will be collected until March 8th, 2008, International Women's Day, and then transmitted to the U.S. government.

Petition

Dr Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State
M. Michael Mukasey Attorney General United States of America

We, women of the USA and Canada who have signed this petition, share with the international community our concern about the repeated unfounded refusals by the Government of the United States to grant visas to Adriana Pérez O'Connor and Olga Salanueva Arango, the wives respectively of Gerardo Hernández Nordelo and René González Sehwerert, two of the men known as the Cuban Five.

These two Cuban women are claiming their basic human right to visit their husbands in the prisons where they have been unjustly incarcerated since 1998.

We join in the demand to grant Olga and Adriana visas on humanitarian grounds WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY.

FBI Turned to Perjury to Protect Posada

The Miami FBI grossly disinformed and lied at the trial of the five Cuban anti-terrorists in the United States in order to protect Luis Posada Carriles, by failing to reveal the existence of a conspiracy to assassinate President Fidel Castro masterminded by this same terrorist.

In August 2003 the FBI confirmed its links with Posada by destroying his file while the terrorist, imprisoned in Panama for terrorism, was awaiting trial there.

Testifying on behalf of the Bureau, George Kiszynski intentionally omitted to state that a boat anchored in Miami, which he checked after an anonymous tip-off, and its owner were linked to a conspiracy hatched in U.S. territory with the participation of the most notorious terrorist on the continent.

Three years previously, on August 7, 1998, the Miami Herald published a front-page report titled "Assassination attempt on Castro foiled," written by its veteran analyst Juan O. Tamayo, who revealed that a Cuban exile implicated in a number of terrorist attacks was planning to assassinate Fidel Castro during his visit to the Dominican Republic.

Tamayo went on to state that Luis Posada Carriles, an old anti-Castro militant and three Miami exiles (Enrique Bassas, Ramón Font and Luis Orlando Rodríguez) met up in July of that year in the Holiday Inn in the Guatemalan capital to discuss how to smuggle in weapons and infiltrators, these latter including the terrorists referred to by the daily.

In its report, the Herald noted that terrorists located in Santo Domingo, among them Frank Castro, the founder of CORU, were ready to help put up and transport "a commando" that was to try and assassinate Fidel between August 20 to 25 at a summit on that Caribbean island.

However, the daily related, Posada's plan was reported to the U.S. authorities in July and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents searched a vessels complex owned by Enrique Bassas.

Bassas is an old CIA collaborator with a long terrorist record. Font is "an explosives expert" trained by the same Agency, as is Rodríguez, a "Vietnam veteran."

According to the Herald, the FBI agents interviewed Bassas on July 24, 1998 when they checked a vessels complex on the River Miami, Bassas Cargo International. Bassas was not arrested in spite of information already in the possession of the FBI on the Posada conspiracy.

The Herald analyst then makes an interesting observation: "Police veterans interpreted the search as a signal to Bassas to cancel any conspiracy. This is a common practice in the south of Florida, known as 'telling off' or 'demobilizing' an operation."

In other words, informed of the plot, the FBI warned the plotters and then sat back with their arms crossed.

He then comes up with the following hypothesis: "Cuban intelligence agents who, according to the police and experts on the exile movement, have penetrated many of the exile organizations, warned the FBI in order to protect Castro's life during his visit to the Dominican Republic."

FBI Not Lacking in Information

One should recall the speech by Cuban President Fidel Castro on May 20, 2005, in which he revealed how he communicated in April 1998 with U.S. President Bill Clinton via Nobel Prize Winner Gabriel García Márquez. In his confidential message to the U.S. president, Fidel approached the subject of acts of terrorism organized and financed from the United States in 1997 by Luis Posada Carriles and with funding from the Cuban-American National Foundation (CANF).

On June 15, 1998, a FBI delegation arrived in Havana and from June 16 through 17 there were various meetings between Cuban and U.S. experts, during which a large amount of documented and testimonial evidence on terrorist acts and plots against Cuba from 1990 to 1998 was handed over by the Cuban side. Most of these actions were directly linked to the CANF, which was then using the terrorist structure headed up by Luis Posada Carriles in Central America. The FBI officers then committed themselves to informing the Cuban side of the results of an analysis of the material as soon as possible.

The facts were to show an FBI conduct quite different from its supposed good intentions. Not only did Posada Carriles -- without anyone bothering him -- conclude his Guatemala City Holiday Inn meetings on the Santo Domingo assassination attempt with the Miami envoys Enrique Bassas, Ramón Font and Luis Orlando Rodríguez on July 12, but he also granted an interview to the New York Times in which he boasted to the point of giving himself the luxury of scaring his sponsors.

Barely 12 days prior to the FBI visit to Enrique Bassas' installations on the Miami River, the Times published that extremely long conversation with Posada, given a few days previously in Aruba, in which the terrorist openly admitted, without any scruples, having masterminded the series of attacks on tourist installations in Cuba that took place the year before. He added that the CANF leadership had funded his operations, even stating that Jorge Mas Canosa, the organization's chairman, had personally supervised the logistics of the operation.

Revenge for Some Humiliating Failures

After the accidental arrest in 1997 of terrorists aboard the yacht Esperanza by the U.S. Coast Guard, the sudden interruption of their plots for Santo Domingo due to an exposé were a humiliating failure for Posada and his CANF accomplices, which translated into intense pressure from their Miami sponsors for a police operation against Cuban agents whose activities had been identified.

In the days following the publication of the Herald report describing the blow received by Posada, the CANF and their conspirators, Special Agent Héctor Pesquera began to ask the FBI hierarchy and the Justice Department for the green light to go ahead with a raid on a group of Cubans infiltrated into the terrorist ranks.

Pesquera, whose links to the CANF have been documented on a number of occasions, confessed later that his dealings in that context took him to the office of his chief, James Freeh, FBI director, and Attorney General Janet Reno, whose officials were not in favor of the operation.

On September 12, Pesquera arrested the Cubans and put on a raucous media show accusing those who were annoying his mafia buddies of being spies.

In his interview with the Times, Posada had identified Special FBI Agent George Kiszynski as "a very good friend."

It was precisely Kiszynski, as closely tied to the CANF and the CIA as his colleague Pesquera, who made the visit to Bassas' installations on the River Miami, to warn the terrorists that their plot was known. And it was Kiszynski again who appeared at the trial of the Five on March 26, 2001, to disinform the court on that matter.

With the anxious aid of the district judge, who multiplied the interferences, Kiszynski did not state that Bassas was one of the individuals who met with Luis Posada Carriles in the Guatemala City Holiday Inn to prepare an assassination attempt on the Cuban president.

By acting in that way -- as he had done on other occasions -- Kiszynski was protecting his "buddy" Posada Carriles and implicitly confirming to the terrorist elements present in the court that the FBI would guarantee them its complicity, and trying to negate the legitimate nature of the activities of the Cuban anti-terrorists in combating a terrorism that the FBI not only tolerates but helps.

More than nine years after their arrest, the five Cuban anti-terrorist combatants are still incarcerated in lamentable conditions, isolated from each other in different prisons within the vast U.S. penal system, the victims of the FBI that did not hesitate to turn to disinformation, lies and perjury as part of its sinister support for anti-Cuban terrorism.

Coming Events

Hamilton
Friendship Association with Cuba General Assembly
and Public Event on "Democracy in Cuba"
Saturday, March 15, 2008 -- 4:00 pm
Central Public Library in Jackson Square
55 York Boulevard
For informaton: hamiltoncubafriendship@gmail.com, cubacanada.org

The Hamilton Friendship Association with Cuba will be holding its first General Assembly on March 15, 2008 followed by a Public Event on the topic of "Democracy in Cuba". We are pleased to invite you to participate in these important events and to assist in any way you can.

General Assembly

The General Assembly is an exciting time for the HFAC, as it will mark the culmination of over 3 years of Cuba friendship work in Hamilton. At the Assembly, members will ratify the organization's constitution and elect its governing body. It is open to all members in good standing prior to March 1, 2008.

The HFAC calls on all friends of Cuba to join this landmark occasion and contribute to the work by becoming members in good time to join the Assembly. Membership information and forms can be found on our website. We welcome all inquiries regarding membership and participation in the Assembly.

Public Event Featuring Professor Isaac Saney

Following the Assembly, we are holding a Public Event during which we will be sharing the results of this important achievement with the broader Hamilton community. The main presentation will be on the timely topic of "Democracy in Cuba" by our returning guest, Professor Isaac Saney.

Professor Saney spoke at the founding of the Association last May, and his participation was much appreciated by all participants. We are delighted to have him with us again. He is the author of Cuba: A Revolution in Motion (2004) and co-producer with Mark Rushton of the highly successful documentary Sisters' & Brothers' Keeper: Cuba and Southern African Liberation.

We will also be honoured by the presence of His Excellency, the Cuban Ambassador to Canada, Ernesto Senti who will deliver greetings to the event. Other prominent personalities will be attending to celebrate with us. As well, we will be providing a cultural program and dinner. More details will be released as the program is confirmed.

Join Us!

We hope you are able to join us at the General Assembly & Public Event and in making all our acitivities a success. Let us know if you can lend a hand! All contributions are welcome!

Message from Cuban President Fidel Castro,
Historic Figure of the Cuban Revolution

Message from Cuban President Fidel Castro

Join in the Work to Free the Cuban Five!
Demand the Extradition of
Terrorist Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela!

Prepare for the Cuban Five Court Decision: Organize "Day After" Protests & Press Conferences!

Demand: Free the Five Now! No More U.S. Government Appeals!

Background to the Call

Worldwide Mobilizations for the Five Will Be Critical

Suggested Plan of action:

Free the Five Billboard Unveiled in Los Angeles

Women's Petition for Visiting Rights
of Cuban Five Families

Petition

FBI Turned to Perjury to Protect Posada

FBI Not Lacking in Information

Revenge for Some Humiliating Failures

Coming Events

Message from Cuban President Fidel Castro, Historic Figure of the Cuban Revolution

Message from Cuban President Fidel Castro

Join in the Work to Free the Cuban Five! Demand the Extradition of Terrorist Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela!

Prepare for the Cuban Five Court Decision: Organize "Day After" Protests & Press Conferences!

Demand: Free the Five Now! No More U.S. Government Appeals!

Background to the Call

Worldwide Mobilizations for the Five Will Be Critical

Suggested Plan of action:

Free the Five Billboard Unveiled in Los Angeles

Women's Petition for Visiting Rights of Cuban Five Families

Petition

FBI Turned to Perjury to Protect Posada

FBI Not Lacking in Information

Revenge for Some Humiliating Failures

Coming Events

Message from Cuban President Fidel Castro,
Historic Figure of the Cuban Revolution

Join in the Work to Free the Cuban Five!
Demand the Extradition of
Terrorist Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela!

Women's Petition for Visiting Rights
of Cuban Five Families