08) MIXED SIGNALS FROM U.S. ON CUBA TRAVEL

PV Vancouver Bureau

     In an important legal victory, U.S. judge Joan Lenard has issued an order granting René Gonzalez, one of the Cuban Five anti-terrorist fighters, permission to travel home for two weeks to visit his seriously ill brother Roberto.

     Judge Lenard, of the South Florida Federal District Court, approved the motion to travel to Cuba presented by the attorney for Rene Gonzalez. Lenard has been in charge of the trials of Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez, Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labanino and René Gonzalez.

     The Five were detained in 1998 for monitoring violent activities by anti‑Cuba groups based in the United States, and are currently serving sentences ranging from 15 years to double life plus 15 years.

     Last October, René completed his prison term, although he must remain in the United States for three years under "supervised release." Judge Lenard ordered him to comply with conditions, including receiving all the necessary licences and permissions to travel home for two weeks, and to present the detailed itinerary of his stay and location in Cuba. Rene also has to provide information on his contacts in Cuba, as well as report to a probation officer over the phone.

     At the same time, however, the U.S. State Department refused to grant two Cuban diplomats, based in Washington, DC, permission to travel to New York City to participate in a forum on the weekend of March 16‑18.

     Patricia Pego, First Secretary, and Juan Lamigueiro, Deputy Chief of the Mission, at the Cuban Interest Section in Washington were slated to participate in a Left Forum panel sponsored by MLToday.com (Marxism-Leninism Today) on New Developments in Cuba and a second panel on The Cuban Five.

     Cuban diplomats based in Washington and at the United Nations in New York cannot travel outside a 50 mile radius without first obtaining permission from the State Department.

     The panels were part of the Socialist Scholars Conference, the largest annual U.S. gathering of left academics, students, labor and community activists. Held this year at Pace University in New York City, the conference attracted over 5,000 registrants.

     On very short notice, other diplomats, based at Cuba's United Nations Mission, filled in for their Washington  colleagues. They were received with gratitude and appreciation by an overflow crowd anxious to hear their presentation.

     For more than 50 years the U.S. government has maintained an illegal and criminal blockade of Cuba that has caused untold damage and injury to Cuban citizens and Cuban society.

     As the ML Today Editorial Board pointed out, "it is now very clear that the illegal blockade is also used to deny American citizens the freedom to hear Cuba's point of view. With the Obama Administration stepping up enforcement of the blockade itself; with the administration trying to prevent Cuba from being invited to the Summit of the Americas in Colombia next month; and with the U.S. government attempting to prevent Americans from hearing first hand from Cubans themselves, it is reasonable to ask `Why is the American government afraid of Cuba?'"

(The above article is from the April 1-15, 2012, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)