NEHAWU Seminar in Cape Town, South Africa, on the Cuban Five

As part of the program of activities organized by South Africa’s National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (NEHAWU), Ivan Ferrer Arenas, Second Secretary of the Embassy of Cuba in South Africa, delivered a lecture on the case of the five Cuban anti-terrorists, unjustly imprisoned in the United States.

The Cuban officer briefed the participants on the particulars of this case and offered updated information on its latest developments, as well as international efforts to secure the release of the remaining three Cuban political prisoners.

NEHAWU made a public commitment to step up its solidarity campaign in South Africa to break the wall of silence surrounding the case of the Cuban Five and join forces with other like-minded organizations to demand President Obama for the release of these Cuban anti-terrorists.

The gathering is part of the international month long campaign to mobilize solidarity and was attended by NEHAWU President Michael Makwayiba and provincial leaders, trade unionists, members of the African National Congress, the South African Communist Party and other participants in the movement in solidarity with Cuba.

The Five are Cuban men who are unjustly imprisoned in the United States after being arrested by the FBI on Sept. 12, 1998 and convicted in U.S. federal court in Miami in 2001, in a political prosecution by the U.S. government.

They are Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González and René González, who were falsely accused by the U.S. government of committing espionage conspiracy against the United States, and other related charges.

The Five’s actions were never directed at the U.S. government and never engaged in nor planned any conspiracy against the United States. Their mission consisted of monitoring the activities of Cuban-American groups and organizations responsible of terrorist activities against Cuba."