By: Ana Margarita Gonzalez and Rafael Hojas Martinez
For those who are fighting for the freedom of Gerardo, Ramon and Tony; September has a great importance in Washington. A new activity in solidarity is scheduled to “touch” the power of the United States (U.S.), just when we are celebrating 16 years of unfair incarceration of the Cuban Five.
Alicia Jrapko, coordinator in the US of the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five –antiterrorist fighters unjustly held in the US-, exclusively declared to Trabajadores Newspaper the importance of this activity. She commented on her last visit to Gerardo and told us anecdotes on Ramon and Tony.
The celebration of this third edition in marked by the results of the two held before, and the one carried out last June, where, according to Alicia, the media silence was broken while for the repercussion in several media.
The tour to the US of the Cuban children’s group La Colmenita, in 2011 with the performance of the play Abracadabra, was the main thing of all. “We realized on the need to work in Washington.
Then, we not only got in contact with that city but also started to join people in solidarity with the cause. After visiting some offices of the Congress with a group of children, we also understood the importance of the lobby.
“The US is a very big country; it is needed to get people know the case everywhere, but Washington is vital: there is here all the power of this country, and from here, they took the decision to arrest the Cuban Five.”
Opening doors
“These activities in September are more modest than those carried out in June, but they are the as well as important. The goal is the same: get people know the injustice and remind the main authorities of this country that years are still passing by and the injustice continues.
“We evaluated the third activity in June as the most successful of the ones held so far. It was a special moment, because in Washington there have been held talks in the power circles, and there were several articles in the media of the great corporations due to scandals of the USAID with its policy of “change of regime” in Cuba.
“Many people who were not in favor to a change in policy before started giving opinions and changing their position. There were lots of doors opened: the National Press Club organized an activity and invited all the media. We offered them the panelists: the Canadian Stephen Kimber and the principle lawyer of the case Martin Garbus.
“The results of the lobby job were better than years before. We visited more offices, went to the Congress, the Senate; were able to have two dates with the Department of State; other academicians, intellectuals, lawyers, religious leaders and unionists joined us. During the protest in front of the White House there were more people than in the previous activities and that helped us organize a parade on the streets of Washington until we got to the Department of Justice demanding the freedom of the Cuban Five.”
In the epicenter of power
In the activities to be held in September personalities and friends worldwide will participate, among them, the Canadian writer Stephen Kimber and the former vice president of the Mexican Senate Yeidckol Polevnsky; academicians like the well known professor Piero Gleijeses, lawyer Jose Pertierra; Ann Wright, retired Colonel of the US Army and former officer of the State Department, among others.
The coordinator of this movement informed that at mid day on September 12 there will be a protest in front of the White House. They will also inaugurate a new exhibition of paintings from Antonio Guerrero titled Absueltos por la Solidaridad (Found not guilty by solidarity) and there will be a panel of experts that will talk about the case of the Cuban Five.
During the preparation, new actions have joined, like the presentation of Stephen Kimber and Wayne Smith (former head of the US Interest Section in Havana) at the Law High School from Georgetown, and a night in solidarity with the Cuban Five at Takoma Park city, where a great community of Latin Americans live, mainly from El Salvador.
“We have foreseen a political and cultural event in one youth organization who is interested in knowing about the case, which we have not worked yet. We are having new dates at the Capitol with the offices of congressmen and senators, and we have already conformed many of them.”
In relation to the interpretation of the Cuban Five’s lawsuit in the American society, Alicia Jrapko said is very difficult to understand its behavior without living in this country.
“In the majority of the cases, the great media corporations spread the position of the groups of power. For more than 50 years the news that have been published on Cuba are negative; that makes readers be conditioned to listen to this type of things. For instance, Obama’s administration is developing an alleged war against terrorism, but the majority of the people here ignore that former and present administrations protect terrorists that have cause the death of about 3, 500 innocent Cubans.
“This media formula is also applied to the Gaza Strip conflict, where the press manages to show the Palestine people as the aggressor and Israel the victim when the reality is just the opposite.
That is our situation and against that we should fight everyday: disinformation, lie, indifference.
“I am optimistic. There is no evil that will last 100 years. Generations are changing, and in the case of the Cuba, the last surveys show that the majority of the people in the US are in favor to normalization of the relations between the US and Cuba.”
Very special people
“I have an anecdote that shows how sensitive are the Cuban Five and how, in the middle of such adverse situations they always have a gesture, a detail.
Ramon wrote me a week ago because he was worried to know if we were fine after the earthquake on the bay’s area of San Francisco. We have lately been in contact with Tony, because he finished a new exposition of paintings: 16 works for anniversary 16th of the arrest of the Cuban Five, where he describes the difficult moments they had in Miami in the trial. This is another weapon to denounce the injustice against them.”
About her recent visit to Gerardo she said: “He is as usual, very optimistic, updated with the Cuban and American media; curious for each on each detail of the movement in solidarity with the cause, and in touch with his people by means of Adriana. He is a lot attached to Cubacan project he develops with his Canadian friend Bill Ryan, who builds the wooden bats for Industriales Cuban baseball team that carried the logo created by Gerardo.
“For us, who have had the honor and privilege to visit him, Gerardo is a permanent source of energy; he makes us meditate on the need to multiply actions to see them free sooner or later.”
Alicia Jrapko, an Argentinean who left her country in the years of the terrible military dictatorship indentifies herself as Latin American more living in the US, and with the great privilege to embrace the cause of the Cuban Five. In this long way, she also thanks to know so very special people. She has three sons who are also in solidarity with the just causes and her husband also shares her struggle.
After taking so many risks, so many nights without sleeping and exhausted for her constant eagerness to get the release of the Cuban Five, her modesty and kindness is just worth for a phrase: “I feel so happy to be helpful.”
