letter of june to Obama

June 1st, 2010

Mister President Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.

Washington DC 20500

Mister President,

Since your election, every month, in the name of the friends of the Cuban Five from Monein, I write you asking you to liberate the five Cubans - Gerardo Hernandez, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez, Ramon Labañino, and René Gonzalez – prisoners in your country.

Each day that passes renders their detention more and more unjust, and puts more and more into relief the United States’ system of double morals.

Theses five Cubans came to Miami to infiltrate a terrorist group that was multiplying terrorist attacks against their island, in order to thwart their projects. Even though the courts rejected the charge of espionage against the five men, they are still designated in the American press as “the Cuban spies”.

Nevertheless, one wouldn’t have to look far to see the validity of these patriot’s actions.

In my preceding letters, I recalled the Peter Pan Operation, the Northwoods Operation, the blockade, the attack against the Cubana Airlines plane, the attack against the French ship La Coubre, the assassination attempts against Fidel Castro, how several high-ranked U.S. government officials had written papers describing how to put an end to the Cuban revolution, plus many other facts proving the United States’ unrelenting efforts against Cuba.

Seeing the Great Power desperately struggling against the little island that is still resisting, hère in France it makes us think of the little Gallic village in the comic book Astérix in face of the mighty Roman Legion! But the reality of the situation is far more tragic than the fiction. The Cubans themselves, and particularly the Cuban Five, don’t find this situation funny at all!

For fifty years, the United States has been consecrating colossal amounts of money in its budget for overthrowing the Cuban government. Considerable damage has been caused in Cuba, but in vain.

The country is still standing proudly and forging ahead in spite of extremely
hard conditions, caused mainly by the blockade. Cuba’s magic potion is the
support given by its people, who are not putting up with the U.S. interfering
in their business.

And yet, Mister President, the U.S. Congress itself is conscious of the inefficiency of several measures adopted against Cuba, as the commission presided by Democratic Senator John Kerry recently acknowledged.
Quoting a part of the article written by the reporter Jean-Guy Allard (website
telesur):

“The Marti Radio and TV stations are lying when they broadcast unfounded information, acknowledged a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations commission, recommending that thèse two stations be once and for all removed from Miami and installed in Washington so they can be “an entire part” of Voice of America’s propaganda apparatus.

Not content with deceiving the public […], these two transmitters resort to “an offensive and inflammatory language” that dishonors them.

Eighteen years later, the Marti Radio and TV stations are still unable to influence the Cuban society in a convincing manner and to influence the Cuban government (…).
The report revealed last Monday (May 3rd) recommended merging the Office for Cuban Broadcasting with the Voice of America, the official U.S. government propaganda radio station.

From the very beginning, these programs were dogged with problems concerning the respect of journalistic standards, a minuscule audience, Cuban government radio jamming and allegations of nepotism and of cronyism… »

Don’t you, Mister President, think that the moment has come to show
your sense of justice? The miserable Miami Mafia cannot eternally lay down the
law in your country, and it is time for you to sign the “executive clemency”
that will free these five courageous Cubans, and that will finally open the
door to new relations between the United States and Cuba.

Still hoping for the gesture on your part that will initiate truly novel relations between your country and Cuba that are wished for by an overwhelming majority of nations, please accept, Mister President, the expression of my most sincere humanistic sentiments.

Translated by Martine Vaugien Gadbois

C.C.: Michelle Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid and his Excellency the ambassador of United States in France.

Jacqueline Roussie