Writ. 12/19/02 The Cuban 5 and 'Homeland Security' by Mumia Abu-Jamal Right now, the American Empire is girding its loins for a War, based, at least in part on the alleged 'threat' posed by a Third World adversary - Iraq. Few seriously view the Ba'ath state a threat, but that's the rationale advanced to the American people. What if there *was* a nation; one which was relatively close, and which was, not only, an avowed enemy, but which had staged traceable acts of war against your people, that resulted in considerable loss of life, and human suffering? Well, the Cubans don't need to look far. Their 'avowed enemy' is the Collossus to the North -- the United States, which has not only threatened to do harm, but has done so, for virtually half a century! The United States has admitted trying to kill the Cuban head-of-state, Dr. Fidel Castro, at least 11 times. It has invaded the nation, it has sown its soil with poisons, and spread contagion among its livestock (again, this is what the U.S. HAS ADMITTED TO DOING!). Recently 5 Cuban nationalists were imprisoned in Miami, and charged with spying for Havana. In fact, the 5 were actively exposing and working to stop terrorist acts launched by Cuban exiles in Miami against their homeland. When they saw plots against their nation, they monitored them, and reported back to their people what was happening. The Cuban government promptly passed on the reports to the U.S. government, in a bid to stop the terrorism that has cost over 3,000 Cuban lives since the 1959 Revolution and until 1999. The U.S. responded to their reports, by rounding up the 5, and charging them, and treating them as spies. They have been convicted of charges relating to their monitoring, and have been sentenced to terms of 15-years to life for defending their nation from terroristic attacks! The U.S. insists that it has the right to stage a preemptive strike against a nation that has not attacked it (Iraq), and yet, it is wrong to defend one's homeland from further terroristic attack. That is illogical. So, for over 33 months now, 5 Cubans, have languished in U.S. jails, separated like wheat from the chaff, all around the nation. They are more than the rallying cry, 'The Cuban 5': They are real human beings: Gerardo Hernandez, Fernando Gonzalez, Ramon Labanino, Antonio Guerrero and Rene Gonzalez. They committed no acts against the United States, nor monitored any American secrets. They entered the Miami exile community and observed the planning of acts of terrorism against the nation of their birth, and reported it. That is their 'crime.' Despite never participating in any terroristic acts, and indeed, preventing over 170 terrorist acts against the land of their birth, they have been consigned to U.S. Gulags. One wonders, is there really a War against Terrorism? For, if there is, how can it be furthered by the imprisonment of those who fought to stop it? As for those in the Miami Mafia, the 'rabiblancos', as they are called (rabid anti-Castro Cubans), they have actively engaged in terror against the Cuban populace, but they have nothing to fear from the Americans, for the U.S. government indirectly supports and indeed funds their efforts. People are organizing, around the nation to demand Freedom for the Cuban 5. Please contact them, and help give life to this effort. By so doing, you will be opposing terrorism, for real, and supporting an anti-terrorist group of people, who only want to defend their nation from foreign-backed aggression. Free the Five! Copyright 2024 Mumia Abu-Jamal Copyright 2024 Mumia Abu-Jamal Mumia Abu-Jamal is the author of three books: 'Live from Death Row', 'Death Blossoms', and 'All Things Censored'. Write to Mumia directly at: Mumia Abu-Jamal AM 8335 SCI-Greene 175 Progress Drive Waynesburg, PA 15370