[NYTr] Int'll Committee for the Duban 5 Launches New Campaign

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

International Committee for the Five Launches New Campaign

Havana, Sept 3 (acn) The International Network for the release of the
Five Cuban prisoners in the U.S called for a world campaign to defend
the cause of the Cuban anti-terrorists who have been unfairly in jail
for nearly nine years.

Several organizations supporting the release of the Five made a call to
"the Committees and Friends of Cuba, to the men and women of the world"
to carry out an international campaign in solidarity with the Five from
September 12 until October 8.

The starting day for the campaign was set for the day (Sept 12, 1998)
when the Cuban men were sentenced to outrageous terms in prison for
trying to collect information on terrorist plans against Cuba drawn up
by Miami-based hard-line organizations. It will also recall the
anniversary, on October 6, of the terrorist attempt against the Cuban
airliner off the costs of Barbados, in which 73 people died.

The end of the campaign period will also mark the assassination on
October 8, 1967, in Bolivia of Argentinean-born Ernesto Che Guevara on
CIA orders.

Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labanino, Fernando Gonzales, Rene Gonzales and
Antonio Guerrero are still kept in maximum-security prisons, and they
are deprived of their right to be visited by their relatives, says the
call released by the international committee for the release of the
Five.

The text notes the rise in support for the Cuban's cause, as shown by
the presence of important legal experts during the latest hearing of the
case at the Court of Atlanta, held August 20.

In addition, interviews released by the BBC, CNN, Reuters and articles
posted by the Washington Post and the New York Times show that the wall
of silence about the case is beginning to fall apart as a result of the
international campaign held through all this years for the release of
the Five Cubans.

The call encourages all friends of Cuba to take any initiatives
including marches, demonstrations, public meetings and the setting of
posters to demand the release of the Cuban Five.