By Ketricia Finch
St. Kitts Reporter
The St. Kitts Solidarity Committee and the Cuban Five held a presentation to discuss the status of the Cuban Five, who was imprisoned in the United States. According to the Cuban history, they were charged for attempting to fight terrorism. Defense Lawyer of the Cuban Heroes, Rafael Anglada Lopes thanked the people of St. Kitts and Nevis for supporting the Puerto Rican rights, determination and independence.
“They are no longer boys. The oldest is now 50 and the youngest is 43. I have been on the case since early 1999 so even before they were released to the time they spent one-and-a-half year in solitary confinement. They don’t have any human communication, no nothing and they have done many solitary confinements. The first one they did in 1998 to February in year 2000. The second was in June and July of 2001 after being convicted by the court. The third one was in the early stages of 2002,” Lopes explained.
Lopes said they were arrested for very peculiar alleged criminal acts.
“Three of the Cubans got life sentences. One of them for two life sentences, which are two consecutive life sentences. The remaining fourth and fifth have 19 years of prison and 10 years of prison. I remember in Havana, the night before the sentencing, when the one who have the least amount for prison time went to his mother and told her ‘Listen mother, I promise you that your son would be the first to return.’ She then said ‘I don’t want my son to be the first one to return, I want the five to return’. That kind of spirit is present in every mother of the men,” Lopes said.
Lopes said he have a good number of year’s ahead on the case, most of them are court appointed.
Muhammad Alwali, Chairman of the St. Kitts and Nevis Committee of Solidarity expressed thanks to the lawyer who have come from far to share the information on behalf of the people of St. Kitts.
“These brothers risk their lives on a daily basis to make sure we have a safe community in the Caribbean along with the United States. We here in St. Kitts and also a part of the Caribbean have adopted the mentality that what happens abroad, will not touch the soil that we walk on. Just as we are dealing with kidnappings in Iraq, we have had kidnappings in the Caribbean. Therefore, what happens abroad can certainly take place here if we allow it to. To fight for our brother is to fight against injustice and our own survival. We suffer much in these parts of the World because we are too weak, coward and timid. We are too afraid to stand up for our God-given rights. All we do is go along to get along and this type of attitude is weakening our society, Alwali said.
Alwali said in order for us to assist the Cubans, we have to put on a new mind, the revolutionary mind.
“Revolution is the overturning of the system – the politics, religion, education, sports to create a better atmosphere for the people of that specific nation. A revolution is the only solution to our problems. A revolution would give us our identity and courage to take control of our affairs. It is time for us to take the bull by its horn. It’s time that we stand up and say enough is enough and say let our people go,” Alwali concluded.
