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magbana (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore | Thu May-14-09 10:52 AM Original message |
Fifth and FINAL Saul Landau Interview with Cuban Fiver Gerardo Hernandez |
Edited on Thu May-14-09 10:54 AM by magbana
PROGRESO WEEKLY
May 14, 2009 ‘The small island 90 miles away has the right to choose its own destiny’ By Saul Landau (from his notes) Telephone conversation with Gerardo Hernandez from the U.S. prison (Last of 5 parts) Saul Landau: Did you talk to the prosecution? Gerardo Hernandez: No. Everything goes through our lawyers. Initially I talked with the government lawyer Saul Landau: Did it occur to you to cooperate, so as to escape the nightmare you’ve described? Gerardo Hernandez: Look, we’ve been in prison for over 10 years. People who know about this case have said to me: “Cuba must have paid you lots of money to do this!” I always laugh and say: “If I had done what I did for money, I wouldn’t be here.” Because when one works for money, one works for the highest bidder. And Cuba could never pay what this country could pay. I would have accepted their No, betrayal never crossed my mind. It’s so obvious that it becomes difficult to explain. It would mean not only self betrayal, as a revolutionary, but also a whole country, my family. It would mean betraying all the Cubans that in the hundred something years since the 1868 revolution, have given their lives so Cuba could be free, independent and sovereign. I was clear from the start: what I was doing was not wrong. I’m sorry I had to break some Saul Landau: One accusation against you: Conspiring to commit espionage. What evidence did the US government have? Gerardo Hernandez: None. I’m accused of supervising others who were involved in that A woman in the office told him about a plumber’s job at the Key West naval base. And he accepted. He didn’t seek that job. She offered it to him. We brought that employment agency woman to the trial It was defensive. Cuba wanted to know about any extraordinary movements there. Remember, this is the base closest to Miami, where these folks The prosecution said: “You’re right, that’s not espionage. It’s conspiracy to commit espionage.” Because some day Antonio would want clearance, so he could get another position with access to secret information.” Throughout all those years Saul Landau: About you knowing Brothers to the Rescue would be flying on that day? Did you know the Cuban Air Force planned to attack them, and attack them over international waters? Gerardo Hernandez: That’s the other charge. If you had initially asked the prosecution, “What involvement did he Our own lawyers even made this mistake saying: “When you sent them information regarding the flight plan…” No, I didn’t even do that. I sent absolutely no information concerning that flight. They said that out of carelessness; and even if it had happened, it would have nothing to do with anything, but it didn’t even happen. The crazy idea the prosecution invented is that not only did I know they Saul Landau: Who in Cuba controls that kind of attack, MIG pilots or people on the ground? Gerardo Hernandez: I assume it’d be Cuban Anti-Air Defense and the Armed Forces Ministry --including ground radar and the Air Force. My understanding is Fidel Castro and I believe Raul explained in detail on Cuban TV how the orders were given. I don’t have details about that because it happened while I was here. I assume the radar system, the Air Force and the high command worked together like a well-oiled machine. Saul Landau: With Obama’s election, do you anticipate positive steps toward Cuba and your case? Gerardo Hernandez: Yes. Obama, in his campaign, had the courage to say he’d be willing to talk with Cuba without preconditions. Previously in Miami, that was practically political suicide. Anyone doing that would know he’d lose the Florida Cuban vote. But he said it and I think everything US politicians say is calculated. So he knew the risk. He won without getting a majority of the Cuban vote. So he owes them nothing. He’s intelligent, and knows that 50 years of erroneous politics towards Cuba has not produced any result. So I wait, and without much hope or false expectations, for him to take more reasonable, rational measures towards Cuba. This country is moving towards a more respectful relationship with Cuba -- in the interests of both countries. In my case, I don’t expect anything to happen. My policy has always been: expect the worst; if something good happens, I’ll be grateful. In our situation -- the 5 -- one can’t live on false hopes and illusions. I’m facing life sentences and I’m prepared. If something should change, I’d welcome it, but I can’t think in ifs. Psychologically, you must be prepared for what will happen, not live on illusions. Saul Landau: How do you survive each day? Gerardo Hernandez: I spend most of the day reading and writing. I have an enormous and pleasant tragedy with correspondence. Some days I get 60, 80 letters. …the record is 119. So imagine, just reading those letters is difficult. The days pass by incredibly fast. They help keep my mind distracted. I try to read what is published about Cuba, to keep myself current on my area of expertise, international relations. Sometimes people here ask me: “How can you read all the time?” I enjoy it. Unfortunately, I cannot answer all the letters. Some people even get mad. But it’s impossible because there are so many letters and not enough time. Saul Landau: Do you have a message for Washington? Gerardo Hernandez: Yes. If I could, I’d say: “if we are guilty of anything it is only of doing the same thing that many Americans patriots are doing right now, those in the mountains of Tora Bora searching for information about Al Qaeda, so that the acts committed on 9/11 are never repeated.” I’m sure those people are seen here as patriots. That’s exactly what we were doing here: collecting information in Florida to impede terrorist acts in Cuba. Terrorism against Cuba is not an abstraction. Those who have died because of those acts have first and last names; acts planned with impunity here in US territory. Our only crime is the one committed by young Americans who today receive medals for it. So it’s paradoxical: a country waging a war against terrorism houses terrorists I’d also like the United States to understand: Cuba is a free and sovereign country. It has the right to choose its own path, to build its own destiny, its own system. Like it or not, we Cubans are the ones to decide what we will fix, what we must change, what to do differently, and how to build our society. If we had the necessary peace to build our social system the way we have always dreamt, things would be different today. We would have advanced much more. Unfortunately, we haven’t had the peace to be able to do that. I hope the day will come when the United States will understand that the island, small 90 miles away, has the right to choose its own destiny. I think that day will come as will the day in which American and Cuban peoples will feel more closely connected, based on mutual respect. http://www.progresoweekly.com |
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