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Cubans Demonstrate for Release of Five Imprisoned Nationals in U.S
Cuba's first Vice President Raul Castro led a massive demonstration on Saturday to demand the release of five Cubans accused of spying and detained now in Miami, the United States.
The massive protest, in Abreus, the island nation's central province of Cienfuegos, involving more than 20,000 people, was the first demonstration since July 26 when over 1 million Cubans held a protest march before the US Section of Interests in Havana for the same reason.
The five Cubans, Antonio Guerrero, Gerardo Hernandez, Fernando Gonzalez, Ramon Sabanino and Rene Gonzalez were arrested by US authorities in September 1998 on charges of spying and jeopardizing US national security. A court in Florida upheld the accusation in June and the five accused face long prison terms or even life imprisonment.
The demonstrators also protested against the US Cuban Adjustment Law approved in 1996, which promotes migration out of the island by granting the right to legally stay and work in the United States to any Cuban arriving by any means, and urged an end to the economic embargo.
On Friday, Cuba's National Assembly of People's Power, the highest legislative body in the island country, approved a declaration demanding the US government to release the five Cubans immediately.
The assembly insisted that the five are innocent people who committed no crimes but fell victims to anti-Cuban activities by some right-wing forces in the United States.
Cuba has been under a 40-year US economic blockade, which was reinforced by Torriceli and Helms-Burton laws that allow legal actions to be taken in the United States against firms investing in the island country.
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