Cubadebate

Havana, January 13, 2004

On December 23, 2003, the United States Interests Section in Havana presented a diplomatic note to the Cuban Foreign Ministry with which it returned the passports and visa requests of Olga Salanueva Arango and Adriana Pérez Oconor - wives of René González Sehwerert and Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, respectively. The note indicated that the Interests Section would no longer accept visa requests via the Foreign Ministry and that both women would henceforth have to process their visa applications personally.

This new visa application was made on December 7, 2003 after the US Interests Section had once more denied a previous visa request for both women in mid-November.

With what excuse does the US government introduce these new obstacles refusing to accept visa applications for Olga and Adriana through the normal channels of the Foreign Ministry?

With remarkable cynicism, US officials argue that due to statements made by Olga and Adriana that are critical of the constant denial of their visa requests, as well as statements in defense of their husbands, their motives for traveling to the United States "are no longer humanitarian" as they have involved themselves in a "political campaign" against the US government.

It is impossible to dream up anything more absurd.

Such action proves to what extent the US authorities can be pitiless, having denied visas to Olga and Adriana on three occasions in the past two years, and depriving them of the most basic right of maintaining relations with their spouses - albeit in the harsh conditions imposed by their unjust imprisonment in US penitentiaries.

With this new decision the US government continues to violate the human rights of René and Gerardo and their families. By such malicious acts throughout this long and bogus process, it continues to vainly attempt to punish the bravery demonstrated by our five compatriots and their families.

We will assist Olga and Adriana as much in their right to claim justice for their husbands as to visit them. Any denial of this constitutes a violation of both international law and the United States' own legislation.

This decision by the US authorities violates international obligations legalized, among others, in the United Nations Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being Subjected to Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons Under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment; and the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.

The government of the United States has further attempted to justify its denial of these rights with the ridiculous argument that Olga and Adriana "constitute a menace to the national security of the United States".

The Cuban Foreign Ministry has continuously demanded that the US authorities reconsider these arbitrary denials and, in keeping with their international obligations, permit Olga and Adriana to exercise their inalienable right to visit their spouses, and that Ivette, the little daughter of Olga, be allowed to visit her father.

In addition, those family members that have been allowed to visit our five heroes have had to wait months to receive their visas, with the consequent result that our compatriots do not receive visits from their relatives over extended periods of time.

Currently, a number of these relatives await their US visas, in spite of the fact that they made their requests back in the months of August and September of 2003 - far exceeding the eight weeks US authorities say are necessary to process visas to travel to the USA.

Furthermore, in violation of the obligations and duties established by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the US State Department continues to place obstacles in the path of Cuban consular officials in the US who attempt to carry out their duties in offering assistance to these Cuban citizens.  On two occasions in 2003 this went so far as to deny travel permission to our officials to fulfill consular visits with Gerardo Hernández and Fernando González. Everything points to further pressure and an increase in these obstructions in the coming year.

Additionally, the US State Department has begun to question, impose conditions and deny the opportunity for officials at the Cuban Interests Section in Washington to accompany relatives of our five heroes during their visits to the USA.

These family members have to travel long distances to reach the places where their loved ones are incarcerated, as well as living in environments that are extremely foreign to them during these visits. By any elemental sense of humanity, they deserve any help that can be given. It is precisely this help that the US authorities question and block.

Suffice to cite a few examples:

-On June 17, 2003, the US State Department informed the Cuban Interests Section that it would not authorize a Cuban official to accompany the mother and son of Antonio Guerrero during the entire period of their stay in Colorado, but that he would have to return to Washington on those days they did not visit the prison.

-On July 27, 2003 and August 6, 2003, a similar decision was conveyed to a Cuban official who was due to accompany the family of Ramón Labañino to Beaumont, Texas, as well as the family of Fernando González to Wisconsin.

-On August 8, 2003, permission for an official from the Cuban Interests Section to accompany the daughter of René González on her road trip from Miami, Florida to Edgefield, South Carolina, was denied.

-On December 17, 2003, permission to travel to Lompoc, California to accompany family members visiting Gerardo Hernández, was denied to a Cuban diplomat. 

The obvious result is that the US authorities are, by violating international rights, attempting to increase the number of times that Cuban consular officials are prevented or hindered from gaining access to our five heroes as well as offering support to their families. They seek to punish the example of heroism and patriotism that these five Cubans represent, in an evident attempt to satisfy the most irrational whims of the Miami Cuban-American right wing.

Cuba demands that the government of the United States puts an end to this aggression and hostility that it exercises against our five heroes and their families; that it ceases the manipulation surrounding the legitimate rights of our compatriots; and that it strictly complies with its international legal and moral responsibilities.