The National Committee of the Communist Party USA adopted the following solidarity resolutions during its meeting in New York on Feb. 1, 2004.
Free the Cuban 5!
The incarceration of Gerardo Hernández, René González, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González, the “Cuban Five,” since Sept. 12, 1998, is a gross miscarriage of justice, a violation of U.S. and international law. It is a glaring episode in the decades-long vendetta by the far right and successive U.S. administrations against the Cuban people and their right to self-determination. We believe their convictions must be overturned and the Five freed at once to return to their homes and families.
We wholeheartedly support the appeal of the Cuban Five now pending before the Federal Appeals Court in Atlanta. When the Five were tried, the prosecution intentionally distorted and omitted evidence and it was impossible for them to be fairly tried in Miami. We condemn the extreme hardships to which they have been subjected in prison, and the almost insurmountable obstacles to family and consular visits and to adequate legal preparations.
The Five have stated they were defending the Cuban revolution by gathering information on activities of terrorist groups operating from U.S. territory to launch violent attacks on Cuba. U.S. authorities have presented no evidence that the Five intended to damage the U.S. In fact, a nearly 45-year-long trail of evidence reveals repeated attacks on Cuba from U.S. soil, with involvement or acquiescence of U.S. authorities.
Justice for the Cuban Five is a vital part of the struggle to end the blockade and sanctions against Cuba, to normalize political and economic relations, and open up the channels of communication and friendship between our two peoples. We pledge to intensify our work for their freedom, and call on the People’s Weekly World/Nuestro Mundo to campaign on their behalf.
Solidarity with the ICP and the people of Iraq
The CPUSA expresses our shock, sorrow and anger at the terrorist attack Jan. 22 on the office of the Iraqi Communist Party in the Al-Jadida/Mashtal district of Baghdad.
We express our deepest sympathy and most heartfelt condolences to the families of comrades Yasser Aboud and Shaker Jassem Ajeel, who lost their lives in the criminal and cowardly assault, to their comrades and friends and all members and supporters of the Iraqi Communist Party.
The Bush administration’s invasion and occupation of Iraq is based on a power grab for energy resources and strategic position, and on lies, which are daily being revealed for all to see. These actions have only brought the Iraqi people growing turmoil, poverty, oppression, death and destruction.
We pledge our intensified solidarity with the Iraqi Communist Party, which together with other progressive forces is struggling to win a democratic and sovereign Iraq whose people can decide their own destiny, control their own resources and rebuild their economic and social life.
Our first task is to defeat once and for all the Bush administration’s aggressive drive for world domination through perpetual war and intimidation, and to remove the Bush administration and its look-alikes from office once and for all in November.
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