The Cuban Five Must Suffer

I've been listening regularly to Ninoska Perez-Castellon (photo) on Radio Mambi for years now. And, I've noticed that she has an ongoing peculiar interest in the suffering of the Cuban Five.

Before some of the Cuban Five had their life sentences reduced, Ninoska Perez-Castellon would boast on her radio show about how well-deserved their life-sentences were. One could almost sense her satisfaction that these men would spend the rest of their lives in prison. According to Perez-Castellon, the Cuban Five were part of the larger Cuban government conspiracy to destroy the Cuban exile community, and were justly sentenced for their involvement in the shootdown of the Brothers to the Rescue planes.

But, even their imprisonment was not enough. When the wives of the Cuban Five were denied visas to visit their husbands in federal prison, Perez-Castellon showed no sympathy saying that the denials were well deserved.

Yesterday, Ninoska Perez-Castellon's peculiar interest in the Cuban Five found its way to Louisville, Kentucky, where the paintings of one of the Cuban Five (Antonio Guerrero) are scheduled for an exhibition. The location of the exhibition is at a library on the campus of the University of Louisville, and sponsored partly by the Kentucky Interfaith Taskforce on Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Henry Wallace Brigade.

Perez-Castellon comments (as indicated from Friday's radio show) on the internet article from the Courier-Journal: "How pathetic that a university sponsors the so-called art work of a federal prisoner serving time for spying the United States." In the end, Perez-Castellon goes on to describe Antonio Guerrero as a "terrorist," which is clearly manipulative since Guerrero was not charged with such a crime, nor convicted of such actions.

Perez-Castellon, after expressing her indignation, shared on the radio the contact information to the President of the University of Louisville, James R. Ramsey. Radio listeners we're told to send a fax, if they wanted to.

Antonio Guerrero was originally sentenced to 10 years, plus life inside a Supermax prison in Colorado, but was re-sentenced last year producing the possibility of being released by 2016. Along the Malecon has examples of Guerrero's work posted, including information from a previous exhibition in Colorado Springs.

So, it seems that imprisonment until at least 2016 (Guerrero has already served about 11 years) is not enough according to Ninoska Perez-Castellon. Guerrero's right to "take part in cultural life" as described in Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights should be ignored. That is certainly strange for someone who regularly talks about defending human rights. Unless, of course, human rights apply only to some, while the others must suffer.

[More information on the Cuban Five]
[Cuba and Terrorism, research from the Center for International Policy]