Were it not true, one might have thought that
it had been dreamed up by a mystery writer. Let’s set the stage.
The US government was approached by a Latin American country
in the 1990s with information about terrorist activity being
carried out against it — the Latin American country — based
in the USA. The US government said that they would look into
it. Instead of looking into it, the US government arrested
alleged agents of this Latin American government and ultimately
imprisoned them, agents who had been collecting information
on the terrorist activity based on US soil.
Sound familiar? This is the case of the “Cuban
5”, individuals arrested, tried and imprisoned in the
USA. Convicted in 2001, their case is currently in appeal,
but the circumstances of the case are nothing short of bizarre.
The actions by the Cuban 5 were never aimed at the US government,
but instead involved the monitoring of activities by Cuban exile
groups here in the USA. In moving against the Cuban 5, the
US government alleged that they should be held accountable for
the Cuban government shooting down the planes of the exile group
called “Brothers to the Rescue,” an organization that flew illegal
flights into Cuban airspace and was repeatedly warned to cease
and desist.
The entire circumstances of the Cuban 5 become
more and more curious when one looks into the situation. For
instance, the US government has agents all over the world focusing
on obstructing the activities of alleged terrorist groups.
These agents have different mandates, including imprisoning
alleged terrorists in other countries. In the case of the Cuban
5, no military action was carried out on US soil by anyone connected
or alleged to have been connected to the Cuban government.
Cuban agents did not kidnap terrorists and take them to Cuba.
Yet, the Cuban 5 were arrested and imprisoned.
The Cuban government provided the US with information
on terrorist activity based in the USA. With this information
the US obviously knew that there were Cuban agents collecting
intelligence on these groups. The Cuban government would certainly
not have provided the US with information that would have led
to the capture of alleged agents if those alleged agents were
planning ANYTHING against the USA. So, one might ask, where
is the threat?
To add insult to injury, while the Cuban 5 were
arrested and imprisoned, a gentleman who has been quite openly
associated with terrorist activity against Cuba — Luis Posada
Carrilles — has been permitted to walk free in the streets of
the USA after the Bush administration “bungled” the case against
him. Thus, an individual implicated in the bombing of a Cuban
civilian airliner — in which all the passengers and crew were
killed — is alive, well and free in the USA, while individuals
who were in the USA to prevent terrorist activity and work with
the USA to eliminate such activity are imprisoned.
While we should be use to untruths from the US
government, and most especially the propaganda coming from the
Bush White House, the case of the Cuban 5 stretches all credibility.
Each time the Bush administration yells “terrorism,” the people
of the world are asked to walk lock-step in line with the proscriptions
of the White House. Yet, when other countries identify clear
and demonstrable terrorist activities, i.e. military activities
directed against civilians, the Bush administration engages
in a sniff test. If it sniffs and determines that the terrorist
activities are being carried out against those who challenge
the USA, the activities are either ignored or applauded. If
it sniffs and determines that the activities are being carried
out against allies of the USA, even if those allies are tin-potted
despots, then such activities are condemned as high crimes against
humanity.
The Bush administration wants it both ways.
If we remain silent about such hypocrisy, then they will indeed
have it.
For more information on the case of the Cuban 5, go
to freethefive.org.
BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member, Bill Fletcher, Jr. is a labor
and international writer and activist, and the immediate past
president of TransAfrica Forum. Click
here to contact Mr. Fletcher.