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<font size=3><br>
</font><font face="Tahoma" size=6><b>International Committee for the
Freedom of the Cuban<br><br>
</font><font face="Century Gothic, Avant Garde" size=5>US Personalities
Demand Humanitarian Visas for Wives of the Cuban Five<br><br>
</b></font><font face="Georgia" size=2>March 8th, 2010<br><br>
Coinciding with International Women's Day, a group of
personalities from the United States have sent a letter to US Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton and to the Secretary of Homeland Security Janet
Napolitano, asking them to immediately grant humanitarian visas to two
Cuban women so they can visit their husbands in US prisons. <br><br>
For more than a decade the US government has continued to deny entry
visas to <b>Olga Salanueva</b> and <b>Adriana Perez</b> whose only
purpose to come to the US is to visit their husbands in prison. Rene
González and Gerardo Hernández respectively are two of the Cuban Five,
who are serving long and unjust sentences in the United States.<br><br>
The signers of the letter are US members of the <b><i>International
Commission for the Right of Family Visits </i></b>that is comprised of
more than 170 known figures from 27 countries. Recently, Argentinean
members of the commission delivered a letter to the US embassy in
Argentina. This letter was also sent to the US Secretary of State and the
Secretary of Homeland Security. <br>
<br>
The letter in the United States was signed by two religious
personalities; former Bishop of Detroit <b>Thomas Gumbleton</b> and
former General Secretary of the US Council of Churches <b>Reverend</b>
<b>Dr. Joan Brown Campbell</b>. Also, union leaders such as the
co-founder of the Farm Workers Union <b>Dolores Huerta</b> and the
President of the ILWU Local 10 of San Francisco California
<b>Melvin MacKay</b>.<br>
<br>
In addition, others who added their name to the letter includes the
following personalities and intellectuals: <b>Noam Chomsky, Michael
Parenti</b>, the Mayor of Richmond, <b>Gayle McLaughlin</b>, former
Congressman <b>Esteban Torres</b>, actor <b>Danny Glover</b>, writer and
poet <b>Alice Walker</b> and <b>Angela Davis</b> professor of History in
the University of Santa Cruz, California. <br>
<br>
The letter also includes the former Chief of the US Embassy in Havana,
<b>Wayne Smith</b>, as well as the Civil Rights activist <b>Yury
Kochiyama</b>, and the President of the Media Freedom Foundation /Project
Censored <b>Peter Phillips</b>. <br>
<br>
The fourteen personalities sent the letter telling Clinton and Napolitano
that the gesture of granting visas to Ms Salanueva and Perez "will
show the world that we are represented by elected officials who want
better relations with other nations and who have compassionate and
humanitarian hearts."<br><br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2> <br>
</font><font face="Century Gothic, Avant Garde" size=4><b>The Letter Sent
to Hillary Clinton and Janet
Napolitano</font><font face="Century Gothic, Avant Garde" size=5>
</font><font face="Century Gothic, Avant Garde" size=4> <br>
</b></font><font face="Georgia" size=2>March 8, 2010<br>
<br>
<b>US Secretary of State <br>
Hillary Rodham Clinton<br>
<br>
US Secretary of Homeland Security<br>
Janet Napolitano<br>
</b> <br>
c/c <b>United Nations Human Rights Council<br>
Rapporteur Against
Torture<br>
United Nations Group on
Arbitrary Detentions<br>
Amnesty
International<br>
Ombdusman<br>
</b> <br>
<br>
Dear Ms Clinton and Ms Napolitano: <br>
<br>
We respectfully write to you to ask the State Department of the United
States and the Department of Homeland Security to immediately grant
<b>HUMANITARIAN VISAS</b> to two Cuban citizens, <b>Adriana Perez</b> and
<b>Olga Salanueva</b>, wives of prisoners Gerardo Hernandez and Rene
Gonzalez respectively. They have been denied visits to their husbands in
prison for 11 years. <br>
<br>
On December 18, 2009 the Department of Homeland Security denied a
humanitarian visa to Olga Salanueva. Without any explanation, they
denied this elementary recourse to come to the US with the sole purpose
to see her husband, Rene Gonzalez, unjustly sentenced to 15 years in
prison. <br>
<br>
At the time of her husband's arrest, Olga Salanueva was living with him
and their two daughters; the youngest daughter is US born as well as Rene
Gonzalez himself. After the arrest of her husband Ms Salanueva was
detained with the purpose of pressuring her husband to collaborate with
the prosecutors assuming a crime that he never committed. Three
months later in December 2000, Olga was deported to Cuba. After 10 years
since the deportation, the US government continues to punish this woman.
There has not been any accusation or legal process against her.
Additionally her status of being a mother and a wife of US citizens makes
a compelling connection to the United States. <br>
<br>
In the case of Adriana Perez; in July 2002, she traveled to the United
States to visit her husband Gerardo Hernandez, unjustly serving two life
sentences plus 15 years in US prison. But upon her arrival, she was
detained in the Houston Airport, photographed, finger printed,
interrogated for 11 hours, prevented from speaking to a lawyer or Cuban
diplomats and subsequently sent back to Cuba, cruelly preventing Adriana
to see her husband. That was the last time that she was granted a
visa to see him during the 11 years he has been imprisoned. <br>
<br>
The last visa denial for Adriana was on July 15, 2009, the day of their
21st wedding anniversary. Four months later, on November 2, Gerardo
Hernandez's mother died. Not even on a sad event like this in the
life of any human being was Adriana Perez allowed to visit her husband to
console him. <br>
<br>
The applications for humanitarian visas for Olga Salanueva and Adriana
Perez are supported by an important number of religious, legal and human
rights institutions. From the World Council of Churches to the US Council
of Christian Churches, the Cuban Council of Churches, the Association of
American Jurists, Amnesty International, 170 personalities including
several Nobel Prize winners, parliamentarians, elected officials, and
intellectuals from all over the world. <br>
<br>
Until the Cuban Five are freed, the below signatories demand the
immediate granting of <b>HUMANITARIAN VISAS</b> to <b>ADRIANA
PEREZ</b> and <b>OlGA SALANUEVA</b> and <b>MULTIPLE VISAS TO ALL THE
FAMILY OF THE CUBAN FIVE</b>.<br>
<br>
This gesture will show the world that we are represented by elected
officials who want better relations with other nations and who have
compassion and humanitarian hearts.<br>
<br>
Sincerely,<br>
<br>
<b>Bishop Thomas Gumbleton</b> - Former Catholic Bishop of Detroit <br>
<br>
<b>Reverend Dr. Joan Brown Campbell</b> - Former Secretary General of the
National Council of Churches of the United States <br><br>
<b>Dolores Huerta</b> - Co-Founder of the United Farm Workers Union
<br><br>
<b>Melvin MacKay</b> - President of ILWU Local 10, San Francisco,
California<br><br>
<b>Danny Glover</b> - Actor <br><br>
<b>Gayle McLaughlin</b> - Mayor of Richmond, California <br><br>
<b>Alice Walker</b> - Writer <br><br>
<b>Noam Chomsky</b> - Linguist and Writer <br><br>
<b>Howard Zinn</b> - Historian and Writer (Honorary Member)<br><br>
<b>Esteban Torres</b> - Former US Congressman <br><br>
<b>Wayne Smith</b> - Former Chief of the US Interest Section in Cuba
<br>
<br>
<b>Michael Parenti</b> - Author <br>
<br>
<b>Angela Davis</b> - Professor of History, California University, Santa
Cruz <br>
<br>
<b>Yury Kochiyama</b> - Civil Right activist <br>
<br>
<b>Peter Phillips</b> - President of Media Freedom Foundation/Project
Censored<br><br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=2> <br>
</font><font face="Georgia" size=3><b>International Committee for the
Freedom of the Cuban 5<br><br>
</b></font><font face="verdana" size=1>International Committee for the
Freedom of the Cuban 5 | P.O. Box 22455 | Oakland | CA | 94609<br><br>
<br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#008000">415 863-9977<br><br>
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