Nicaraguan Press Highlights
Justice Call for the Cuban Five
The Nicaraguan
media have highlighted Saturday
the demand for justice by the
relatives of five Cubans
imprisoned in the US since 1998
for trying to thwart terrorist
attacks against the island.
El Nuevo Diario underlines the
promise made by Nicaraguan
Ombudsman Omar Cabezas of
including the case in the
meeting agenda for the
forthcoming conversations with
his regional and international
counterparts.
Friday night, Cabezas received
Adriana Perez, Elizabeth
Palmeiro and Magali Llort, wife
and mother, respectively, of
three of the prisoners in US
jails. He was deeply touched by
the moving stories he heard, as
he stated.
"Nicaragua will denounce the
violations and humiliations
these Cuban brothers are
suffering," the Ombudsman said
in a press conference after the
meeting.
Gerardo, Ramon, Fernando, Rene
and Antonio were arrested in
1998 in Miami, and after a
biased, rigged and politicized
trial, received unfair sentences
ranging from 15 years to double
life imprisonment.
The aim of the group was to
collect information on terrorist
plans against Cuba among
Southern Florida-based
anti-Cuban groups.
Currently, the case awaits
verdict from the Atlanta Court
of Appeals, after the Defense
denounced the anomalies during
the Miami tribunal process and
demands a new trial.
El Nuevo Dia reports on their
relatives had to say at a press
conference in which they
explained the case in details
and the injustices and
irregularities during the
process in Miami against the
Cuban Five, as they are
internationally known.
For its part, the conservative
newspaper La Prensa also
highlights the denunciation made
by the wives of Gerardo
Hernandez and Ramon Labañino,
and by Fernando Gonzalez´s
mother. They hold their loved
ones are suffering an additional
sentence by not being allowed to
see their families.
Adriana, for instance, has never
been allowed to visit her
husband Gerardo, while Rene
Gonzalez, another of the
prisoners of the group, does not
know his little daughter Ivette,
four months old when he was
arrested.
Various radio and television
stations have also reported on
the crowded press conference
Friday.
At night, the relatives met the
members of Free the Five
Committee to exchange
experiences and define
strategies to strengthen the
fight for the liberation of the
prisoners.
Adriana, Elizabeth and Magali to
Nicaragua will complete their
visit to Nicaragua on February
24. It includes meetings with
social organizations, deputies
and local lawyers.
They will also participate in a
ceremony Monday, to commemorate
the 71st anniversary of the
assassination of Nicaraguan
patriot Augusto Cesar Sandino.
Brazilians demonstrate for
releasing kidnapped countryman
Around 200 Brazilians took to
the streets in the country's
biggest city Sao Paulo on
Saturday to urge the release of
the countryman kidnapped in Iraq
in January.
Engineer Joao Vasconcellos, 49,
disappeared on Jan. 19 in the
northern Iraqi city of Baiji
where he worked for the
Brazilian construction firm
Odebrecht.
The militant group Ansar Sunna,
linked to Al Qaeda, claimed
responsibility for the
kidnapping afterwards.
Senator Eduardo Suplicy read to
the demonstrators a letter from
Foreign Minister Celso Amorim,
who was in Asia for a working
visit, eassuring them that the
government has contacted all
Arab countries which may provide
help.
The government of President Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva will do
what it can to solve this
situation, said Amorim in the
letter, which was read in the
national language Portuguese and
in Arabic in order for it to be
understood by the captors.
|
|
Two injured in attack
against parliamentarian in
Colombia
Two people were injured in
an attack against a
parliamentarian in
Colombia's western province
of Risaralda, local media
said Saturday.
German Aguirre, a Liberal
Party Lower House
Representative, was
intercepted Friday evening
when moving through San
Nicolas neighborhood at
Pereira.
The legislator was unhurt,
but one of his bodyguards
was injured while exchanging
fire with the attackers. A
hit man was also injured in
the melee.
Aguirre was president of the
5th Commission of the Lower
House,in charge of labor
issues, and was also mayor
of Dosquebradas in Risaralda.
|
|
|
|
