400 call for justice for the Cuban Five and their families at US Embassy Vigil
Campaign News | Sunday, 4 October 2009
Photos by Alejandro Gortazar
Adriana Perez, Olga Salanueva and Irma González, wives and daughter of the Miami 5, Gerardo Hernández and René González, were special guests at the UK Cuba Solidarity Campaign’s annual candlelit vigil outside the US embassy in London, UK on Thursday.
Olga Salanueva said "I would like to give you from the depths of our hearts the regards of our families, all of the thanks that we can for the struggle that you are carrying out on our behalf"
They were joined by 15 speakers from across the UK trade union, legal and labour movement who called for justice for the Five and their families in front of four hundred protesters.
Representatives from UK unions including Unite, Unison, NUT, BECTU, TSSA, PCS, SERTUC and CYWU demanded that Adriana and Olga be granted visas to visit their husbands in US jails.
Messages of support were also read out from Unison General Secretary Dave Prentis, the Venezuelan Ambassador and Michael Mansfield QC. Addressing the vigil, Jeremy Corbyn Member of Parliament said “The Cuban Five are the victims of the most crass injustice and attack on the Cuban people that is imaginable anywhere in the world.”
The peaceful demonstration marked the 11th anniversary of their unjust imprisonment in US jails. Earlier in the week the women had been guests of Unite the Union at Labour Party conference where they addressed one of the largest meetings at the event alongside Tony Woodley and Derek Simpson, Joint General Secretaries of Unite the Union and Brendan Barber, General Secretary of the TUC and Paul Kenny, General Secretary of the GMB.
