Miami Five heroes warmly received in Parliament
RMT host parliamentary reception for the Five | Wednesday, 13 July 2016 | Click here for original article
John McDonnell, Ian Lavery, Adriana Perez, Gerardo Hernandez, Cat Smith, Jeremy Corbyn, Baroness Hooper, Rob Miller, Baroness Smith, Rene Gonzalez, Olga Sanlanueva, H.E. Teresita Vicente, Lord Balfe
The Miami Five heroes Rene González, Gerardo Hernández and their families were warmly received in a parliamentary reception on Monday afternoon. Many MPs who had campaigned for the Miami Five’s freedom and subsequent UK visas attended, including Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn and Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell.
Cat Smith MP, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Cuba hosted the reception with Baroness Angela Smith, and parliamentarians from Labour, SNP, Sinn Fein, SDLP and the Conservative party attended.
Jeremy Corbyn, who has been campaigned tirelessly for many years for the Five, paid tribute to “all those who campaigned for their freedom and attended vigils outside the US Embassy” over their 16 unjust years in US jails.
Gerardo said “We admire so much the position that British parliamentarians took in the campaign to free the Five” and paid tribute to the Cuba Solidarity Campaign, “The best organised and strongest solidarity with Cuba campaign”.
“Every single day, when I look into the eyes of my little girl, I thank you all for this miracle”, he said.
Rene thanked the MPs for their support and gave credit to the thousands of campaigners involved in the struggle for their freedom.
“I must admit that I never thought that so much support would come from Britain for Cuba, a small island, so far away from here – but it shows that we have so much in common. It only takes a little contact between good human beings to work together for a just cause,” Rene said.
Parliamentarians who attended the reception included MPs Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell, Cat Smith, Francie Molloy, Chris Stephens, Mike Weir, Catherine West, Richard Burgon, Ian Lavery, Chris Matheson, Mark Durkan, Lord Balfe, Baroness Angela Smith and Baroness Hopper
The Cuban heroes attended a trade union welcome reception hosted by the RMT at Maritime House, south London, following the Parliamentary reception, where they met trade unionists whose support was instrumental in their release.
Mick Cash, RMT General Secretary welcomed the Cuban heroes, and said “The fight is not over. We stand in solidarity with Cuba as the struggle to end the blockade continues”.
