The Times perpetuates a common misconception about Leonard Weinglass’ most recent case, that of the Cuban Five. The Five were not convicted of spying, as reported by The Times, but of “conspiracy to commit espionage.” They neither possessed nor even saw a single classified document, nor was any
evidence introduced that they ever attempted to obtain such material. As Weinglass himself said, speaking on CNN in 2007, “This is the first [espionage] case in our history where not a single page of classified document was introduced into evidence.”

The Cuban Five came to the U.S. not to spy on the U.S. government, but to infiltrate right-wing groups who were carrying out, as they had been for decades, acts of terrorism against Cuba. Indeed, one of the masterminds of that reign of terror, Luis Posada Carriles, is at this very moment on trial
in El Paso for lying about his role in a series of Havana hotel bombings in 1997.

Steven Patt
Webmaster, National Committee to Free the Cuban Five
http://www.freethefive.org