Brick by brick the mainstream media wall of silence surrounding the case of the Cuban Five is coming down. Alicia Jrapko, coordinator of the International Committee for the Release of the Cuban Five told Cubadebate: “We have managed to break through the mainstream media a little bit. Univisión had a impartial coverage for the first time”
The Friday evening and Saturday demonstrations during the five days of action for the Five in Washington DC were covered by television channels that included C-SPAN, Hispan, Univisión, Russia Today and Telesur.
The event organized in the US capitol by the International Committee for the Release of the Cuban Five ended Saturday, 21st April, with a day full to the brim of action, events and planning workshops.
At 10am a group of religious from different dominations held a brain storming meeting to
work out strategies for future action. The Reverend Dr Joan Brown Campbell, ex General Secretary of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA and the Reverend Dora Arca from the Cuban Pastoral Platform were among those advocating further action for justice for the Cuban Five.
A peaceful demonstration supporting the release of the Cuban Five was held outside the White House from 1pm on the Saturday. The large numbers already in DC was boosted by the arrival of four busses of supporters from New York and other US cities.
The hundreds of US activists carried banners, placards and posters all demanding that Obama releases the imprisoned Cubans immediately.
A letter of appreciation and support in the name of the Five from Gerardo Hernandez, one of the Five who is serving two life sentences and fifteen years on trumped-up charges, was read out and received enthusiastically by those present.
Representatives from different solidarity organizations across the US and other parts of the world followed Gerardo’s message with others from individuals and committees promising to continue the struggle until the Cuban Five are free and back with their families in Cuba.
Cindy Sheehan brought the five days of action to a close at a meeting held in the Bolivarian Room in the Venezuelan embassy. In a moving and sincere manner Cindy explained her reasons for becoming involved with the case of the Five and expressed her admiration and fondness for the mothers of the incarcerated men.
According to Alicia Jrapko “The 5 days have been for me the best action or project we ever did. From many angles it is the best. We have reached out to many people. We had an event with panelists of the most diverse ideas and ways of thinking. We were able to bring together a number of organizations that usually don’t work alongside each other”.