René González of the Cuban 5 Visits Venezuela

René González of the Cuban 5 Visits Venezuela

by Paul Dobson

Venezuela

May 2014

Following his recent release from US prison, the Cuban anti-terrorist René González paid a 6 day visit to the homeland of Chávez and Bolívar
this week, where he was received as a son, a countryman, a revolutionary, and a hero by the Venezuelan people.

González is one of the five Cuban agents arrested in Miami, USA in 1998 and imprisoned without fair trial or demonstration of guilt for between 15yrs and 2 life sentences, of which over a year and a half was served in isolation.

The Cuban Government agents were working undercover in the USA to unravel a group of Cuban exile terrorists who were perpetrating violent attacks against
the Caribbean Island and its residents.

Following their capture, they were imprisoned by the anti-Cuban US Government for conspiracy and spying against the USA, a charge which they denied and which was never backed up by documentation nor evidence by the US authorities. Since, international solidarity movements have pressured the US Government to provide evidence or release the Cuban Five.

Alongside his colleague Fernando González, René González has served his term, which saw him released in October 2011. GerardoHernández, Antonio Guerrero and Ramón Labañino remain imprisoned illegally in the USA for their work fighting against terrorist groups.

On his visit to the Venezuelan Presidential Palace in Caracas, González was honored with the Order of Francisco de Miranda (1st Class) by President Maduro-
one of the highest honors that can be bestowed in Venezuela.

Maduro emphasized that the honor was not just for González, but for his four colleagues and for the entire Cuban people: “In the name of all of our people,
I hand you over this recognition of rebelliousness, of the unbreakable spirit of this hero of the Great Patria, our brother René”. Both Maduro and his
predecessor Chávez have strongly defended the Cuban Five.

González’s visit to Venezuela included an appearance in the National Assembly, a visit to the Mountain Fortress to pay his respects to the remains
of Hugo Chávez, a visit to the National Mausoleum to pay his respects to the tombs of the national heroes, a talk in the National Experimental Security
University, as well as meeting with community groupings, oil workers, the ombudsman’s offices, the monument to the Cuban Hero Jose Martí, Cuban doctors
in Venezuela, and a visit to the birthplace of ex-President Hugo Chávez.

Speaking in the National Assembly, González stressed the ties of solidarity between Cuba and Venezuela: “The North American Government does not want the
Latin America which Bolívar dreamed of, which Martí continued, and which Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez continued to construct”. He also called on Venezuelan deputies to assist in the International Solidarity Session with the remaining 3 imprisoned Cuban heroes, which will see deputies from the world visit
Washington between the 4th and 11th June.

Speaking to oil workers in the east, who awarded him the Order of the 27th February (1st Class), González underlined the economic goals of the US
Government to reclaim control of Latin American natural resources: “The whole world knows that the Venezuelan oil industry is being closely watched by North
American imperialism. But after this visit, I leave with a lightened heart, because you, the revolutionary workers, will not allow them to come back here,
and you will forever conserve the oil sovereignty which was recuperated by Hugo Chávez”.

Similarly, González was given the Keys to Caracas by local Government Representative Jacqueline Farias, who explained that “we want to recognize his
struggle, strength, and resistance, for us it is an example, we have to learn from the Cuban Revolution”.

On his visit to the birthplace of Chávez in Sabaneta, Barinas State, González was awarded the Order of Juan Antonio Rodriguez Dominguez (1st Class) by State Governor and brother of the ex-President, Adan Chávez.

González planted a lime tree outside the house where Chávez was born, and explained that “I owed this visit to Chávez, but I never thought it would be in
these conditions. I should have given him a hug here, but it wasn’t to be. Chávez has left us a different Latin America and this won’t change- we, all of the Latin-Americans, will defend it”.

González is due to visit other countries in the near future with the aim of exposing the double-talk of the US Government, highlighting their injustice,
and “divulging the concrete deeds of the case. I think that there hasn’t been enough done to show the failings of Amnesty International and the UN Human
Rights Council” explained González.

Ends

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