Social Justice, Community Organizing--ACORN? Obama?

Nope, a U.S. based socialist movement to free five Cuban spies!

The National Committee to Free the Five defines itself on Facebook as a group that “works to build support for the freedom of the Cuban Five - Gerardo Hernández, Fernando González, René González, Ramón Labañino, and Antonio Guerrero - five Cuban men who risked their lives to come to the United States and infiltrate right-wing anti-Cuban terrorist groups based in Miami and prevent further acts of terrorism by those groups. Imprisoned in the U.S. since Sept. 12, 1998, the Five were falsely convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage and other false charges, and are serving sentences ranging from 15 years to double life.”

As in most (ok…damn near ALL) of the propaganda generated by this socialist organization there’s a failure to directly mention that Gerardo Hernández, René González, along with Juan Pablo Roque, infiltrated the Brothers to the Rescue purposely to collect information that was passed on to Cuba in conspiring to shoot down the Brothers to the Rescue aircraft on February 24, 1996.

In the 14 or so months since publishing "BETRAYAL: Clinton, Castro & The Cuban Five" I’ve been amazed at the lack of awareness about this San Francisco based, global organization.

Free the Five counts among it’s supporters, Hollywood heavyweights Danny Glover and Martin Sheen; former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, poet, short story writer, novelist Alice Walker, Bolivia’s president Evo Morales, South African cleric Desmond Tutu, plus hundreds of Mexican, British, Canadian, European Parliamentary members-- as well as other individuals and organizations devoted to fund raising events that further their cause to free five spies who in their eyes are called, “heroes who are unjustly held in U.S. prisons”.

In a recent bulletin the Free the Five Committee is seeking summer volunteers who wish to work for a minimum of six weeks as unpaid summer interns to help The Free the Five Committee work in “defense of the Cuban Five”.

Ah yes, young college age socialist ideologues…..

The bulletin goes on to say that participants will build “valuable organizing skills, fulfill independent study or community service requirements while becoming part of the movement for social justice in our communities and internationally”.

While the qualifications are few, the Committee to Free the Five asks that applicants have, “Passion to work with others to build the social justice movement. No experience required. Experience in multi-cultural and diverse gender environments helpful. Bilingual language skills helpful. General knowledge of computers and community organizing experience helpful”.

Now folks, it’s been a while (quite a while) since I was in school and looking for a summer internship, but I can honestly say I never sought out, or was introduced to, internships with socialist movements in my upbringing.

In fact, in reading the bulletin, I felt like I was reading propaganda from ACORN.

Moreover, the context sounded to me more like the rhetoric coming from our current leadership (Mr. Obama), and some of his appointees-- Van Jones, Ron Bloom, Miami’s own Carol M. Browner or the president’s close associate Andy Stern of SEIU. (Glenn Beck, can you hear me now!!??)

For most people in the United States, the case of the Cuban Five is unheard of, for those familiar with the shoot down of Brothers to the Rescue, the case is “closed” and the Cuban Five are convicted spies.

Yet for a U.S. based propaganda machine, the spies U.S. attorneys, and many global supporters, the fight to free the five continues!