Supporting the Wives of the Miami 5

Joanne Smith

Two of the wives of the Miami 5 visited Scotland recently to raise awareness of the continuing plight of their husbands and three other Cuban prisoners held for 10 years in American jails. Elaine Smith MSP, Convenor of the Cross Party Group on Cuba, hosted a meeting in the Scottish Parliament for Olga Salaneuva and Adriana Perez. The women have been denied visas to visit their husbands nine times and have not seen them for eight and ten years respectively.

Elaine Smith MSP said “Setting aside the fact that these men should not be in jail, it is simply inhumane to prevent these wives from seeing their husbands and children from seeing their fathers. Basic human rights are being denied to these families and their plight must be highlighted.”

Olga Salanueva explained that she last saw her husband in August 2000. The couple and their two daughters were living in Miami at the time of Rene’s arrest. But the authorities used their permanent residency as a bargaining chip. “They wanted him to act as a witness for the prosecution against his own comrades in exchange for me and the girls to continue living in the states. When he refuses, I was detained by the Department of Immigration, and told I would be deported.

“They took me to see my husband as a prisoner myself. We could only exchange a few words in the presence of officials who were waiting for him to capitulate. They expected him to give up. It was not a good environment in which we said goodbye to each other. It’s been eight years since, and my family are still not able to be together, the four of us, not even for a few minutes.”

The wives described how the difficult and painful situation was made worse for Adriana whose husband is currently serving two life sentences and fifteen years. The decision was ratified recently denying the couple the possibility of having a family and in addition Adriana Perez has had all of her visa requests turned down. “I have not seen my husband for more than 10 years – from September 1998 until now. He is serving a sentence of two life terms plus 15 years, with the additional psychological torture that is being supplied by denying rights to meet me as his wife. We could spend the rest of our lives without the possibility of meeting each other again.”

A motion to the Parliament which welcomed the women to Scotland and criticised the US authorities for failing to grant visas to enable the women to visit their husbands attracted considerable cross party support (see below). A group of MSPs including Elaine Smith, Marlyn Glen and Bill Butler took the motion and list of signatures to the US consulate where, representatives of Cuba Solidarity and the Scottish Cuba Solidarity Campaign had organised a picket of the consulate.

For more info go to www.cuba-solidarity.org

Scottish Parliament Motion S3M-02695 Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Scottish Labour): Plight of Wives of Miami Five

Business Bulletin No. 147/2008: Friday 10 October 2008

That the Parliament welcomes the visit by Olga Salanueva and Adriana Pérez, the wives of two Cuban nationals, René González and Gerardo Hernández, who are here as part of a UK-wide trip to highlight their own and their husbands’ plight; recognises that their husbands, members of a group of men known as the Miami Five, are currently serving long prison sentences in the United States of America since being arrested while trying to gather information on Miami-based groups allegedly responsible for terrorist attacks against the Cuban people; is concerned that the wives have been denied US visas, meaning that they cannot visit their husbands and have not seen them for over eight years; agrees with Amnesty International that this action is “contrary to standards for humane treatment of prisoners and to states’ obligations to protect family life”; further considers that it is inhumane, unjust and cruel, and believes that the US authorities should grant visas to enable the women to visit their husbands.

Supported by: Bill Butler, Sandra White, Michael Matheson, Marlyn Glen, Hugh Henry, Trish Godman, Cathy Peattie, John Wilson, Alex Neil, David Stewart, Bill Kidd, Willie Coffey, James Kelly, Malcolm Chisholm, Sarah Boyack, Gil Paterson, Pauline McNeill, Margaret Curran, Cathy Jamieson, Charlie Gordon, Mary Mulligan, Rhoda Grant, Jim Hume, Mike Pringle, Tricia Marwick, Margaret Smith, Alison McInnes, Brian Adam, Jamie Stone, Dr Bill Wilson, Hugh O'Donnell, Dr Elaine Murray, Keith Brown, Bob Doris, Jamie Hepburn, Jackie Baillie, Joe FitzPatrick, Dr Richard Simpson, Angela Constance, Ken Macintosh, Rob Gibson, Patrick Harvie, Robin Harper, Shirley-Anne Somerville, Christina McKelvie