Three Cubans for 5 Gitmo Prisoners: Proposal Floated by Uruguay President to Obama
From two Progreso Weekly articles published March 20 and 21
HAVANA TIMES — President José Mujica of Uruguay confirmed Thursday (March 20) that Uruguay will shelter as “refugees” at least five detainees currently at the prison camp of the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Mujica said he was responding to a request from President Obama.
The Uruguayan weekly Búsqueda said that US Secretary of State John Kerry personally phoned Mujica to thank him on Monday.
Mujica revealed on Friday (March 21) that, in exchange for granting shelter to detainees from the US Navy base, he asked the Obama administration to release three Cuban intelligence agents who have been in US prisons since their arrest in 1998 and conviction in 2001.
Mujica said that he based his decision to accept the Gitmo prisoners on his respect for human rights and told the local press that “they’ll come as refuges and Uruguay will give them a place [to live]. If they want to bring their families, that’ll be all right, as simple as that.”
“If they want to make their nest here and work here, they may stay in the country,” he added. The agreement is for the detainees to remain in Uruguay for at least two years, a government source told Agence France-Presse.
The Cubans whose release is being sought by Mujica are Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, and Ramón Labañino. Hernández is serving two life terms plus 15 years; Guerrero, 21 years 10 months, and Labañino, 30 years.
Along with Rene Gonzalez and Fernando Gonzalez (no relation) the three agents are known internationally as the Cuban Five. René and Fernando served out their terms and were released in October 2011 and February 2014 respectively. Both are now living in Cuba.
“We said that we would ask for something,” [in return for excepting the Gitmo prisoners] Mujica said on his radio program “The President Speaks.” “We don’t do this for money or material things, but we have no compunction in saying that we asked the United States government to please do everything possible to find the way to release those two or three Cuban prisoners who have been there for many years, because that, too, is a shame.”
Mujica said the negotiations between Uruguay and the US “are far from being closed,” adding “they depend, among other things, of various decisions out of our reach.”
According to the ANSA news agency, the first group of released detainees from Gitmo would consist of five Syrians and one Pakistani, who would be accepted by Uruguay as ordinary — not political — refugees.
The president said that “18 countries have already offered similar cooperation to help finish this shameful situation and 89 prisoners have already left or are leaving Guantánamo.”
“There are 120 guys who have been imprisoned for 13 years,” he said, while touring a farm fair in the city of Soriano, Uruguay. “They never saw a judge, they never saw a prosecutor, and the president of the United States wants to take that problem off his shoulders. The Senate is demanding certain things from him, so he asked a lot of countries if they could give refuge to some and I told him yes.”
Looks are indeed deceiving:
José Alberto “Pepe” Mujica Cordano (Spanish pronunciation: [xo?se mu?xika]; born 20 May 1935) has been President of Uruguay since 2010. A former guerrilla fighter in the early 1960s, he joined the newly formed Tupamaros movement, an armed political group inspired by the Cuban revolution.[5] The group killed, arsoned & bombed buildings and clubs, and kidnapped several foreign nationals and diplomats, robbed banks to raise funds, and killed police officials. He participated in the 1969 brief takeover of Pando, a town close to Montevideo, and was later convicted by a military tribunal under the government of Jorge Pacheco Areco, who had suspended certain constitutional guarantees.[6][7] Mujica was captured by the authorities on four occasions, and he was among those political prisoners who escaped Punta Carretas Prison in 1971.[8] He was eventually re-apprehended in 1972, and was shot by the police six times. After the military coup in 1973, he was transferred to a military prison. In all, he served 14 years. During the 1970s, this included being confined to the bottom of a well for more than two years.[9] During his time in prison, he remained in contact with other leaders of the Tupamaros, including Frente Amplio Senator Eleuterio Fernández Huidobro and the founder and leader of the Tupamaros, Raúl Sendic.
Have you seen the video that Venezuelan legislator Maria Corina brought to the OAS? There are clearly government snipers being used against the protestors. While it is unclear who started the violence and who is behind its escalation, what is clear that the Maduro government (including Cuban intelligence agents) is not acting in the spirit of ‘crowd control’ but rather as hired murderers bent on punishing those who dare oppose the Maduro regime. Watch it for yourself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6mPR25qfu8
This is hardly peaceful street protests. This is violent rioting. Now I’m won’t be hypocritical and say that this is never justified. It sometimes is, but if you take part you have to take the consequences which is imprisonment.
Peaceful street protests are an integral and necessary part of the democratic process. Especially useful for the minority group which lost at the polls to express their dissatisfaction and air their grievances. In doing so, they exercise the best strategy to attract attention to their side and hopefully grow their ranks to become a majority. One would think that an alleged anarchist like yourself would know and embrace public protests. The ugly truth is that an anarchist is just a totalitarian without power.
Plenty of good factual information here:
http://caracaschronicles.com
This blog comes from Venezuelans in Caracas, not from Fox News.
The Maduro regime is engaged in violent repression of the Venezuelan opposition. Cuban agents are indeed assisting the Maduro regime. The election of Maduro as president was unconstitutional.
Iraqi WMD are irrelevant to what is happening in Venezuela, but you bring it up as a lame distraction.
Maduro’s lack of leadership competency will end his rule. Not even the Cuban’s can save him. He is no Chavez.
Well said John G. A comprehensive and intelligent response to a fairly lame proposition from the other John.
I know that you cannot “judge a book by its cover” but what a jolly, pleasant, grandfatherly face Mujica has.
I feel like smiling when I look at him.
It seems like he has great potential for doing good in the world
WTF have YOU been reading ?
Try reading something other than what Fox News presents will you ?
I suggest Venezuelanalysis or any of the great many articles at ZNet on Venezuela and anything by Mark Weisbrot.
If you believe the corporate media ( that would be Fox, PBS, NBC, CNN NPR , NYT, Washington Post) on foreign affairs news after they all told you that Iraq had WMDs and all the other lies , then shame on you.
POLITICAL PRISONERS?
How many? arrested and convicted of what ?
YOUR sources please.
Also please note: Venezuela is a democracy .
They had a free and fair election.
Maduro won.
The losers should do what the losers do in a democracy which is to peacefully work for change and not get out in the streets like those
U.S. demonstrators who protested the big banks and the 1% .
If their positions are more popular than those of the present Maduro government, they will get more votes.
The problem for the protestors in VZ is that they hold a minority view and cannot win at the polls.
Of course these are almost entirely RICH Venezuelans who are protesting all the aid to the poor.
They have support from the U.S. both financially and in the ongoing propaganda war from the capitalist media .
They doubtless have millions in covert support from USAID and any number of the 16 U .S. intelligence services and other agencies.
Years ago they could do it ; overthrow a democratically elected government…… but those days are over.
One word: stupid.
This is just a propaganda stunt.
Listen johnny boy, this talks are for adults only
The US could consider releasing these three malandros when Maduro and Cuba release ALL Venezuelan policital prisoners and Cuba goes HOME! SOS Venezuela!