Cuban Christian women have sent this letter to Barack and Michelle Obama, asking them to consider take part in the case of the Five If you would like to suscribe, please send an email to cristianasporloscin co@cmlk.co. cu Havana City, September 25, 2009. Dr. Barack Obama President of the United States of America. Mrs. Michelle Obama Esteemed sister and brother Michelle and Barack: Peace and well-being for you. We greet you with great affection. We are a group of cuban protestant women, lay leaders, pastors, and theologians that are addressing you in your capacity as the family presiding over the government of the United States of America. We believe you have been elected in a transparent electoral process, with the endorsement of the vast majority of your people, and we are glad that is the case. It is a great responsibility for both of you, as it is undoubtedly, feeling that "God has chosen you for this time" as Mordecai would say when defending the Jewish people, before Queen Esther (Esther 4: 14 b). We have asked God to bless you in your responsibility to lead the destiny of your Nation along the best ways as well as your relations with the rest of the world. On the occasion of such a meaningful celebration of the Thanksgiving Day, in which two cultures met in an historical effort to achieve reconciliation and unity, we are addressing you to request that the case of the Cuban five men in prison since 1998 in the USA charged with espionage be reviewed: Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino, René González, Fernando González and Gerardo Hernández, who have already been in prison for eleven long years. They were sentenced in 2001. A long process of appeals has taken place during the last years. The Defence has emphasised the partiality of the site, the extreme sentences, and particularly the fact that the US national security was never endangered (affirmed by high representatives of the US Army). However, only three of them have managed to be resentenced in Miami. We are begging you that the process of appealing be studied, the hundreds of documents compiled by the Defence, the decision of the three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals of 2005 and the frequent violations of human rights that are found in this process, acknowledged by international institutions, parliaments, and the public opinion of many countries. Obama, you are a man who is taking firm steps towards the way of justice, as a worthy
and unquestionable heir of Martin Luther King's way of thinking and we thank God for that. The Nobel Peace Prize you have received is rather than an honour, a challenge to be consistent with the principles of justice of that award and with the long list of names supporting it. Michelle, we admire your life itinerary and we hope that as a wife and mother, you may be able to place yourself in Adriana's shoes, her impossibility to have a child, out of this reason. On this Thanksgiving Day, one word from you, one of your signatures, could change the uncertain destiny of these young men, allowing them to return to their homes, back to their families, to enjoy the same well-being and joy that you experience together with your two daughters. May God, who is life and Shalom, light your ways and encourage with his Spirit of justice and truth the work that you have in your hands. Sincerely and gratefully, 1. Rev. Ofelia Ortega, President of the World Council of Churches, Vice-president of the World Reformed Alliance, Director of the Christian Institute for Gender Studies. 2. Rev. Dora Arce Valentín, pastor of the Presbyterian Reformed Church in Cuba, theologian and professor of Matanzas Theological Evangelical Seminary. 3. Rev. María Yi Reina, Church of the Quaker Friends, Secretary of the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI). 4. Rev. Nerva Cott Aguilera, Bishop of the Episcopal Church of Cuba. 5. Rev. Dr. Marianela de la Paz Cott, professor of Matanzas Theological Evangelical Seminary, presbyter of the Episcopal Church of Cuba. 6. Rev. Raquel Suárez, pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, Fraternity of Baptist Churches of Cuba, coordinator of the Women and Gender Ministries of CLAI-CUBA, and of the Woman and Gender Program of the Council of Churches of Cuba. 7. Rev. Estela Hernández, Director of the Juan Francisco Naranjo Christian Center, pastor of the William Carey Baptist Church, former President of the Fraternity of Baptist Churches of Cuba. 8. Dr. Clara Luz Ajo Lázaro, Episcopal lay leader, theologian, professor of Matanzas Theological Evangelical Seminary. 9. Rev. Daylins Rufín, pastor of the Fraternity of Baptist Churches of Cuba, Director of the Studies Center of the Council of Churches of Cuba, professor of Matanzas
Theological Evangelical Seminary. 10. Presbyter Miriam Naranjo Alonso, Moderator of the Presbytery of the Center of the Presbyterian Reformed Church in Cuba. 11. Lic. Kirenia Criado Pérez, theologian and coordinator of the Theological and Pastoral Reflection and Training Program of the Martin Luther King Center in Havana. 12. Presbyter Yolanda Alonso Carrazana, pastor of the Presbyterian Reformed Church in Meneses, Cuba. President of the Christian Education Committee of the Presbytery of the Center of the Presbyterian Reformed Church of Cuba. 13. Daisy Rojas Gómez, lay leader, Ebenezer Baptist Church of the Fraternity of Baptist Churches of Cuba, member of the Board of Directors of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Center and member of the National Committee of the World Women's March. 14. Nacyra Gómez Cruz, Presbyterian Reformed Church in Cuba, Secretary of International Relations of the Christian Conference for Peace for Latin America and the Caribbean. 15. Lic. Ailed Villalba, lay leader of the Episcopal Church, specialist of the Theological and Pastoral Reflection and Training Program of the Martin Luther King Center in Havana. 16. Presbyter Izett Samá Hernández, pastor of the Presbyterian Reformed Church in Cuba, theologian. 17. Lic. Alicia Sevila Hidalgo, lay leader of the Fraternity of Baptist Churches of Cuba, specialist of the Theological and Pastoral Reflection and Training Program of the Martin Luther King Center in Havana. 18. Rev. Coralia Teresa Blanco Elissalde, theologian, pastor of the Shalom Baptist Church, specialist of the Theological and Pastoral Reflection and Training Program of the Martin Luther King Center in Havana. 19. Norma Martínez Correa, Governing Presbyter of the Presbyterian Reformed Church in Taguasco, President of the Constructions Committee of the Presbytery of the Center of the Presbyterian Reformed Church. 20. Lic. Margarita de la Caridad Valdés Valdés, lay leader of the Fraternity of Baptist Churches of Cuba, specialist of the Theological and Pastoral Reflection and Training Program of the Martin Luther King Center in Havana. 21. Esperanza Brancho Blanco, member of the Board of the Episcopal Church of Cuba. 22. Rev. Olga Rodríguez Morón, pastor of the Bethany Baptist Church, Fraternity of
Baptist Churches of Cuba. 23. Lic. Ana Lidia Orman Reyes, deaconess of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, facilitator of the national team of the Sexual Health and HIV-AIDS Project of the Community Health Program of the Council of Churches of Cuba. 24. Lic. Sarahí García Gómez, lay leader, Presbyterian Church, Vice-president of the World Federation of Christian Student Movements for Latin America and the Caribbean. 25. Lic. Zulema Hidalgo, coodinator of the Program against Violence of the Oscar Arnulfo Romero Catholic Group. 26. Olga Morales Pacheco, Catholic lay leader, Oscar Arnulfo Romero Group. 27. Lic. Nery Cadalso, psychologist, deaconess of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. 28. Presbyter Virgen Laborde Figueras, United Evangelical Church of Lutheran 29. Lic. Soraya Guillén, Ebenezer Baptist Church. 30. Dr. Elina Ceballos Villalón, Presbyterian Reformed Church, coordinator of the Deaconry Department of the Council of Churches of Cuba. 31. Deaconess Martha Yolanda Romero Lorenzo, United Evangelical Church of Lutheran 32. Deaconess Yamilka Hernández Guzman, United Evangelical Church of Lutheran 33. Roselis Laborde Montes de Oca, United Evangelical Church of Lutheran 34. Miladys Herrera, lay leader of the United Evangelical Church of Lutheran 35. Liliam González, lay leader of the Fraternity of Baptist Churches of Cuba. Coordinator of the Woman and Gender Program of the Council of Churches of Cuba. 36. Ing. Elisabeth González, lay leader of the Fraternity of Baptist Churches of Cuba liturgical leader in the Matanzas Theological Evangelical Seminary. 37. Lic Cira María Díaz, Cristian Reformed Church in Cuba, theologian. -----Inline Attachment Follows----- NETWORK DIRECTIVES
1. - The Cuban Five freedom is not going to be obtained only by the legal mechanisms of the judicial system of the U.S. This it is a political process, which requires worldwide solidarity and, essentially, the solidarity of the people living in the U.S. 2. - In order to achieve worldwide solidarity, it is necessary to be knowledgeable about the facts of the case, as well as being familiar with the personal characteristics of these FIVE MEN and of their relatives. 3. - Universities have a vast potential to inform large numbers of people about the case, due to the progressive and revolutionary characteristics that are represented within this sector. 4. - It is important to emphasize the example of the Five Heroes as a representation of our people, in order to incorporate it in the formation of our students and of our workers values, as well as referring to its history to lead the way of action for future generations. 5. - The necessity of highlighting the human side of the case: the injustice that is being committed against them and against their relatives who are members of the community. 6. - And, lastly, it is necessary to ensure that, while in jail, they receive all the information regarding every effort realized by their people in the struggle for their freedom and it is important for them to be aware of the fact that they are present throughout every minute of Cuban people lives, as well as in the lives of many honest people in the world. Every day that the FIVE are in prison is an insult to all the honest people that are fighting for a better world The world solidarity assures us that the Cuban Five VOLVERAN