Contact: Cindy Sheehan Campaign Press Office, 916/996-9170
Peace and Freedom Vice-President Candidate
Cindy Sheehan Appeals to President Obama
Friday to 'Free the Cuban 5'
TIJUANA, MEXICO – Cindy Sheehan, Vice President running mate of Roseanne Barr on the 2012 Peace and Freedom Party Presidential ticket, will appeal to President Obama Friday to immediately "Free the Cuban5" – Cuban citizens held for 14 years in the U.S. for not registering as "agents."
Sheehan, who became a celebrated anti-war activist after her son Casey was killed in Iraq, speaks Friday night at the U.S./Cuba/Mexico/Latin America Labor Conference in Tijuana, Mexico.
In a letter to President Obama Sheehan said:
"As you probably know, my son, Casey Austin Sheehan, was killed in Iraq on April 04, 2004. He was lied to by his government and military leadership that told him he was occupying another's land to 'fight terrorism.'
"So many injustices have been committed in this so-called Global War on Terror, but these Five Cuban heroes have been in US jails and prisons for fourteen years and their only real crime was not registering as foreign agents-a mild crime that usually carries a mild sentence of expulsion or short prison terms."
She has urged the President to free the "Cuban5" because "you (Obama) have said, and shown the world, that the USA can 'act pre-emptively' to protect our 'safety,' and I would like to believe that you would extend the Cuban people and government the same right to protect its citizens from acts of terrorism," noting that the "Cuban5" came to the U.S. to "monitor the activities of real terrorists-Cuban expatriates living here who planned violent counter-revolutionary acts in Cuba and have been responsible for the deaths of thousands of Cubans over the years."
Sheehan added: "Your regime has vigorously violated the sovereignty of several countries in the purported quest to 'keep America safe.' The Cuban government and the Five Heroes did far less. They have been punished enough for a relatively small crime."
Cindy Sheehan's complete letter to Obama about the "Cuban5" can be found at:
http://cindysheehanssoapbox.