Speech of Attorney Leonard Weinglass
March 20th Demonstration
March 20, 2004 New York City

I want to say a few words about five brave Cuban men who are serving life sentences in United States prisons. They did not harm anyone in the United States. They caused no property damage, they had no arms, they had no explosives. What they did is they came to the United States to monitor the right-wing terror network that exists in Southern Florida, that has inflicted damage on the Cuban people and their property for the last forty years, including the downing of a commercial airliner from Cuba and the killing of an Italian tourist in a hotel lobby in Havana. These five men infiltrated those groups in Florida and they reported their plans back to Cuba,saving the lives of many people there as well as here.

The FBI arrested them and charged them with multiple crimes, including conspiracy and they were placed on trial in the one city where they could not get a fair trial, Miami, Florida. This was the longest trial in the United States in the year 2001. They called generals, United States generals, an admiral, an advisor to the White House, and yet outside of Miami, not a word of this trial was mentioned by the media that's obsessed with Martha Stewart, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Jackson. The same Bush administration that lied about Iraq's ties to terrorism doesn't want you to know about the United States government's ties to anti-Cuban terrorism which has existed for more than 40 years.

Don't be misled. Don't remain silent. Speak up now and support the Cuban Five.

Thank you.