For the first time since the five Cuban anti-terrorist fighters were arrested on September 12, 1998, one of the leading US newspapers has published an analysis of the case.

DEISY FRANCIS MEXIDOR

The Washington Post published an extensive article on Saturday, June 3, on the five Cuban anti-terrorist fighters held in United States prisons that could be the beginning of the end to the wall-of-silence erected around the case. Despite the fact that the cause of the Cuban Five receives the support of thousands of people around the world, the case is little known in the US where it has been unfolding.

Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon has noted on several occasions that not until the truth about the case is widely known in the US will the Cuban Five be closer to freedom. Alarcon believes that the mass media has fallen in line and chosen not to report on the subject.

Such a unified front is an example of how under "globalization" the media decides what is news and what isn't. While the Cuban Five case has all the ingredients to be a major news story, it has been ignored except for the local media in Miami that serves the rightwing Cuban-American extremists.

Nearly eight years after the arrest of Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez, Ramon Labanino, Gerardo Hernandez and Rene Gonzalez, the Washington Post ran an analysis of the case that comes close to providing truthful information about the case.

The article by Manuel Riog-Franzia, datelined in Havana, opens by saying: "European tourists here send home postcards with stamps bearing the images of five faces, known simply as los muchachos (the young men) or los cinco (the five). The faces, usually surrounded by billowing Cuban flags, stare out, larger than life, from factory walls, apartment buildings, billboards."

From there on the article goes on to detail complaints made by Cuba regarding the fight against terrorism and the right of a sovereign nation to defend itself. In addition, it points out that the arrests took place shortly after Cuban authorities delivered detailed information about criminal activities planned by groups based in Southern Florida to their US counterparts.

In a telephone interview with Granma, Cuban-American lawyer Jose Pertierra said that this is the first time "that one of the major US newspapers dedicates so much space to the case of the Cuban Five, hopefully it will decide to do follow-up and not limit the effort to only one article, because this case deserves a serious investigation."

"The Post article is a good introduction to the subject for the US public, but it is a very superficial analysis. For example, it should look into 'the perfect storm' of prejudices in Miami during the trial of the Cuban Five. Also it should delve into the relationship between the terror campaign of Luis Posada Carriles and the fact that the US didn't arrest the terrorists that planned and financed the criminal campaign against Cuba from Miami and Central America. It should also
examine the links tying Bush Sr. with well known Cuban terrorists Orlando Bosch, Luis Posada Carrieles and others," said Pertierra.

"There is still a long way to go before this case reaches US public opinion. The silence must be broken in the TV news media, where the vast majority of US citizens get their news. The fact that the article was published by the Post is very important. It's a positive step, but there is much to do," he added.

Was the silence broken? What's certain is that for the first time since the Cuban Five were jailed on September 12, 1998, one of the leading US newspapers has run an analysis of the case and published it in a two-column front-page story. Previously, the corporate media that try to monopolize information had conveniently ignored the case.

The Post article can reveal to the US people what they have been prohibited from knowing: that their government protects terrorism in its own territory and cruelly punishes those who fight it. A space has been opened. As Ricardo Alarcon said: "Hopefully the message can multiply until it reaches millions of people denied the right to information. Even though the wall of silence is solid and still standing, as Pertierra says, 'now there's a little hole from which a ray of light can enter and with it the truth.'"