Washington, March 4 (RHC)-- The leader of the U.S. Baptist Alliance, Carol Blythe, urged U.S. President Barack Obama to release the three Cuban prisoners who are still serving unfair prison sentences for having monitored U.S.-based terrorist organizations.
In a letter addressed to the U.S. president, Blythe said that the release of Gerardo Hernandez, Antonio Guerrero and Ramon Labanino, will contribute to the normalization of relations between Washington and Havana.
The three men, and their compatriots Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez -- who returned to Cuba after serving their sentences -- were arrested September 12, 1998 and were given unfair and extremely long sentences for monitoring violent groups based in Florida, which were planning terrorist actions against Cuba.
Terrorist acts carried out against the island over the past five decades have resulted in over 3,400 victims, said the religious leader in her letter, and asked Obama to pardon the three men after the years they have already been in jail.
Blythe recalled that during a recent trip to Cuba, members of the Baptist Alliance met with relatives of the five Cuban anti-terrorists and learned of the repeated refusal by U.S. authorities to grant visas to some family members to visit their relatives at least once a year, an action she described as inconsistent with the ideals of the United States.