11 years ago, on 12 September 1998, five men of Cuban origin, two of them American citizens born to Cuban parents living in the US, were arrested in the US on charges of conspiracy to commit espionage. They were sentenced to terms ranging from 15 years to double life in a Miami court in 2001, after what was at that time the longest trial in the US.

The five--- Fernando Gonzalez, Gerardo Hernandez, Antonio Guerrero, Ramon Labanino, and Rene Gonzales--- were not involved in any act of espionage against the US. They were not in possession of any weapons. Neither did they kill or injure any person. The Five were monitoring Cuban exile groups in the US with a proven record of committing terrorist acts against the Cuban people and the Cuban nation. They were gathering information about the terrorist missions that these groups were planning and had informed the US authorities about what they (the Cuban Five) were doing. And yet they were arrested and jailed after an unfair and unjust trial.

To understand why the Cuban Five did what they did, one has to remember that tiny Cuba has been the target of every US Administration since 1959. US security and intelligence agencies, working hand in glove with US proxies, agents and Cuban exiles operating from Miami, have been directly or indirectly responsible for a military invasion of the island state; the destruction of one of its civilian planes and the murder of all its passengers; bomb attacks; and countless assassination attempts upon its former President, Fidel Castro. Since 1961, the US Administration has also imposed crippling economic sanctions upon Cuba that have stunted the development of the nation. There is no doubt at all that these are acts of terrorism perpetrated against a nation whose only ‘sin’ is its desire to chart its own future and to determine its own destiny.

President Obama recognises the right of a nation to determine its own destiny, to protect its independence and its sovereignty. The US seeks to eliminate terrorism. It should not incarcerate individuals who were trying to expose terrorist activities aimed at subverting their nation’s sovereignty and integrity.

If Obama is serious and sincere about making changes to US policy on Cuba he should free the Cuban Five immediately. It will be a clear signal to Havana that the US is prepared to bring to an end five decades of outrageous bellicosity against Cuba. The release of the Cuban Five could well be the beginning of the normalisation of ties between the US and Cuba. Normalising ties with Cuba should be one of Obama’s main foreign policy goals.