BY ORFILIO PELAEZ-Granma daily staff writer-

ON September 12, the five Cuban heroes sentenced to lengthy terms in a rigged trial, full of violations of U.S. law and political manipulations, completed six cruel years in jail with their dignity and steadfastness intact.

In a Cuban TV Roundtable, Professor Dávalos noted that six months and 10 days have passed since the appeal hearing last March 10 before three judges of the Atlanta 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, where the defense lawyers for the Five challenged the charges of conspiracy to commit murder and espionage with solid arguments, as well as requesting a a retrial in a new venue, given the impossibility of doing so in Miami due to the non-existence of the basic guarantees of a fair and impartial trial.

He stated that from that point, the appeal is dependent on the decision taken by those judges, which could take another few months, as there is no regulation that obliges them to make a ruling within a specific time period.

For Professor Dávalos, the case of the Five has been marked from the beginning by violence, arbitrariness, hatred, threats, pressure and political vengeance against the accused.

The presentation of excerpts from an TV interview with Cuban-origin counterrevolutionary Santiago Alvarez prompted journalist Lázaro Barredo to expose the double standards applied by the U.S. government in relation to the supposed fight against terrorism.

This gentleman, Barredo commented, is capable of saying before the cameras that Luis Posada Carriles is very well and in some part of “America,” and among friends.

“Given that Posada is a CIA man, I have no doubt that this government agency has him under protection and hidden in some state. It is likewise unprecedented, given the antecedents of acts of terrorism committed by his three co-conspirators, that they could show up at Miami airport after their pardon and not even be checked by the authorities, which they have certainly done with Latin American diplomats,” he stated.

In relation to the latest news on the five heroes, it was reported that they are in good health, have excellent states of mind and are in contact with their families, lawyers and officials from the Cuban Interests Section in Washington. In their respective jails they have the respect of the other prisoners and the authorities and continue with their heads held high.