Tag: Gerardo Hernandez

In the sweet afterglow of last month’s historic rapprochement between the United States and Cuba, much has been made of the pivotal roles played by Pope Francis, the Canadian government, New York Times editorialists, various American politicians and their aides, even “sperm diplomacy.” All that is true, of course, but there are other narratives in […]

“NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT KNOWN that I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, pursuant to my powers under Article II, Section 2, clause I, of the Constitution, and in consideration of the premises, divers other good and sufficient reasons me thereunto moving, do hereby commute the aforesaid total prison sentence of the said GERARDO […]

On December 17, 2014, the United States and Cuba reached an historic deal. The United States agreed to return Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labañino and Antonio Guerrero — the remaining three members of the Cuban Five — to their families and homeland in exchange for a previously unknown  Cuban national who has spent much of the […]

Radio show interview transcribed by Joan Malerich. Phil Taylor (PT):  Stephen Kimber, are you there sir? Stephen Kimber (SK) :  I am. PT:  How are you? SK:  Very Good. SK:  It’s great to talk to you.  I have interviewed lawyers, and I have interviewed members of  the family of the Cuban Five on this show and I was under the impression that […]

Stephen Kimber’s book, What Lies Across the Water: The Real Story of the Cuban Five, has won the 2014 Evelyn Richardson Award for Nonfiction at Canada’s East Coast Literary Awards. The Five were members of a Cuban intelligence network sent to Florida in the 1990s to infiltrate Miami exile groups plotting terrorist attacks against Cuba. […]

There was the opening two-day conference focusing on the future of US-Cuba relations and featuring participants from around the world… a kick-off press conference at the National Press Club that generated interviews with the Washington Post, NPR and CCTV, not to forget lots of coverage in international media… a concert headlined by the well-known political […]

Pop quiz: Who is José Mujica and why should you care? If the answer doesn’t trip off your tongue, I sympathize. Until recently, I had no idea. I discovered him, in fact, serendipitously and circuitously. My most recent book, What Lies Across the Water: The Real Story of the Cuban Five, unravels the tale of a […]

One of the enduring questions about Cuba’s shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue aircraft in 1996 is where the planes actually were when they were brought down? In international airspace as the U.S. claims and the International Civil Aviation Agency concluded? Or over Cuban territory as the Cubans continue to insist? The U.S. has […]

“Shootdown,” an excerpt from Stephen Kimber’s forthcoming book, What Lies Across the Water: The Real Story of the Cuban Five is now available as an ebook from Amazon. http://amzn.to/HWl12l The excerpt unfolds the critically important episode of the shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue aircraft over the Straits of Florida in February 1996—from Brothers’ […]

The Miami Herald has published the text of a letter from the U.S. Departments of State and Justice to Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart (R-Fla.) regarding rumours the Cuban government might be willing to exchange an American contractor it is holding in exchange for members of the Cuban Five. The letter: Dear Congressman Díaz-Balart: Thank you for […]