In June 2001, a Miami jury found five Cubans guilty on charges ranging from spying to conspiracy to commit murder and endangering the security of the United States. The five men had already spent three years in prison, mostly in solitary confinement. They were guilty of nothing more than peacefully trying to protect their country against terrorism. Despite international protests and legal challenges, the Cuban Five remain in jail in the US.

Gerardo Hernandez was given two life sentences plus a further 15 years. Ramon Labanino was given life, as was Antonio Guerrero. Fernando Hernandez, who had infiltrated the notorious 'Brothers to the Rescue' organisation and posed as an anti-Cuban agent, was given 19 years imprisonment and Rene Gonzalez 15 years. These men had been working to foil the persistent attempts by right-wing counter-revolutionary groups in the United States to commit acts of sabotage and terrorism against Cuba. Among those they attempted to expose was Posada Carrilles, wanted for the destruction of a Cuban airliner in 1976 when over 70 people were killed. Carilles is wanted in Venezuela for this terrorist act but the US government refuses to extradite him.

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