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The Days of
Gerardo Hernandez in the United States Federal Prison at
Lompoc
• Of
the five heroes of the Republic of Cuba unjustly imprisoned in
the United States, Gerardo Hernández Nordelo is confronting
the heaviest sentence •
Justice U.S.-style was
particularly vented on him, but has proved unable to destroy
his faith and far less his hopes •
His strength and
morale simply remain strong, as this interesting article
demonstrates.
BY ALICIA JRAPKO
--Special for Granma
International
FOR millions of
Cubans, the living conditions of the Five Cuban Political
Prisoners being held in U.S. prisons is one of their greatest
preoccupations. These five Cubans, who among other things were
accused of espionage, face sentences from 15 years to double
life. Since the time they were sentenced in December
2001, the Five have been scattered between different federal
prisons around the country. It was obvious that the U.S.
government attempted to separate them with the intention of
breaking the strength and morale that the five had shown all
throughout their trial and sentencing. Conditions in the
federal prison system vary from one to the other and the
severity of the conditions depend on several factors including
the political climate of the state as well as the level of
security of the unit a prisoner is in.
Gerardo
Hernández Nordelo, who faces the most severe sentence of two
lives in prison plus 80 months, is in Lompoc federal prison in
California. Lompoc is called "The New Rock" because
it is the prison that replaced the infamous Alcatraz prison in
San Francisco Bay. Prisoners who have had some type of
"disciplinary" problem in other prisons are often
sent to Lompoc and if after 18 months their behavior improves,
they are assigned to federal prisons that are supposedly less
severe.
Like all the
other prisoners at Lompoc Gerardo’s day starts at 5:50AM. At
that time, the guards automatically open the bars of all the
cells and the prisoners can go to the common areas of their
unit. Between 6:15 and 6:30 in the morning, they are called
for breakfast. After breakfast the prisoners return to their
cells or to the common areas and around 7:45 they are called
to go to work.
The U.S. prison
industrial complex, which continues to grow, is now the second
largest employer in the country and is responsible for the
elimination of thousands of jobs on the outside, many of which
had been jobs covered by union contracts. The corporation of
federal prisons generates exorbitant profits off of cheap
prison labor. Each prisoner makes between 23 cents to $1.15
per hour, in Gerardo’s case he makes approximately 50 cents
per hour.
In all federal
prisons all prisoners have to work. The corporation that
operates all prison productions is called "Unicor".
In Lompoc there are three factories, one cable joiner factory,
a print factory and a sign factory. The three factories are
located inside the prison walls and are a more desirable place
to work because the work tends to be less menial. Although the
wages are very low, for many prisoners it is their only source
of income. If they cannot get work in the factories, they are
assigned to other jobs such as general cleaning, cooking,
services, etc.
Gerardo first
started to work in the cable factory, but after a month, he
was transferred to a job in the sign factory, which he feels
is a little bit more interesting. In the sign factory
prisoners make everything from small stickers to big signs for
the freeway. The clients of the factory are all government
agencies and institutions. For example, the Forest Service
orders posters with messages on fire prevention. Any sign in
the National Parks was most likely produced in Lompoc.
Like in any
other work place, in prison, the bosses quickly identify the
workers who are more skilled to be assigned to specific jobs.
Gerardo was assigned to a job of high responsibility not
because his bosses were concerned with Gerardo’s well-being
or because they were interested in his progress but because
they found out that he brought with him a high level of
education and knowledge that could be utilized to further
maximize profits. It is not surprising, because Gerardo, like
the four other Cuban political prisoners, was educated in
Cuba, where every one has access to free education from
kindergarten to graduate school; an educational system that
the U.N. has characterized as the best in Latin America.
Gerardo works
for the most part on a computer where the entire sign database
for the factory is stored. His responsibilities include input
of all orders, keeping records, redirecting orders, passing
them to production, closing orders that are sent to clients,
making sales reports and order status, and he also responds to
any requests for data.
At 4:00p.m.
Gerardo is back from work when the prison guards close all the
cells and count the prisoners. Between 4:30PM and 4:45PM they
open the cells and at 5:00PM there is a movement for
"activities" meaning that they can go into the yard,
to the library or to church after passing through a series of
metal detectors. Around 5:30PM they are called to the dining
area and after supper the prisoners can either go back to
their cells or they can go directly to the yard. All movement
of prisoners is under close surveillance and takes place at
designated times after being announced on loudspeakers. At 10
PM all the cells are closed until the next morning. The
weekends provide some break from the routine and it is here
when Gerardo tries to get some time in the yard for exercise
and some sun. Sunday means the possibility of a phone call to
Cuba.
In the last two
months, Gerardo has been by himself in his cell because his
"celly" (cell mate) was sent to another prison.
Lompoc is a very old prison and the cells are small so this is
a great advantage for him. It not only provides him a little
more comfort but he can also decorate the cell to his own
taste. He has two bulletin boards in his cell that he was able
to acquire with a lot of perseverance on his part. The boards,
he explains, have become a collage of photos of Fidel, Che,
Mandela, images of the Cuban people in the open tribunals,
marches calling for their freedom, and pictures that were sent
to him by Cuban students as well as photos of demonstrations
of solidarity groups from around the world.
In Cuba Gerardo
is a well known cartoonist, whose work will soon appear in a
new book, so besides his task of keeping up his correspondence
he spends as much time as he can creating new caricatures that
reflect his political point of view but also exposes his
undaunted sense of humor. Gerardo’s cell lacks a chair
or a little table to write on, and although he is used to
writing and drawing standing up against the closet, his
greatest complaint is not this obstacle but the lack of time
he has to write and draw.
Due to the
fact that the case of the Five Cubans is gaining international
recognition Gerardo is receiving between five to 10 letters
per day from all over the world. He wishes to express his
gratitude for all the support and good wishes he receives
daily, and at the same time he wants to apologize for not
having enough time to respond in a timely way to all the
letters. For him, the solidarity letters are a great source of
encouragement. All of this mail has given him a sense of pride
to know that so many peace and justice loving people support
the case of the Cuban 5 and their defense of Cuba against the
terrorism that emanates out of Miami.
In Lompoc
prison there are 20 Cubans and in Gerardo’s unit there are
six including himself. All of the others are Marielitos, who
left Cuba illegally in the 1980’s, and although many of them
have completed their sentences they are being retained by
Immigration indefinitely, victimized by the U.S. blockade of
Cuba. This particularly cruel aspect of the 43-year-old
blockade of Cuba results from the absence of any extradition
treaty between the two countries keeping these Cubans in
prison in legal limbo. This situation plays itself out in many
state and federal prisons throughout the U.S. where thousands
of Cubans are imprisoned for an indefinite time. Many of them
have been in prison for 10, 15 and even 20 years without
charges.
Many of
the Cubans who are in prison with Gerardo have no contact with
their families and in a show of solidarity Gerardo has helped
some of them to find their families in Cuba. Due to this
effort Gerardo has become known in the prison and even some
American prisoners have asked him to help them find their lost
relatives. Many Cubans, who are in prison with Gerardo, have
told him that leaving Cuba was the biggest mistake they ever
made. Many of them consider themselves revolutionaries
and have asked Gerardo to have a photo taken with them to send
to their families in Cuba. Others share with him letters they
have received from their Cuban families where they have asked
them to look out for Gerardo and to show solidarity to him.
But
Gerardo’s case like the case of the other Cuban patriots is
well known by other prisoners. Some of them have read their
Court closing statements and have asked Gerardo for a book
with his signature. Several African-American prisoners ask
Gerardo regularly for materials that he receives in English in
order to read them. Many of them have closely followed the
case of Mumia Abu-Jamal and others have expressed to Gerardo
their admiration for Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
It is clear that
Gerardo has been able to remain strong behind the walls of
Lompoc. Sometimes late at night, on a small radio he has been
able to tune in Radio Havana Cuba in English and one night he
was even able to pick up the Cuban National Anthem.
Contrary
to other prisoners in the United States, Gerardo, Ramón,
René, Fernando, and Antonio are the only political prisoners
here who have the unconditional support of their entire
country. The Five inside U.S. prisons and the great majority
of the Cuban people in Cuba are fighting the same battle; the
battle for their self-determination and the right to defend
the sovereignty of Cuba against all types of aggression.
Sooner or later
they will return to their homeland.
(Alicia
Jrapko is a member of the National Committee to Free the Five
from San Francisco) |
