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Statement of Ramón Labañino Salazar. |
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Ramon
Labañino
Birthday: June 9
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Write to him:
Luís Medina
#58734-004
U.S.P. McCreary
P.O. Box 3000
Pine Knot, KY 42635
U.S.A.
(NOTE: the envelope should be addressed to "Luis
Medina," but address the letter inside to Ramon) |
"If preventing the deaths of innocent human
beings ... and preventing a senseless invasion of Cuba is the reason I am
being sentenced today, then let that sentence be welcomed."
Ramón Labañino Salazar
was born in Havana on June 9, 1963. Even in primary school he distinguished
himself, with responsibility supervising younger students. He graduated from
high school in Marianao, Havana, where he earned various distinctions
including diplomas as an outstanding and advanced student. In 1986, Labañino
graduated as an economist from the University of Havana, graduating with
first class honors. At the university, he was very active in all sport
activities and participated in the All-Caribbean games. In June 1990
Labañino married Elizabeth Palmeiro Casado, and has two daughters with her,
14-year-old Laura, and 9-year-old Lisbet. He also has another daughter, Ailí,
18, from a previous marriage. Labañino is sentenced to life plus 18 years.
He is in U.S.P. Beaumont, Texas.
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Charged with:
a.
Conspiracy to commit
crimes against the United States: carries a
maximum five-year term.
b.
Conspiracy to commit
espionage: carries a maximum life term.
c.
Obtaining and using false
identification: carries a five-year term. This
charge is aggravated for having used five or
more identity documents and having provided
false information on a passport request form.
d.
Conspiracy to act as an unregistered foreign
agent: carries a maximum 10-year term. It is
aggravated for helping and persuading Antonio,
Joseph and Amarilys to become unregistered
foreign agents.
Why he is
Innocent
The maximum penalty was
imposed on Ramon for every infraction for which
he was found guilty, without taking into
consideration any of the extenuating
circumstances. This shows the unmeasured and
irrational nature of the penalties. According to
U.S. law, a maximum life sentence can be imposed
in the event the defendant is proved to be
potentially dangerous, aggressive or open to
recidivism. At no point did the judge, jury or
Public Prosecutor ever complain about the
behavior of the accused, nor was there any
evidence to suggest that he had not maintain
high moral and ethic conduct during the time
they lived in the USA. The issue of necessity
was not even considered an extenuating
circumstance.
The charges
a) Conspiracy to
commit crime against the United States
and b)
Conspiracy to commit espionage
are practically the same. He received, however,
two life sentences on both charges. There is no
direct evidence for the charge conspiracy to
commit crime. As for conspiracy to commit
espionage, in an unprecedented case, Ramon is
condemned evidence or testimonies showing that
he had obtained or looked for information
against the United States. There were some
witnesses who specifically dismissed the
espionage charges: generals Clapper, Whilelm and
Atkeson, admiral Carrol and colonel Buckner.
As to the charge
c) Obtaining and
using false identification,
there was no evidence of malicious intent
against the US government. He did not commit any
crime when using false documents.
As for
d) Conspiracy to
act as an unregistered foreign agent,
it is necessary to have
proved that the defendant knew about the
registration requirement stated by law. Although
generally speaking, lack of knowledge about the
law does not absolve a citizen for not abiding
by it, there are unusual cases such as this
where an accused has been exonerated because the
applicable statute was not common knowledge.
Ramon's sentence
is aggravated by
the fact that he is accused of being the leader
of a group, a charge also presented against
Gerardo.
Life Sentence
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