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The Broadcasting Act 1990 is a law of the British parliament, often regarded by both its supporters and its critics as a quintessential example of Thatcherism. The aim of the Act was to reform the entire structure of British broadcasting; British television, in particular, had earlier been described by Margaret Thatcher as "the last bastion of restrictive practices". It led directly to the abolition of the Independent Broadcasting Authority and its replacement with the Independent Television Commission and Radio Authority (both themselves now replaced by Ofcom), which were given the remit of regulating with a "lighter touch" and did not have such strong powers as the IBA; some referred to this as "deregulation". The ITC also began regulating non-terrestrial channels, whereas the IBA had only regulated ITV, Channel 4 and the ill-fated British Satellite Broadcasting; the ITC thus took over the responsibilities of the Cable Authority which had regulated the early non-terrestrial channels, which were only available to a very small audience in the 1980s.

Effects of the Act[link]

An effect of this Act was that, in the letter of the law, the television or radio companies rather than the regulator became the broadcasters, as had been the case in the early (1955-1964) era of the Independent Television Authority when it had fewer regulatory powers than it would later assume.

In television[link]

In television, the Act allowed for the creation of a fifth analogue terrestrial television channel in the UK, which turned out to be Channel 5, and the growth of multichannel satellite television. It also stipulated that the BBC, which had previously produced the vast majority of its television programming in-house, was now obliged to source at least 25% of its output from independent production companies.

The act has sometimes been described, both as praise and as criticism, as a key enabling force for Rupert Murdoch's ambitions in Britain. It reformed the system of awarding ITV franchises, which proved controversial when Thames Television was replaced by Carlton Television, for what some felt were political reasons (see Death on the Rock), and when TV-am, admired by Mrs Thatcher for its management's defiance of the trade unions, lost its franchise to GMTV (the now-former Prime Minister personally apologised to the senior TV-am executive Bruce Gyngell). It also allowed companies holding ITV franchises to take over other such companies from 1994, beginning the process which has led to the creation of ITV plc.

In radio[link]

In radio, it allowed for the launch of three Independent National Radio stations, two of them on medium wave using frequencies formerly used by the BBC, and the other on FM using frequencies formerly used by the emergency services. It set out plans for many more local and regional commercial radio stations, generally using parts of the FM band not previously used for broadcasting, which have since come to fruition. Its plans for expanding community radio were only really developed in the 2000s.

Controversy[link]

The Act passed through Parliament despite opposition from much of the Labour Party and from some members of the ruling Conservative Party, who saw it as representative of a decline in standards, and on occasions saw it as enabling what was, for them, an unwelcome Americanisation. Notably, Douglas Hurd has since criticised the Act's after-effects, describing it as "one of the less successful reforms of those years". These Conservatives would have described their position as paternalistic as a term of praise, while supporters of the Act would use it against them as a term of abuse. Since Tony Blair became leader, the Labour Party's broadcasting policy has generally shifted much more towards that expounded in the Act.

The then Home Secretary, David Waddington, described the Act as heralding "a massive expansion in choice", and supporters of the multichannel age in British broadcasting have praised the Act, and later regulation influenced by it, for such reasons. Supporters of the previous, more regulated system have strongly criticised the Act, and some have blamed it for what they see as a "dumbing down" of British television and radio. Like many other reforms of the Thatcher years, it has a tendency to polarise opinion very strongly. One initially less-obvious effect of the Act was that technical standards ceased to be monitored & enforced by the regulatory body along with the programme content.

See also[link]

• History of ITV
• Television Act 1954
• Communications Act 2003

External links[link]

• Official text of the statute as amended and in force today within the United Kingdom, from the UK Statute Law Database
• Torycasting - an account of the Act (among other things) from a perspective generally critical of the latter-day Conservative Party.

v t e United Kingdom legislation Pre-Parliamentary legislation List of English statutes Acts of Parliament by states preceding the Kingdom of Great Britain Acts of the Parliament of England to 1483 1485–1601 1603–1641 Interregnum (1642–1660) 1660–1699 1700–1706 Acts of the Parliament of Scotland Acts of the Parliament of Ireland to 1700 1701–1800 Acts of Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain 1707–1719 1720–1739 1740–1759 1760–1779 1780–1800 Acts of Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1801–1819 1820–1839 1840–1859 1860–1879 1880–1899 1900–1919 1920–1939 1940–1959 1960–1979 1980–1999 2000 to date Church of England Measures List Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919 Legislation of devolved institutions Acts of the Scottish Parliament Acts and Measures of the Welsh Assembly Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly Acts of the Parliament of Northern Ireland Orders in Council for Northern Ireland Secondary legislation United Kingdom Statutory Instruments Scottish Statutory Instruments Act of Sederunt

Broadcasting Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in Canada, Hong Kong, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom that relates to broadcasting.

List[link]

Canada[link]

• The Broadcasting Act (1968), that established the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission and updated the mandate of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
• The Broadcasting Act (1991), that amended both the Broadcasting Act, 1968, and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Act (1976)

Hong Kong[link]

• The Broadcasting Ordinance 2000

Republic of Ireland[link]

• The Broadcasting (Amendment) Act 2007

United Kingdom[link]

• The Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967
• The Broadcasting Act 1980, that among other things allowed for the creation of Channel 4
• The Broadcasting Act 1981
• The Cable and Broadcasting Act 1984
• The Broadcasting Act 1990, that largely deregulated private television, allowed for the creation of a fifth terrestrial television channel as well as allowed for the launch of satellite television in the UK
• The Broadcasting Act 1996

See also[link]

• List of short titles
• Communications Act
• The Television Act 1954

Paul Daniels, born Newton Edward Daniels on 6 April 1938, is a British magician and television performer.^[1] He achieved international fame through his television series The Paul Daniels Magic Show, which ran on the BBC from 1979 to 1994.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Daniels was born at 51 North Street in South Bank, Redcar & Cleveland,the son of Handel Newton Daniels and Nancy Lloyd.^[2] Handel (known as Hugh) was a cinema projectionist at the Hippodrome Theatre and a former worker at Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) Wilton.^{[citation needed]}

During World War II, Daniels was evacuated to the Helmsley area. After Sir William Turners Grammar School on Coatham Road in Coatham, Redcar (now the Redcar & Cleveland College Connections Campus on Corporation Road) and his first job as a junior clerk in the treasurer's office of Eston council, Daniels served as a conscript in the 1st Battalion, The Green Howards, during his National Service and was posted to the British garrison in Hong Kong, before training as an accountant in the Civil Service. Even at this early age he had thinning hair which he claimed to be an act of 'magic'. Daniels later sported a wig for much of his television career.^[3] After working as a junior clerk and then as an auditor in local government Daniels joined his parents in the grocery business they were running at the time.^{[citation needed]} He later set up his own shop – at one point a mobile shop – but eventually gave this up in favour of his growing career as a magician.

Showbusiness career[link]

Daniels' interest in magic began at the age of 11 when, during a holiday, he read a book called How To Entertain At Parties. He has stated that: "From that moment, I can safely say that all I ever wanted to do in life was to become a professional magician". He began performing magic as a hobby, occasionally entertaining at parties and youth clubs and later doing shows for fellow servicemen during his national service.^[4] After returning to civilian life he continued to develop his magic by performing in clubs in the evenings while working at his grocery business during the day. At one point he worked with his first wife Jackie under the name of 'The Eldanis', an anagram of Daniels. It was while working the clubs that he developed what would become his long running catchphrase, "You'll like this...not a lot, but you'll like it." He has stated that he first came up with the line at a club in Bradford as a way to deal with a heckler.^[5]

A major turning point in Daniels' career came in 1969 when he was offered a summer season at Newquay. He decided to sell his grocery business and try magic as a full time career. He made his television debut on the long-running talent show Opportunity Knocks in 1970, and came second. Television producer Johnnie Hamp saw Daniels in that show and later gave him a regular spot on a show compèred by Bernard Manning The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club for Granada Television.^[6]

His first series for the BBC was For My Next Trick, where Daniels appeared with several other magicians and singer Faith Brown. This led to Daniels presenting his own television series, The Paul Daniels Magic Show, on BBC1 from 1979 until 1994. As well as featuring tricks and illusions for pure entertainment, he also included a regular segment (the "Bunko Booth") in which he exposed the confidence tricks of street charlatans. He also replicated the kind of results that have impressed researchers of the paranormal and parapsychologists in a segment called Under Laboratory Conditions, thereby demonstrating his skepticism about claims made in these fields.

Daniels starred in his own stage show, It's Magic, at the Prince of Wales Theatre from 10 December 1980 until 6 February 1982. At that time, the show was one of the longest-running magic shows ever staged in London. By this point he was already working with his future wife, Debbie McGee, whose role as his assistant would become a major feature of his act. She had first worked with him on his summer season show in Great Yarmouth in 1979.

In addition to his magic shows he hosted a number of other television series during the 1980s and 1990s, including three BBC1 quiz shows: Odd One Out, Every Second Counts and Wipeout, and the children's television programme Wizbit (also for the BBC), about a magician called Wizbit and a rabbit called Woolly, who lived in Puzzleopolis.

On the magic circuit, Daniels' appeal diminished as the 1980s drew to a close, and in the 1990s the ratings for his TV show slumped. A 1995 magic show for the BBC entitled Secrets, set in a variety club, failed to catch on and was not renewed.^[2] He has, however, made several guest appearances on television, though this has often been as the unsuspecting butt of the joke on satirical comedy shows, such as the Chris Morris show, Brass Eye. Daniels and McGee were the focus of one of the episodes of the 2001 BBC documentary series When Louis Met…, presented by Louis Theroux, with Daniels additionally appearing on Da Ali G Show in an Ali G costume, interviewed by Caroline Hook in her guise as Mrs Merton. In 2004, he and Debbie appeared in the Channel 5 reality TV show, The Farm, and in 2006, they appeared in the ITV show The X Factor: Battle Of The Stars. They were the first act voted off the show, after singing Let Me Entertain You by Robbie Williams. Daniels and McGee also made a guest appearance in the Wife Swap series in early 2007, with McGee changing places with journalist and presenter Vanessa Feltz. In 2008 Daniels was part of Dec's team in the Ant v Dec segment of Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, but was eliminated by Dec after the team lost the Bobsleigh challenge in show 3 (of 6).

Daniels still tours doing live magic and recently presented a show about magician 'Max Malini'. He currently owns a magic and fancy dress shop in Wigan town centre and also has an online shop selling items for magician and fancy dress outfits. He has stated he has an ambition to star in a Hollywood film.^[2]

During 2009 he toured a number of more intimate venues, performing for audiences of around 200.^{[citation needed]}

In September 2010 it was announced Daniels would be participating in the eighth series of Strictly Come Dancing. His dancing partner was Ola Jordan. They were the second couple to be voted off on 17 October.

On New Year's Day 2012 the magician cut off his left index finger and the tip of his ring finger, in an accident with a circular saw, in a shed at his Wargrave home, while building props for his act.^[7] The saw was not one used by Daniels in his act. The index finger has been re-attached.^[8]

Paul is a past President of Hospital Radio Bedside, a radio station that broadcasts to hospitals in Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch and Wimborne, UK.^{[citation needed]}

Strictly Come Dancing performances[link]

Awards[link]

Daniels was awarded the prestigious "Magician of the Year’" Award by the Hollywood Academy of Magical Arts in 1983, and was the first magician from outside the US to receive it.^{[citation needed]} An Easter special of The Paul Daniels Magic Show won the Golden Rose of Montreux Award at the International TV Festival in Switzerland in 1985.

Daniels was the first recipient of The Maskelyne, awarded for services to British Magic by The Magic Circle in 1988.^[9]

More recently he was named "World's Greatest Magician" by students at Boston Spa School, Yorkshire. Daniels turned up to the ceremony and gave an impromptu show.^[10]

Outspoken views[link]

Daniels is known for being outspoken on a range of matters, including politics and current affairs as well as magic, entertainment and fellow celebrities.

Daniels is a supporter of the Conservative Party.^[11]

On the subject of criminal justice, he has stated: "...make them afraid of the punishment...when I heard Ian Huntley had tried to commit suicide – I’d have helped him. There are no ifs or buts about Huntley. With him, I wouldn’t even have told him the result of the trial, he'd just have gone to sleep and never woken up".^[12]

Daniels has stated that he has very little sympathy with the homeless since, in his words, "I was always trying to be best, to get ahead of the other guy. And I can't say why, I just knew I could...I saw Peter Stringfellow on TV one time, and we both have a little, but not very much, sympathy for the homeless, because both of us came from very poor backgrounds, got off our arses, and grafted".^[2]

Daniels now refuses to attend magic conferences in the UK since they "...were ruined for me by bitchiness and jealousy...now I only go to foreign conventions where, to be honest, I am greeted with respect and civility AND I have tons of ‘foreign’ magician friends."^[13]

He is dismissive of modern illusionists. He has described David Blaine as "not very original".^[2]

He is also dismissive of modern impressionists – "I don't think much to modern impressionists either. Forget Alistair McGowan."^[14]

On journalism – "I don't really understand why journalism has to be so nasty, so sarcastic and intrusive".^[14] Daniels has often remarked that for his final trick he would like to make "The Sun disappear", a reference to the British tabloid newspaper.

He said that Anne Robinson has hated him ever since his 1987 Halloween special hoax performance.^[14]

On the radio presenter, Chris Morris he commented: "[He's] just nasty."^[14]

On the hereditary system in the House of Lords – "The hereditary peers, the real Lords, have the genetic knowledge so they know what to pass and what not to let through. I believe the gene carries more than physical characteristics. It's more than just education that makes the Lords better at making these kind of decisions than leaving it with the Commons. It's like an animal instinct. The aristocracy may act foolish, but in times of war and riots they have the knowledge and a belief and strength of leadership and instinct that coal miners just haven't got...".^[14]

On pornography – "Porn is fine when it's between consenting adults. The stuff with kids is wrong, but between consenting adults it's fine. There's a lot I like, although nothing weird. There's a group of people who are really into looking at pictures of women in guillotines. Not naked or anything. Just in guillotines. They have a page full of pictures of Debbie in guillotines – I have used guillotines in my routines. How strange is that as a fetish?".^[14]

Family and personal life[link]

Daniels married his first wife, Jacqueline Skipworth (born 1942), in 1960, when she was 17 and he was 21. He has three sons by her: Gary, Paul and Martin. Martin sometimes appeared on The Paul Daniels Magic Show, and Paul's father, Hughie, often made props for the show, such as wooden boxes for the Selbit Sawing illusion. Daniels' nephew James Phelan is a budding young magician.

Daniels married his second wife, long-time assistant Debbie McGee on 2 April 1988 in Buckinghamshire.^[15] The couple met in London in May 1979 during rehearsals for Daniels' summer season show in Great Yarmouth that year. At that time he was 40 and she was 20. McGee went on to work with Daniels in his 1980 summer show in Bournemouth and then his London stage show It's Magic before being offered the role of assistant in his long-running television series. Their relationship gradually became more established until he proposed in 1987. Early in their marriage they lived in a house in Denham, that once belonged to Roger Moore. In 1998 they moved to a house on the banks of the River Thames at Wargrave in Berkshire.^[16][17]

Daniels' autobiography, Under No Illusion, includes descriptions of his and McGee's joking life:

"I was writing and needed to concentrate, so I had a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on my back. Eventually I went to bed and Debbie was lying stark naked on the bed – eat your heart out fellas! She was wearing the sort of sleeping blindfold you get on long-haul flights. Printed on it was Do Not Disturb. But further down her body she had a sign that said Disturb!"^[2]

Daniels also claims in the book to have had, as of the year 2000, sexual relations with more than 300 women.^[2] This figure includes a Chinese girl he met on a Hong Kong ferry during his National Service, whom he recalls as being "rather throaty".^[18]

Daniels maintains a website that includes personal information, a detailed blog and records podcasts. The blog incorporates Daniels's diary entries and day-to-day musings and observations on a range of topics.^[19]

He has an Isuzu Trooper for hauling props and show material with the personalised registration plate that reads 'MAG1C'. He also drives a Toyota Prius for personal use. During his life he has also owned three Bentleys and a Ferrari.^[20]

In 2007 Daniels took part in the BBC Wales programme Coming Home about his Welsh family history.

In February 2009, Daniels and McGee appeared in Closer magazine in a picture recreating an image from an Armani advert that featured footballer David Beckham and his wife Victoria.^[21]

In January 2011, a wig belonging to Daniels was sold for charity on Ebay for £1,100.^[22]

Paul Daniels Magic Show transmission guide[link]

• Series 1: 4 editions from 9 June 1979 – 22 June 1979
• Series 2: 6 editions from 13 September 1980 – 18 October 1980
• Series 3: 6 editions from 26 September 1981 – 28 November 1981
• Series 4: 8 editions from 6 October 1982 – 20 November 1982
• Series 5: 8 editions from 15 October 1983 – 3 December 1983
• Series 6: 8 editions from 1 September 1984 – 20 October 1984
• Series 7: 10 editions from 7 September 1985 – 9 November 1985
• Series 8: 9 editions from 6 December 1986 – 14 February 1986
• Series 9: 9 editions from 2 January 1988 – 27 February 1988
• Series 10: 8 editions from 7 January 1989 – 25 February 1989
• Series 11: 8 editions from 6 January 1990 – 24 February 1990
• Series 12: 9 editions from 5 January 1991 – 2 March 1991
• Series 13: 9 editions from 11 January 1992 – 7 March 1992
• Series 14: 9 editions from 2 January 1993 – 27 February 1993
• Series 15: 9 editions from 2 April 1994 – 18 June 1994
• Specials

• Special produced by Granada TV: 31 December 1977
• Christmas Special: 22 December 1979
• The Paul Daniels Magic Christmas Show: 25 December 1980
• Paul Daniels Magical Christmas: 25 December 1981
• The Paul Daniels Magic Christmas Show: 25 December 1982
• The Paul Daniels Magic Christmas Show: 26 December 1983
• The Paul Daniels Magic Christmas Show: 25 December 1984
• The Paul Daniels Magic Easter Show: 6 April 1985
• The Paul Daniels Magic Christmas Show: 26 December 1985
• The Paul Daniels Magic Christmas Show: 27 December 1986
• Paul Daniels Live at Hallowe'en: 31 October 1987
• The Paul Daniels Magic Christmas Show: 26 December 1987
• Paul Daniels Live at Hallowe'en: 31 October 1988
• The Paul Daniels Magic Christmas Show: 26 December 1988
• The Paul Daniels Magic Show: 26 December 1989
• The Paul Daniels Magic Show Christmas Edition: 24 December 1990
• The First Ten Years: 22 March 1991
• The Paul Daniels Magic Show Festive Edition: 28 December 1991
• The Paul Daniels Magic Show Festive Edition: 24 December 1992
• The Paul Daniels Christmas Magic Show: 28 December 1993
• Secrets Festive Special: 29 December 1994
• Compilations

• The Best of Paul Daniels 1981: 12 April 1982
• The Best of Paul Daniels 1982: 4 April 1983
• The Best of Paul Daniels: 3 April 1984
• Paul Daniels Magic Moments: Best of Series 6: 3 January 1985
• Paul Daniels Million Pound Magic: Best of Series 7: 5 May 1986

Paul Daniels Secrets Transmission Guide[link]

• Series 1: 8 editions from 15 November 1995 – 17 January 1996
• Secrets Festive Special: 29 December 1994

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Paul Daniels, Under No Illusion, Blake Publishing (May 2000), ISBN 1-85782-314-1

External links[link]

• Paul Daniels' homepage
• Paul Daniels' weblog
• Paul Daniels Magic Party Shop Online
• Paul Daniels' Ebay Transactions a blog about Paul Daniels' buying and selling activities on Ebay
• Paul Daniels on IMDb

Videoclips[link]

• Chimpanzee card trick
• Advertising Heineken
• Let Me Entertain You – Celebrity X Factor 2006

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 . (Discuss) Proposed since October 2011.

Americans with disabilities comprise one of the largest minority groups in the United States. According to the Disability Status: 2000 - Census 2000 Brief approximately 20% of Americans have one or more diagnosed psychological or physical disability:

Census 2000 counted 49.7 million people with some type of long lasting condition or disability. They represented 19.3 percent of the 257.2 million people who were aged 5 and older in the civilian non-institutionalized population -- or nearly one person in five..."^[1]

This percentage varies depending on how disabilities are defined. According to Census Brief 97-5, "About 1 in 5 Americans have some kind of disability, and 1 in 10 have a severe disability."^[2]

Although Americans live in the only industrialized nation without universal healthcare^{[citation needed]}, those with disabilities can generally find adequate levels of subsidized support from a variety of sources, generally at the regional level. While most rural areas — especially in the Great Plains region — have little or no government-organized medical support infrastructure for the permanently disabled indigent population, most major urban centers have healthcare systems. One of the largest developed systems is the Harris County Mental Health and Retardation Authority (MHMRA).^{[citation needed]} Started in 1992 as a spinoff of the local University of Texas Health Science Center, MHMRA proved to be a success as it focused on handling complex Medicare and Medicaid paperwork for patients, in a system which greatly cut down on administration costs and sped the approval process.^[3]

Americans with disabilities are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

External links[link]

• American Association Of People With Disabilities
• United Cerebral Palsy, nonprofit supporting people with all disabilities
• Census Bureau Data on Disability
• The National Organization on Disability
• DisabilityInfo.gov - The New Freedom Initiative's Online Resource for Americans with Disabilities

References[link]

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (January 2012)

Sign supporting the 'Cuban Five' in Varadero, Cuba.

The Cuban Five, also known as the Miami Five^[1] (Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González, and René González) are five Cuban intelligence officers convicted in Miami of conspiracy to commit espionage, conspiracy to commit murder, and other illegal activities in the United States. The Five were in the United States to observe and infiltrate the U.S. Southern Command and the Cuban-American groups Alpha 66, the F4 Commandos, the Cuban American National Foundation, and Brothers to the Rescue.^[2][3]

At their trial, evidence was presented that the Five infiltrated the Miami-based Cuban exile group Brothers to the Rescue, obtained employment at the Key West Naval Air Station in order to send the Cuban government reports about the base, and had attempted to penetrate the Miami facility of U.S. Southern Command.^[3] On February 24, 1996, two Brothers to the Rescue aircraft were shot down by Cuban military jets in international airspace while flying away from Cuban airspace, killing the four U.S. citizens aboard.^[3] One of the Five, Gerardo Hernández, was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder for supplying information to the Cuban government which according to the prosecution led to the shootdown. The Court of Appeals has, however, reversed the conviction on the conspiracy to commit murder, since there is no evidence that Hernández knew the shootdown would occur in international airspace.^[3]

For their part, Cuba acknowledges that the five men were intelligence agents, but says they were spying on Miami’s Cuban exile community, not the U.S. government.^[4] Cuba contends that the men were sent to South Florida in the wake of several terrorist bombings in Havana allegedly masterminded by anti-communist militant Luis Posada Carriles, a former Central Intelligence Agency operative.^[4][5]

The Five appealed their convictions and the alleged lack of fairness in their trial has received substantial international criticism.^[6] A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta overturned their convictions in 2005, citing the "prejudices" of Miami’s anti-Castro Cubans, but the full court later reversed the five's bid for a new trial and reinstated the original convictions.^[4] In June 2009 the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case.^[7] In Cuba, the Five are viewed as national heroes and portrayed as having sacrificed their liberty in the defense of their country.^[8]

Rene Gonzalez was released in October 2011^[9] following the completion of 13 years of his sentence with a further 3 years of probation in the US.

Background[link]

In 1960s and 1970s, there were many acts of terrorism against Cuba by U.S.-based counterrevolutionary exile groups such as Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations (CORU), Alpha 66, and Omega 7. In a 2001 report by Cuba's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, the Cuban government cataloged 3,478 deaths as a result of "terrorism", "aggression", "acts of piracy and other actions".^[10] The events cited span the course of four decades and pertain to attacks such as the bombing of Cubana Flight 455 by men trained by the Central Intelligence Agency, the CIA-supported Bay of Pigs invasion, and the War Against the Bandits between the government and anti-communist rebels in the Escambray Mountains (see also Operation Mongoose]). As a result, the Cuban government had long sought to combat these groups. Their efforts include the use of spies sent to operate in the U.S.^[11] The Federal Bureau of Investigation and other U.S. organizations had been monitoring the activities of Cuban spy suspects for more than 30 years.^[12]

Activities[link]

The "Cuban Five" were Cuban intelligence officers who were part of "La Red Avispa", or Wasp Network, which the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) dismantled with 10 arrests in 1998.^[13] According to Gerardo Hernández, the leader of the cell, and as reported by Saul Landau in the political magazine CounterPunch, the network observed and infiltrated a number of Cuban-American groups: Alpha 66, the F4 Commandos, the Cuban American National Foundation, and Brothers to the Rescue.^[2] The court found that they had infiltrated Brothers to the Rescue, a Miami-based organization that flew small aircraft over the Florida straits in efforts to rescue rafters fleeing Cuba, and had on some flights intentionally violated Cuban airspace and dropped leaflets.^[3] They obtained employment as laborers at the Key West Naval Air Station and sent the Cuban government detailed reports about the movement of aircraft and military personnel, and descriptions of the layout of the facility and its structures.^[3] They also attempted to penetrate the Miami facility of Southern Command, which plans and oversees operations of all U.S. military forces throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.^[3] On February 24, 1996, two Brothers to the Rescue aircraft were shot down by Cuban military jets in international airspace while flying away from Cuban airspace, killing four U.S. citizens aboard.^[3] The U.S. government also accused the remaining four of lying about their identities and sending 2,000 pages of unclassified information obtained from U.S. military bases to Cuba. The network received clandestine communications from Cuba via the Atención numbers station.

U.S. government organizations, including the FBI, had been monitoring Cuban spy activities for over 30 years, but made only occasional arrests.^[12] However, after the two Brothers to the Rescue aircraft were shot down by Cuban MiGs in February 1996 and four U.S. citizens were killed, on the basis of information sent to Cuba by an infiltrator of the group, the Clinton administration launched a crackdown.^[12] According to U.S. attorney José Pertierra, who acts for the Venezuelan government in its attempts to extradite Luis Posada Carriles, the crackdown was aided by the cooperation of the Cuban authorities with the FBI in 1997. The Cubans provided 175 pages of documents to FBI agents investigating Posada Carriles's role in the 1997 bombings in Havana, but the FBI failed to use the evidence to follow up on Posada. Instead, they used it to uncover the spy network that included the Cuban Five.^[14][15] According to FBI evidence at the trial, the FBI had been monitoring the communications of Hernández, whose information enabled the shootdown, for several years prior to that event.^[16] He was not arrested until 1998.

Arrests, convictions and sentences[link]

All five were arrested in Miami, on September 12, 1998 and were indicted by the U.S. government on 25 different counts, including charges of false identification and conspiracy to commit espionage. Seven months later, an additional indictment was added for Gerardo Hernández - conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the shoot-down of the Brothers to the Rescue aircraft.^[16] The additional charge followed months of public and media debate in Miami, with Cuban exile groups pressing for the charge.^[16]

Hernández states that from the day of their arrests, five spent 17 months in solitary confinement.^[17] The President of the Cuban National Assembly Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada stated that evidence that "belonged to the defendants themselves and included family photographs, personal correspondence and recipes"^[18] - was classified as "secret", preventing the defendants and their attorneys from seeing it.^[18]

The trial, beginning in November 2000, went on for seven months, although jury deliberations lasted a few hours.^[18] In June 2001, the group was convicted of all 26 counts in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami, including the charge of first-degree murder against Gerardo Hernandez which the prosecution had applied to withdraw.^[18] The prosecution had tried to withdraw the case when it became clear that the judge's jury instructions would specify that the murder charge required that the deaths occurred within U.S. jurisdiction, which it had been unable to show. The prosecution also applied for an emergency writ, which was denied, that the instructions should exclude reference to jurisdiction.^[19]

In December 2001, the members of the group were sentenced to varying prison terms: two life terms for Hernández, to be served consecutively; life for Guerrero and Labañino; 19 years for Fernando Gonzáles; and 15 years for René Gonzáles.^[18] In addition, the prosecution sought the post-release deportation of the three Cuban-born members, and for the two U.S.-born members, a post-release sentence of "incapacitation", imposing specific restrictions on them after their release, which would be enforced by the FBI. The restrictions ban them from "associating with or visiting specific places where individuals or groups such as terrorists, members of organizations advocating violence, and organized crime figures are known to be or frequent."^[20]

A 2011 NPR report claimed some of the people associated with this group were imprisoned in a highly restrictive Communication Management Unit.^[21]

Appeals[link]

After the arrests, motions by the defense for a change of venue, on the basis that Miami was a venue too associated with exile Cubans, were denied,^[18] despite the fact that the trial began just five months after the heated Elian Gonzalez affair.^[22] The jury did not include any Cuban-Americans but 16 of the 160 members of the jury pool "knew the victims of the shootdown or knew trial witnesses who had flown with them."^[23] According to Ricardo Alarcon, President of Cuba's National Assembly, a year later, an application to change venue for the same reason was granted by the same court in an employment case with a Cuban connection.^[18] As a result the Five applied for annulment of the trial and a change of venue for a retrial; the motion was denied.^[18] According to Alarcon, the Five's appeal to a higher court was inhibited by further month's solitary confinement in early 2003, and by denial of access to their attorneys.^[18] On August 9, 2005, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta unanimously overturned the convictions and sentences of the Cuban Five and ordered a new trial outside of Miami, saying that the Cuban exile community and the trial publicity made the trial unfavorable and prejudicial to the defendants.^[23] This was the first time a Federal Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a trial court's finding with respect to venue.^[24] However, on October 31, 2005 the Atlanta court agreed to a U.S. government request to review the decision, and in August 2006 the ruling for a new trial was reversed by a 10-2 vote of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal sitting en banc. Charles R. Wilson wrote the opinion of the majority.

On June 4, 2008, a 3-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the convictions of the "Five" but vacated and remanded for resentencing in district court the sentences of Guerrero, Labañino, and Fernando González. The court affirmed the sentences of Gerardo Hernandez and Rene Gonzalez.^[3][11] The court held that the sentencing judge had made six serious errors and remanded the case back to the same court. The decision was drawn up by William Pryor.^[25] In January 2009, the Five appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.^[26] 12 amicus curiae briefs were filed.^[27]

In May 2009, in response to the request for Supreme Court of the United States review of the panel decision by Judge Pryor, Solicitor General Elena Kagan, on behalf of President Barack Obama, filed a brief asking that the petition for a writ of certiorari be denied.^[28] On June 15, 2009, the Supreme Court denied review^[7]

On October 13, 2009, Antonio Guerrero's sentence was reduced to 22 years. On December 8, 2009, Ramon Labanino and Fernando Gonzalez's sentence were reduced to 30 years and 18 years, respectively.^[29]

Plans for a 2010 appeal[link]

In June 2010 Cuban Five defense lawyer Leonard Weinglass was preparing to file a new round of appeals that would include evidence of U.S. government payments to journalists who later authored negative articles before and during the original trial of the Cuban Five.^[30] Weinglass died on March 23, 2011.

International criticism of the convictions, and U.S. response[link]

Since their conviction, there has been an international campaign for the case to be appealed. In the United States, the campaign is most conspicuously represented by the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five^[32][33][34] which is represented in twenty U.S. cities and over thirty countries.

On 27 May 2005, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights adopted a report by its Working Group on Arbitrary Detention stating its opinions on the facts and circumstances of the case and calling upon the U.S. government to remedy the situation.^[35] Among the report's criticisms of the trial and sentences, section 29 states:

29. The Working Group notes that it arises from the facts and circumstances in which the trial took place and from the nature of the charges and the harsh sentences handed down to the accused that the trial did not take place in the climate of objectivity and impartiality that is required in order to conform to the standards of a fair trial as defined in article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the United States of America is a party.

Amnesty International has criticized the U.S. treatment of the Cuban Five as "unnecessarily punitive and contrary both to standards for the humane treatment of prisoners and to states’ obligation to protect family life", as the wives of René Gonzáles and Gerardo Hernández have not been allowed visas to visit their imprisoned husbands.^[36] Amnesty said in early 2006 that it was "following closely the status of the ongoing appeals of the five men of numerous issues challenging the fairness of the trial which have not yet been addressed by the appeal courts."^[37]

The U.S. Government has responded to these claims,^[38] stating that the prisoners have received over a hundred visits from family members granted visas. The government contends that the wives of González and Hernández are members of the Cuban Intelligence Directorate, and thus pose a risk to the national security of the United States:

Consistent with the right of the United States to protect itself from covert spies, the U.S. government has not granted visas to the wives of two prisoners. Evidence presented at their husbands’ trial revealed that one of these women was a member of the Wasp Network who was deported for engaging in activity related to espionage and is ineligible to return to the United States. The other was a candidate for training as a Directorate of Intelligence U.S.-based spy when U.S. authorities broke up the network.

Sign on a street in Varadero, Cuba.

Eight international Nobel Prize winners have written and sent a document to the U.S. Attorney General calling for freedom for the Cuban Five, signed by Zhores Alferov (Nobel Prize for Physics, 2000), Desmond Tutu (Nobel Peace Prize, 1984), Nadine Gordimer (Nobel Prize in Literature, 1991), Rigoberta Menchú (Nobel Peace Prize, 1992), Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (Nobel Peace Prize, 1980), Wole Soyinka (Nobel Prize in Literature, 1986), José Saramago (Nobel Prize in Literature, 1996), Günter Grass (Nobel Prize in Literature, 1999).^[39][40]

In the United Kingdom, among other actions, 110 Members of Parliament wrote an open letter to the U.S. Attorney General in support of the Five.^[41][42][43]

In April 2009, a Brazilian human rights group, Torture Never Again, awarded the Five its Chico Mendes Medal, alleging that their rights had been violated, declaring that "their mail is censored and their visiting rights are very restricted."^[44]

In 2011, Brazilian writer Fernando Morais wrote The Last Soldiers of the Cold War, about the Cuban Five. The book is based on over 40 interviews and documents of the governments of United States and Cuba.

Current Location[link]

• Gerardo Hernández
• Antonio Guerrero
• Ramón Labañino (Luis Medina III)
• Fernando González (Ruben Campa)
• René González on parole for three years starting 2011

References[link]

1. ^ "Miami Five wives again denied visas to visit their husbands". Amnesty International. http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/miami-five-wives-again-denied-visas-visit-husbands-20090326. Retrieved 01 May 2012. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Saul Landau, CounterPunch, 17 April 2009, Infiltrating Alpha 66.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} 4 June 2008, United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, D. C. Docket No. 98-00721-CR-JAL.
4. ^ ^{a b c} Havana Complains About Conditions for Cuban Spy in U.S. Jail by the International Herald Tribune, August 4, 2010.
5. ^ Duncan Campbell (2008) 'Society has become more punitive', section The history of the Cuban Five.
6. ^ Pat Denny, Green Left Online, UNITED STATES: Cuban Five ruling a "travesty of justice", #680, 2006.
7. ^ ^{a b} Reuters, 15 June 2009, Top court won't review case of five Cuban spies.
8. ^ The Washington Post, 3 June 2006, Cubans Jailed in US as Spies Are Hailed at Home as Heroes.
9. ^ "Cuban spy free from Florida jail but must stay in U.S". Reuters. 7 October 2011. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/07/us-usa-cuba-agent-idUSTRE7962A020111007. 
10. ^ Cuban Ministry of Foreign Relations (2001), (Spanish) Informe de Cuba al Comité Antiterrorismo del Consejo de Seguridad en virtud de la Resolución 1373(2001).
11. ^ ^{a b} Reuters, 4 June 2008, U.S. court upholds conviction of Cuban spies.
12. ^ ^{a b c} The Miami Herald, September 2, 2001, "Couple accused of reporting to two Cuban spies".
13. ^ The Miami Herald, September 14, 2001, "Lawyer: Accused spy to plead guilty".
14. ^ CounterPunch, 10 July 2009, President Obama, It's Up to You to Rectify This Injustice - The Cuban Five: a Cold War Case in a Post-Cold War World.
15. ^ AFP, 3 May 2007, http://rawstory.com/news/afp/FBI_probes_Cuban_s_possible_links_t_05032007.html FBI probes Cuban's possible links to 1997 Havana bombing: report].
16. ^ ^{a b c} Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada, CounterPunch, 3 September 2009, Indictment À La Carte.
17. ^ Saul Landau, CounterPunch, 24 April 2009, An Interview with Gerardo Hernandez, Leader of the Cuban Five: Seventeen Months in "the Hole".
18. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Ricardo Alarcón, Counterpunch, 27 August 2005, A Long March Towards Justice:The Cuban Five in Atlanta.
19. ^ Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada, CounterPunch, 4 September 2009, It Happened in Miami.
20. ^ Ricardo Alarcon, CounterPunch, 27 August 2009, In Their Own Words: Incapacitating the Cuban Five.
21. ^ DATA & GRAPHICS: Population Of The Communications Management Units, Margot Williams and Alyson Hurt, NPR, 3-3-11, retrieved 2011 03 04 from npr.org.
22. ^ Christian Science Monitor, 15 June 2009, Convicted 'Cuban Five' spies lose bid for new trial.
23. ^ ^{a b} Reuters, 9 August 2005, U.S. court reverses Cubans' spying convictions.
24. ^ GreenLeftOnline, 24 August 2005, UNITED STATES: Cuban Five convictions reversed in landmark decision.
25. ^ Leonard Weinglass, Links, 23 September 2008, Chronicle of an injustice: Summary of the case of the Cuban Five.
26. ^ Havana Times, 31 January 2009, Cuban 5 Case at US Supreme Court.
27. ^ Scoop, 6 April 2009, US Embassy Refuses Letter From MPs. Crs. Unionists.
28. ^ Elena Kagan, Lanny A. Breuer, Joseph F. Palmer, U.S. Department of Justice, No. 08-987: Ruben Campa, et al., Petitioners, v United States of America, May 2009.
29. ^ [1]
30. ^ Linn Washington, Jr (June 4–6, 2010). "The Federal Government Paid Journalists to Sabotage Trial". CounterPunch. http://www.counterpunch.org/washington06042010.html. Retrieved 16 August 2010. 
31. ^ Obama and Castro: Sparring Over Human Rights by Martha Burk, The Huffington Post, April 7, 2010.
32. ^ National Committee to Free the Cuban Five.
33. ^ Colorado Springs Independent, 10 April 2003, Stinging Back.
34. ^ Fox News, 4 June 2008, Court rules on sentences of 'Cuban 5'.
35. ^ Opinions adopted by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, OPINION No. 19/2005, pp. 60-65.
36. ^ Amnesty International, 26 January 2006, [2]
37. ^ Susan Lee, CounterPunch, 26 January 2006, An Open Letter to the State Department: The US is Violating the Rights of the Cuban Five.
38. ^ [3]
39. ^ CNN, 30 January 2009, 'Cuban Five' file appeal with Supreme Court.
40. ^ Amicus brief of Nobel Prize winners Jose Ramoshorta, Wole Soyinka, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Nadine Gordimer, Rigoberta Menchu, Jose Saramago, Zhores Alferov, Dario Fo, Gunter Grass, and Mairead Corrigan Maguire.
41. ^ Znet, 8 December 2007, Leonard Weinglass Interview.
42. ^ Cuba Solidarity Campaign, Hilton Hotels and discrimination against Cuban Nationals, CSC Briefing Paper, March 2007.
43. ^ Cuban Ministry of Foreign Relations, 9 February 2006, Nobel prize winner and 110 British demand the Cuban Five's liberation.
44. ^ Associated Press, April 5, 2009, 'Cuban Five' Receive Brazilian Human Rights Medal.

Further reading[link]

• The perfect storm case of the Cuban Five, Editora Politica, Cuba, 2006

See also[link]

• Barry Seal

External links[link]

	Cuba portal
	United States portal

• National Committee to Free the Cuban Five
• Miami 5 — site run by the Cuban newspaper Granma
• antiterroristas.cu — on terrorism against Cuba, and on the Cuban Five
• The Untold Story of the Cuban Five by Cuban National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcón
• The Coddled "Terrorists" of South Florida by Tristram Korten and Kirk Nielsen, Salon Magazine, January 14, 2008
• The Federal Government Paid Journalists to Sabotage Trial by Linn Washington Jr, CounterPunch, June 4, 2010

v t e Cuba–United States relations Bay of Pigs Invasion · Brothers to the Rescue · Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba · Cuban American · Cuban-American lobby · Cuban dissident movement · Cuban Five · Cuban Missile Crisis · Elián González affair · Guantanamo Bay Naval Base · Helms–Burton Act · List of Cuba – United States aircraft hijackings · Luis Posada Carriles · Mariel boatlift · Operation Northwoods · Operation Peter Pan · Platt Amendment · Spanish–American War · United States Ambassador to Cuba · United States embargo against Cuba · United States Interests Section in Havana