On July 15, the US State Department once again refused a visa for Adriana Perez to visit her husband Gerardo Hernandez who is imprisoned in the US.
Hernandez is one of the Cuban Five, unjustly condemned to two perpetual life terms plus 15 years.
The Cuban Five have been in US jails for nearly 11 years under the most difficult conditions. Their sole "crime" was to peacefully infiltrate South Florida anti-Cuban terrorist organisations in order to inform the US authorities about the terrorist activities in an attempt to stop them.
Their trials and arbitrary treatment have been condemned around the world. Many can see the case as fraudulent and a travesty of justice. The continued refusal to allow visitation rights to Perez constitutes a violation of US and international norms that prohibit such double punishment as cruel and unnecessary.
Perez has not seen her husband since he was arrested in 1998. She has been consistently refused by the US State Department as a "threat to the stability and security of the US"!
This is a political case. The Cuban Five are political prisoners. If the case was open and transparent, why did the recent June 15 Supreme Court decision to refuse the review of the case not go public and openly state to the world the reason for this denial?
President Barack Obama has made so much political capital on the slogan of "change". The Cuban Five case is merging with many other issues merging together these days into a series of litmus tests for the Obama administration.
The ball is now in Obama's camp. Change or status quo? He must immediately release the Cuban Five, as the US constitution allows the president to do.
[Arnold August is a Canadian-based author specialising on Cuban democracy. He is a member of the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five. For more information, and to take action, visit