MUMIA'S MESSAGE TO FIDEL

To His Excellency Presidente Fidel Castro-Ruz, Republic of Cuba, Havana

Mr. President:

Since I was a youth, reading about the rebellion against the Batista government that became a full-fledged revolution, I have been an admirer of the accomplishments of the Cuban people.

The United States, long before the Bay of Pigs, invaded your country to extend the range of slave territory, to enslave the entire hemisphere. The spirit of liberty that burned in Cuban hearts then, over a century and a half ago, still burns brightly there, like a fire on the mountain in the night.

I, and many others of my acquaintance, wish to thank you, and the brave, noble Cuban people, for extending the hand of liberation to our friends like Assata Shakur, Nehanda, and others like them. We thank you and the Cuban people for the Battle of Cuita Carnavaale, in Angola, where the freedom for South Africa was won.

Once again, the Americans were on the side of slavery's lineal descendant, the apartheid regime.

Many millions around the world are grateful for the work of Cuba in behalf of the first human right, freedom.

Thank you, Mr. President, for being at the head of a nation that can justly claim to be free territory in the Americas.

With admiration,

Mumia Abu-Jamal, Death-Row
Prisoner in the Prisonhouse of Nations