8-10-05,10:22am

Today, August 9, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals located in southern Florida reversed a trial court ruling against “the Cuban five” and ordered a new trial with a mandated change of venue for the five Cuban agents arrested in 1998 for conspiring to commit espionage.

Fernando González, 41; Rene González (no relation to Fernando), 49; Antonio Guerrero, 46; Gerardo Hernández, 39; and Ramon Labañino, 41, were convicted in Miami before a trial judge and jury whose anti-Castro bona fides was so palpable that it poisoned any resemblance to a fair trial.

Since then, indignant civic leaders, both here and abroad, have been pushing for a re-trial in a less biased region of the country.