| |
|
No.
58738-004
René González
F.C.I. Edgefield
P. O. Box 725
Edgefield, South Carolina 29824
René González Sehwerert was born in Chicago
on August 13, 1956. On October 6, 1961 his parents, Cándido
René González Castillo and Irma Teodora Sehwerert,
returned to Cuba with their two sons.
René began primary
studies in the José Martí School in Santa María
del Mar, east of Havana, with satisfactory results. In 1968,
he was admitted to the Military School in Baracoa, west of
Havana. But due to health problems he was unable to continue
this institute's rigorous academic program.
He began high school in 1972 and in 1973 joined a Workers
Contingent in which he took a special high school course for
workers. He began teaching classes between 1973 and 1974.
It was common practice for high school graduates to teach
classes in the early years of the Cuban Revolution when the
government was still trying to consolidate the education system.
In 1974, although maintaining his status as a US citizen and
therefore eligible for exemption from patriotic responsibilities,
he presented himself for military service. He was trained
as a tank driver, and at the beginning of 1977, after completing
his military service, was accepted to go on an internationalist
mission to Angola. He completed his mission in 1979, having
been decorated for bravery. Between 1979 and 1982 he studied
at the Carlos Ulloa School of Aviation, where he graduated
as a pilot. He worked as a flight instructor until 1985, when
he was designated squadron chief and head of the aeronautics
sports sector.
At the end of 1990 he travelled to the United States. In Miami
he gained access to different counterrevolutionary organizations
that used US territory to organize and carry out terrorist
actions against Cuba with the aim of provoking a military
confrontation between the two countries. He earned his living
as a flight instructor.
His wife Olga Salanueva Arango went to the US in January 1997
to join her husband, accompanied by their eldest daughter,
Irma González Salanueva. In 1998, a few months before
his detention, the youngest member of the family was born
in the US, Ivette González Salanueva.
As a result of René's arrest, Olga and her family began
to receive threats as well as psychological and economic pressure
to betray her husband and her convictions. She nevertheless
decided to stay in the United States to act as an intermediary
between René and his country, and to provide him moral
support. But due to her unwavering attitude she was imprisoned
for 3 months by the Immigration and Naturalization Service
and then deported to Cuba in late 2000.
René was charged with Count 1 (general conspiracy)
and with failure to register as a foreign agent and sentenced
to 15 years. |
|
|
