Fidel recalled that in the hardest days of the
battle for Elián's liberation, the support of the
U.S. people as a whole rose to 70%, "which
should not and will not be forgotten." Within that
support, which he described as decisive and
admirable," he noted than 90% of African Americans
defended the rights of the child and his father.
In that context, he referred to the execution in
Texas of Shaka Sankofa, who, he said, "was
murdered." Subsequently, the Cuban president
noted that independently of the legal infractions
attributed to Shaka with great emphasis by his
executioners when he was an marginalized
adolescent living in conditions of poverty and
racial discrimination, "what is unquestionable is
that he was sentenced to death for an alleged
homicide when still a minor, without any
consideration or compassion whatsoever, and
without his guilt even having been proven."
Fidel went on to affirm: "Everything done to him
is in contradiction with universally accepted
legal doctrines and principles."
After his comments on the irregularities committed
with Sankofa, the Cuban leader stated that "it is
generally believed in the United States and
throughout the world that he was sentenced to
death and executed simply for being black," on top
of "the monstrous deed of subjecting him for 19
years to the funeral chapel or what is more
bluntly known as death row."
Fidel emphasized that "Shaka Sankofa has shown
the world the bitter fruit of a social system
where differences between the richest and the poorest
are infinite and where individualism, egotism,
consumerism, a generalized use of firearms and
violence reign as a philosophical foundation."