Castro Decorated by A.I.M.

Hoka-Hey!

--ryan



HAVANA - An American Indian activist group has selected Cuban President Fidel Castro for its highest honor for exceptional warriors - the first time the "Eagle Feather" has been bestowed on a non-native of the United States, a Cuban news agency reported Thursday.

Daniel Cheng Yang, leader of the American Indian Movement's youth group, traveled to Cuba to present the award to Castro along with a declaration honoring "the man who represents respect, success, honor and bravery," the official National Information Agency said.

During his visit, Cheng also condemned the U.S. economic blockade against the communist island and expressed the Indianorganization's solidarity with five Cuban spies held in U.S. prisons.

He read a letter from imprisoned Indian activist Leonard Peltier, who thanked Castro and the Cuban community for supporting efforts to free him.

Peltier was convicted in 1977 for participating in the slaying of two FBI agents on a South Dakota Indian reservation in 1975. He is serving back-to-back life sentences in federal prison. The Indian movement claims the FBI obtained his conviction through coerced and false testimonies. U.S. courts have denied several appeals.

The five Cuban spies were convicted in Miami in 2001
of trying to infiltrate U.S. military bases and Cuban exile groups
in Florida. Their sentences range from 15 years to life.

Cuban authorities say the men are heroic patriots who were working to prevent violent Cuban exile groups from launching terrorist acts against their homeland.

Castro is the first living person, head of state, and non-U.S. native to receive the "Eagle Feather," the highest honor bestowed by the American Indian Movement, the news agency said.