Shortly before dying a natural death on the 15, former Pentagon official Daniel Ellsberg had as his last wish the release of Julian Assange and that other whistleblowers dare to follow his example.

The news of his release a few hours ago could not be more pleasant for all beings of good will: after five years of unjust imprisonment for telling the truth, a US court located in the Mariana Islands granted freedom to the brave and honest Australian journalist.

Previously, the founder of Wikileaks had to agree to acknowledge that he had released documents kept secret by the ruling body in the United States, but always emphasizing that he had told the truth, underpinning the right to freedom of information.

The information in this regard has been abundant in all the media, in which the odyssey experienced by Assange is recounted, the persecution he was subjected for denouncing the crimes of the North American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, among so many truths that it reveals the character of those who now put the world on the brink of nuclear war.

Perhaps it’s striking to me that some journalists who defended him at the beginning stepped aside for fear of suffering reprisals, in addition to the fact that he had already been a victim of the despicable act carried out by the then president of Ecuador, Lenín Moreno, who in such a gesture out of arrogance and hatred towards his former party colleagues, as well as acquiescence to the United States, he lifted the political asylum granted to Assange in his country's embassy in London and allowed the British military to drag him out of the embassy premises.

The truth is that in this entire turmoil Assange’s acceptance plays as a requirement for his release, truly necessary in the preservation of such a valuable life and which does not detract from him at all.

This is Biden's interest in leaving a more positive image for the coming November elections, which also includes the decision to eliminate the debts of more than 100,000 university graduates and grant asylum and legalize half a million migrants, as well as, in my opinion, timidly copying that intention outlined by Obama (who was his vice president) to establish a path - until now very harsh- to stimulate private Cuban businessmen living on the island that has been blocked for more than six decades.

ELLSBERG

There’s no one better than Daniel Ellsberg to demand the release of Assange: in 1971 he sent thousands of documents classified by the Pentagon about the Vietnam War to the New York Times, the Washington Post and 16 other North American newspapers. They showed that the government had decided to continue the war—which had already lasted 16 years in the North American stage—even knowing that they would not win it and that it would cause thousands more deaths, lying and hiding the reality from its citizens.

The leak of documents put Ellsberg’s personal safety at risk, who preferred to alert public opinion, which had already been demonstrating en masse against the war since the 1960s.

President Nixon and Kissinger, his Security Advisor and the main person responsible for policy in Vietnam, wanted to silence him by hook or by crook, which included judicial complaints for treason and orders to gangsters to "break his legs." They also tried, unsuccessfully, to prevent the press from publishing the information.

But the stubborn resistance of the political power was defeated by the judicial power. The US Supreme Court ended up endorsing Ellsberg's conduct in the interests of the right to information and freedom of expression, and in consideration to the bad tricks of Tricky Dick ( Nixon’s alias ) against Ellsberg.

Today it’s accepted that Ellsberg's denunciation and the bravery of journalists and their editors contributed to shortening the Vietnam War.

The same thugs mobilized to intimidate Ellsberg, former FBI and CIA agents (who had intervened in the frustrated Playa Girón attempt), were the “plumbers” who would later be caught red-handed in the Watergate scandal, which cost Nixon the presidency in 1974.

Precisely, the group was created as a result of Ellsberg’s case to prevent future leaks and do some dirty work in the shadows. On this occasion it was William Mark Felt, CIA agent, who revealed information to journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post. He was also persecuted and denounced, until he was pardoned by Reagan years later.

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSí Translation Staff