By Laura V. Mor on September 12, 2018
Today marks another anniversary of the arrest and imprisonment of Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, Antonio Guerrero Rodríguez, Ramón Labañino Salazar, Fernando González Llort and René González Sewherert by the United States for defending their homeland.
It is not just any anniversary. Twenty long years have passed since that day, and now the Five, as they are known worldwide, are free and back in Cuba, “inserted in the daily life” of the Cuban people, as Gerardo said.
Today at an event to commemorate the occasion in the beautiful patio of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), José Prieto, Vice President of the organization, highlighted the important role of Fidel and Raúl, the determination of the Cuban people and the perseverance of more than two thousand organizations from 154 countries who struggled for the return of the Cuban Five Heroes.
In his talk Prieto mentioned that the first committee that was formed for the freedom of the Five was precisely in the United States and he also remembered the numerous actions that the solidarity movement carried out around the world demanding that the government of the United States put an end to this injustice.
“Just thinking that the people of Cuba were behind us, as well as our Revolution and thousands of comrades in every corner of world gave us encouragement,” Gerardo emotionally said.
Flyers during the World Cup in Brazil, a flag raised in Antarctica, climbing Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina to place the Five’s flag at the top, bicycle rides along Cuba and and the yearly international meetings held in Holguín were some of those relentless displays of solidarity that gave strength to the Five during their long years of solitude in prison.
“It was a constant and victorious battle by the hand of an entire people and family,” said Ricardo Alarcón, recalling the circumstances of the detention and experiences over the 16 years that the wives, mothers and children of these five dignified sons of the Homeland of Martí had to endure.
“It was not a concession,” he remarked, explaining that “the United States freed them because they had no alternative. Apparently they needed a rapprochement with Cuba and they realized that for that to happen they had to free the five. “We don’t have to thank anyone but ourselves and the thousands of comrades who took up this cause as their own,” said Alarcón, recognizing the important role played by solidarity and the pressure exerted around the world in this case.
“It is wrong to believe that we are talking about a history of the past,” he said, making it clear that the case of the Five was a brutal edge of the sinister imperialist game of interference against Cuba.
“The U.S. plan was not for us to become Heroes, but to make it a media show in front of the cameras,” said Gerardo Hernandez, giving an account of the attempts made to get them to betray their mission and to surrender. That did not happen and as Fernando once said, “every man who respects himself owes it to his homeland”.
“We are soldiers of Fidel, of Raúl and now of Díaz- Canel”, concluded Gerardo before a sustained applause of those present at the event. He reminded everyone that, “there would not have been any negotiation if the Five had not become a world case”, thanking those who from different countries fought for their liberation. After his talk, the rumba drums of Yoruba Andabo began, this time dedicated to them, the anti-terrorist Heroes.
Fidel promised they would come back. “And we came back,” said Gerardo. Fulfilling their duty to defend their homeland was their sin. Resisting without betraying was their merit. Today the people of Cuba celebrate this victory of having them back home.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano, translation North America bureau