New York Steps Up Solidarity with Cuban Five

Pinar del Rio, Cuba, Jul 22. -New York coordinator of a project for the release of the Cuban Five, Benjamin Ramos, said sympathy for this cause in his country had stepped up.Cubans should know that they are not alone in the struggle for the return of Antonio Guerrero, Ramon Labanino, Rene Gonzalez, Gerardo Hernandez and Fernando Gonzalez, imprisoned since September 1998 in U.S. jails, Ramos told Prensa Latina.

Ramos explained that New York has increased campaigns to demand the release of the five (as they are known internationally). They were arrested for monitoring groups that were planning terror attacks against Cuba.

The program created by Ramos six years ago is based on popular education through the expansion of outreach activities in communities, unions, churches and schools in the state, in which citizens of different nationalities converge. More and more people join this effort, the initiatives grow, I am optimistic but dissatisfied, much remains to be done, Ramos stressed.

The blockade against Cuba imposed by the United States for nearly half a century, also includes the media. For that reason many people do not know yet what happens with the five anti-terrorist and the efforts to gain their release, Ramos said.

The 37 members of the contingent arrived on Thursday in Pinar del Rio, where they will speake with students and workers in schools and health centers. (Prensa Latina)