Release of Cuban Heroes Welcomed in New York

Release of Cuban Heroes Welcomed in New York United Nations, Jan 5 .-Groups of solidarity with Cuba and social organizations in New York welcomed the release of the five Cuban counter-terrorist fighters held in US prisons, during a cultural evening.

The event, held at the head office of the union 1199 SEIU, of the US health sector, concluded late at night on Saturday in Manhattan, where the rain or the low temperatures prevented dozens of people from attending.

Large posters saying Free the Cuban Five recalled those present the struggle from the Big Apple in favor of the return to Cuba of Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Rene Gonzalez and Fernando Gonzalez, who were arrested in 1998 for monitoring violent groups based in Miami, from where they organize and execute actions against the

Caribbean island.

Thank you for your solidarity, your support and your everyday struggle for the release of our five heroes, said Cuban Ambassador to the United Nations Rodolfo Reyes.

The diplomat highlighted the commitment by many social activists to the cause of these counter-terrorist fighters, whose imprisonment and unfair sentences generated rejection in the world.

According to the ambassador, another important objective to his country is to achieve the lifting of the economic, trade and financial blockade imposed by the United States more than 50 years ago.

In that reference, representatives of the New Yorker movement of solidarity with Cuba reiterated their promise to champion the end of the unilateral measure, with speeches accompanied by the slogan "Cuba si, bloqueo no" (Cuba: Yes, Blockade: No).

The cultural evening included emotional moments and tears, as playing a video about the arrival in Havana of Hernandez, Labañino and Guerrero, who returned to their country on December 17, the same day that the US and Cuban Presidents, Barack Obama and Raul Castro, respectively, announced steps to normalize the bilateral relations.

Rene Gonzalez and Fernando Gonzalez had returned to the Caribbean island in May, 2013 and February, 2014, respectively, after fully serving their sentences. (Prensa Latina)