René Gonzalez: I’m in Cuba, but we are still the Cuban Five

I’m in Cuba, but we are still the Five, said today at a press conference in Havana René González, one of the five Cubans convicted in the U.S. for fighting terrorism against Cuba

Along with his wife, Olga Salanueva, René showed the US Certificate of Loss of Nationality, which he had just received, a document that allows him to stay permanently in Cuba.

However, he said that he will not feel free until his brothers in arms return: Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labañino, Fernando Gonzalez and Antonio Guerrero.

He noted that the granting of the Certificate, awarded by the U.S. State Department does not constitute any humanitarian gesture.

He thanked the international solidarity with the Five and stressed the need to intensify actions, with the goal of American public opinion knows of the case and the injustice done to them

The U.S. Government has to overcome the pressures of the most reactionary anti-Cuban sector and start a dialogue with Cuba, he said.

The philosophy of confrontation between the two countries is very harmful, and I hope one day terrorism and aggression against Cuba are things of the past, he added.

René read a message recently sent by Gerardo from the maximum security prison in Victorville, Calif., where he is serving an unfair sentence of double life plus 15 years.

In an exclusive interview with ACN, René said he was honored that Gerardo considered him a champion of the cause of the Cuban Five.

He noted that this condition is shared as a team with the mothers, wives and families who have made the world aware of the case.

The commitment for us is “not to separate but stay together until we’re all here in Cuba,” he said.

The Five were arrested in 1998 in Miami and convicted in 2001 in that city for monitoring violent groups in U.S. territory who were planning terrorist actions against Cuba.

HAVANA, Cuba, May 10 (acn)

Tags: human-rights