Children Sing and Draw for Cuban Five

_ Holguín, Cuba, Nov 17 (PL) Children from primary and secondary schools in Holguín expressed their solidarity with the Cuban Five by singing, drawing and dancing in the Tents for Peace installed here as part of an international forum to demand the release of the Cuban antiterrorist fighters.

Guided by art instructors, pioneers from several schools gathered outside Expo Holguín to dedicate their drawings, poems, songs and letters to Fernando Gonzalez, Ramon Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Gerardo Hernandez and Rene Gonzalez, five antiterrorist fighters unjustly sentenced to lengthy prison terms in the United States.

The cultural program, which will conclude on Saturday, has become one of the favorite spaces for many of 300 delegates from 50 countries who are participating in the 7th Colloquium for the Release of the Cuban Five and against Terrorism, taking place in this eastern province from Thursday to Saturday.

Ana Cepena, one of the teachers and organizer of the activities, told Prensa Latina that children from several primary schools like Simón Bolívar, Mario Pozo, and Tony Alomá schools, among others, are participating in the project.

It also includes works from students from the high schools Panchito Gómez and Oscar Ortíz.

According to Danay Ramirez, a sixth-grade student from the Julio Grave de Peralta school, with their letters, poems, drawings and songs, children express their support for the international demand for the release of those "Cuban heroes".

She explained that every school has a committee of solidarity with the Cuban Five, which is a good way to send them letters.

Today, a commission formed by some students, plan to go to the post office to send the Five the poems and drawings that awarded in a contest her school held in September, she added.

In her opinion, it is a privilege to study in a school that received, twice, replies from Antonio Guerrero to letters sent by one of the pioneers.

Danay see Fernando, Ramón, Antonio, Rene and Gerardo as big brothers who fight for the happiness and safety of Cuban children and to guarantee that they can accomplish their goals in life.

The Cuban Five, as they are known worldwide, were have been unjustly held in U.S prisons since 1998 because they infiltrated and monitored terrorist groups based in south Florida which planned and carried out actions against the Cuban and U.S. peoples.

Rene Gonzalez, the first of the Five to serve his prison sentence, must stay on U.S territory for three years under "supervised release, while his four comrades face harsh sentences of up to two life terms plus 15 years.

Prensa Latina