Greetings from the Five and their families!

New Year's Messages from the Cuban Five
Dec. 31, 2014

To the friends who share our happiness

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Gerardo and Adriana. (photo: Bill Hackwell)

We have lived very intense days since last December 17. There are not enough hours in the day to respond to so many messages we've received by different means, and very soon, with Gema's arrival, it could be we will have even less time to communicate with you. But you should know that there has not been one day that we have not thought of you all, who today are also enjoying this victory, by the return of the Five to our Homeland. 

Each and every one of your efforts of solidarity contributed to make this triumph possible. For more than 16 years we Five dreamed of this happiness that we are now living. You all struggled to make it possible. And today, with each display of love that we receive from our people, our gratitude multiplies toward the sisters and brothers who supported us for so long.

On behalf of the Five and our families, we wish you a happy and very successful 2015, and we send you greetings for the 56th Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution.

A strong embrace,
Adriana, Gerardo (and Gema).

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We wish you all much happiness in the New Year with good health, success in your plans and love. 

Infinite thanks for all the help given during all these years that passed, you all were our comfort and our support in feeling we were not alone. When 12:00 arrives on the 31rd, we will toast to all those friends who accompanied us and made possible the return of our Five brothers. This year's end will sing, dance and laugh with much joy for the union of our families and for the new goals that we will pursue here on out.

We love you all.




The Guerrero family
Long Live the 57th Anniversary of the Revolution!

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Underneath this photograph many friends who visited us made it theirs, while we fought for the freedom of our brothers who were still imprisoned. It was also our struggle, to become fully free. Today I can say that this complete freedom accompanies me as I sit here with Olguita to give testimony of this moment.

It was more than 13 years ago that Fidel said: "I only have one thing to say to you: They will return!" That sentence was a call to all to take on the task of bringing the Five home to Cuba. Today that call became reality, but it has been thanks to the struggle of all of you, who knew how to convert the words of Fidel into a movement, in energy and living matter.

We thank you for having accompanied us all these years. For not having faltering in the demand that this justice be rectified. For having multiplied the voices that joined our cause until the empire could no longer continue keeping the Five in prison. This is our happiness, of everyone, but it the victory of you all.

We owe you our gratitude, and our commitment to always be deserving of the love and affection with which you took up Fidel's call.

Embraces to everyone from my family, on behalf of the families of the Five.

Thank you for returning this happiness to us.

With all our affection,
René y Olguita

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Happy New Year!
from the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five

San Francisco celebration the night after the Cuban Five Heroes returned home

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Dear friends of the Cuban Five:

   As 2014 comes to an end, we welcome the New Year by celebrating the stupendous victory for Gerardo, Ramón, Antonio, Fernando and René, a victory for the Cuban people and all justice-loving people. We look forward to the restoration of diplomatic relations and hope for a quick end to the illegal blockade that the Cuban people have heroically resisted for 54 years.

   And we happily await the very special celebration to come soon: The arrival of Adriana's and Gerardo's precious Gema and the lifetime of joy they will share with their daughter.

   More and more each day, Cuba provides hope and inspiration for the world. The National Committee to Free the Cuban Five stands in support of Cuba and its great Revolution whose 56th anniversary we celebrate tomorrow. We salute the Five and their families for their revolutionary principles and perseverance.

   We thank Fidel, Raúl and all the leadership of the Cuban Revolution for their wisdom that brought about a new society.

   To everyone who contributed in countless ways to the Cuban Five's freedom, let us all raise a toast to the struggle that helped make their freedom possible! 

Congratulations Gerardo, Ramón, Antonio, Fernando, René!

Happy New Year to All!
Happy 56th Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution!

The Hour of Triumph

by Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada

Ricardo Alarcón and Len Weinglass, Havana, 2005

Dec. 27, 2014
Reprinted from CubaDebate
Translation by freethefive.org  

They returned. On December 17, finally, Gerardo, Ramón and Antonio were free, in Havana, with Fernando and René and their families. 

From the moment President Raúl Castro announced it on national radio and television, the people came out into the streets to celebrate what is a great triumph for Cuba. It is a victory for all those who never tired in demanding their freedom. In Cuba, but also in Miami. And throughout the whole world. 

It was a long and difficult fight. Sixteen years is too much time. There were moments of joy but many more of bitterness and sorrow. Countless are the anonymous heroes who never faltered in the uphill battle that required perseverance and sacrifice. 

There were many, but I feel duty bound to mention two: Roberto González Sehwerert and Leonard Weinglass. Both endured immense difficulties including grave debilitating health and they struggled, literally until the last breath.

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Roberto and René González with their mother Irma

Roberto learned English and the tangled path of the U.S. judicial system until he became a specialist, he had the joy of embracing his brother René, now freed, but he died with the same determined tenacity to rescue those who remained in prison and who were also his brothers.

Lenny dedicated all his time to this cause without asking anything in return. He devoted his brilliant professional career and at great personal sacrifice he visited the Five in the prisons. He traveled the world seeking solidarity and he was the vital core of the legal battle that he never gave up until his noble heart stopped beating. He left us with the sorrow of not reaching the promised land.

But both Lenny and Roberto are with us in this time of celebration that, without them, would have been impossible.

That same day, President Obama announced the reestablishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba and a series of measures, welcomed by all, to dismantle the blockade and initiate a new era in bilateral relations.

He will surely face the already announced opposition of those who will do all they can to frustrate his proposals. A long road lies before us which poses new challenges for the solidarity movement and also for Cuba.

We forge ahead with optimism. With us always will be the Five brothers who displayed unsurpassed example of the capacity of their people to resist. And in the forefront will be also, Lenny and Roberto.

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Read another tribute by Ricardo Alarcón to those who fell along the way: The Victory for All and the Road Ahead

Read more of Ricardo Alarcón's thoughts on the U.S.-Cuba changes

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