March for the Five

Madeleine Sautié Rodríguez

CONVENED by the Cuban Union of Writers and Artists (UNEAC), the Solidarity with the Five Committee and the Cuban Friendship Institute, a notable representation of Havana residents marched to the José Martí Anti-Imperialist Tribunal to demand the liberation of Cubans Fernando, Ramón, Gerardo and Antonio, unjustly incarcerated in U.S. prisons. The march coincided with the 15th anniversary of their arrest.

The march ended at the Monte de las Banderas in the Anti-Imperialist Tribunal.

The event, attended by Armando Hart Dávalos, director of the Martí Program Office and president of the José Martí Cultural Society; Miguel Barnet, member of the Communist Party Central Committee and president of UNEAC; René González and family members of the Cuban Heroes, once again confirmed the will of the Cuban people to demand the immediate return of their sons to the homeland.

"This demonstration is to give an impulse to the return of the others," Olga Salanueva, René’s wife, commented to Granma. "What is happening here today is a wave of hope. Really, our hope is solidarity, it is the petition of our people so that this event is transmitted to the world and so that it reaches the President of the United States and the people, who can understand our pain. Today we feel much stronger because we have seen this response," stated Maruchi, Tony Guerrero’s sister.

The Anti-Imperialist Tribunal facing the U.S. Interests Section in Havana welcomed the group Yoruba Andabo and children and adult repentista musical groups, whose messages animated those participating.

Luis Paz Esquivel, Papillo, director of the Ibero-American Décima and Improvised Verse Center, commented to Granma on the spectacular children’s performance. "I think that the leading role played by young children is evidence of the promotion and transmission of the finest values. They have always been in these events since the fight for the return of the child Elián [González]. This is the most convincing evidence that they possess cultural values. This gesture of patriotism, of the sense of belonging to a cause, heard in the voices of children, is something which says a lot about the future of the homeland."

CONCERTS THROUGHOUT CUBA

At 6:00pm on September 12, a total of 104 musical bands and 22 choirs from across the country performed in parks and musical institutes to demand the return to the homeland and their families of Gerardo, Ramón, Antonio and Fernando.

On this 15th anniversary of their arrest and imprisonment in the United States a message of love and solidarity was sent through music to the U.S. government and the world. It also affirmed, Enough! their people and René are waiting for them.

GRANMA