Message from Antonio Guerrero

DEAR compatriots,

Dear solidarity friends,

You all well know, today is different, today we have many friends in all parts of the world who are aware of our situation, of our case and who support and encourage us, every moment of this long battle for our freedom. But 15 years ago, after our arrest, we were totally isolated and imprisoned in those cells in the so-called hole. There, I began to write poems; I didn’t know if they were really poems, but this was the most effective way I had to endure that brutal, unjust punishment.

Today I would like to share with you some of those poems which I wrote with a very small pencil and an innocent soul, in the month of January 1999, during those 17 long months of solitary confinement.

The truth

Facing your gaze, I have again awakened.
Without fear of my pain, I heal my wound
Taking from your garden the most beloved
Flower, filled with your aroma and your being.
Facing you today, I continue walking;
With a firm step the sun covers my footprint.
How beautiful it is to continue loving you.
To multiply my love by every star.
You well know that there are days of pain
When breathing becomes deeper.
Life is only life when there is value
To deliver the truth before the world.


We will reach the sun

Take me today with your essential dawn
To you home of pure wood.
When my hand parts the brush,
Give me a star without delay.
Take me beyond this harsh winter
With your flame of peace illuminate my table
And may we together accomplish the feat
Of making a world that might not have winter.
Hand in hand let us walk
With no fear of the infinite twilight
We will reach the sun, no matter the myth,
If we are always firm, we will overcome.


With my face to the sun

Do not deny me the shade a river gives.
Do not limit me to a single song.
Do not take away a sea which has been mine.
Do not separate me from the star of my passion
Do not delay me any longer in your path.
Do not try to see without my reason.
Do not incite me to change destination.
Do not judge me without seeing my heart.
Do not put me looking toward the darkness.
Do not attempt to kill me as a traitor.
I am a man and good, take it as certain,
One day I will die with my face to the sun.

I once more send all of you, dear friends, our infinite gratitude for your support, your solidarity, your immense love.

Let me reiterate to you that simply reading documents about our case is enough to understand the colossal injustice committed.

Let us continue moving forward!
Five strong embraces!
¡Venceremos!

GRANMA