Uruguayans Demand Freedom for the Cuban Five

Montevideo, Nov 28 (Prensa Latina) A thousand Uruguayan metalworkers demonstrated today in front of the U.S. Embassy here to demand the immediate release of four Cubans held in U.S. prisons for fighting terrorism.

Chanting slogans like "Yankees out of Latin America" and "Cuba yes, Yankees no", the workers, members of the Union of Metalworkers and Allied Branches, marched from the headquarters of the PIT-CNT trade union to the embassy's entrance.

There, PIT-CNT director of foreign affairs Jorge Bermudez denounced the economic, commercial and financial U.S. blockade against Cuba and condemned the unjust and prolonged imprisonment of the Cuban Five, four of whom remain in prison.

Bermudez said that the United States was the main force behind the repressive Uruguayan dictatorship (1973-1985) and reiterated the anti-imperialist nature of the Uruguayan trade union movement and its special solidarity with Cuba.

Bermudez stressed the demand to free Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez, Gerardo Hernández and Ramón Labañino, who have been imprisoned in the United States for over 15 years.

He also mentioned Rene González, who has been in Cuba since April, following his release in 2011 after 12 years in prison. Bermudez added that the Cuban Five fought against terrorism against the Cuban people forged from within U.S. territory.

Bermúdez also thanked Cuba for its solidarity with Uruguay over several decades, and particularly the work of an ophthalmalogic medical brigade in Montevideo and scholarships for young Uruguayans to study in Cuba.

The coordinator of the PIT-CNT, Marcelo Abdala, delivered to the U.S. embassy a second request for an interview with Ambassador Yulissa Reynoso to demand the release of the four Cubans who remain in U.S. prisons, noting that the first request had gone unanswered.

PRENSA LATINA

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