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Poetry/Writings of the Cuban 5

Ramón's poem for the Day of Love and Friends
by Ramón Labañino Feb. 14, 2012
ONLY LOVE
In this daily struggle Full of challenges and tenacity There is glory
in each morning When I receive your good song.
Only love can create that work Which for love you and I defend. Only love rewards each good action With its tenderness.
Only love crosses borders And comes to where I am, With the elegance of a thousand faces and one poem Of
love alone, only love…
Only love conquers chimeras, That is how you and I will overcome!
Happy Day of Love and Friendship! All the love of the Five is with you today and always!!!
Tony, Gerardo, René, Fernando, Ramón. Feb. 14, 2012 FCI Jesup, Georgia
Love
Letter to Adriana to Gerardo: "Please come back soon, I need you"
Feb. 9, 2012 Reprinted from CubaDebate
A gift
My love, Valentine’s Day is coming and, once more, we remain apart; every year we say the same thing, this year will
be the last!
I wish to wake up by your side and hug you as most
couples will do; of them, I am envious today. A right we have been deprived of for a long time; more than fourteen years without
kissing you, touching you, settling for only listening to your voice on a phone call whenever possible, a postcard or some
detail thanks to your characteristic creativity and to the solidary support of those who manage to get a smile of happiness
out of us.
As I was going over some papers and photographs, I
took time to observe the last pictures we took on my birthday, in January 1998, and I couldn’t stop thinking of how happy we were at the time, our eyes said it all.
Where is my spring? Where has the sun hidden that forgot
my garden, that my soul withered? Like the song goes.
I surprised myself dreaming you were free already,
back home with me, and in a big hug I asked you not to let me alone again. Be on time!, as you usually say.
That’s why on this day of happiness, romance and gifts, I do not find a better present for you than to offer you my future, since you are already the owner of
my past and my present.
Happy Valentine’s Day!!!
Please, come back soon, I need you, I love you.
Your bonsai,
February 7th, 2012
Antonio Guerrero has arrived at a new prison in Marianna,
Florida
His message to supporters and new address!
Jan. 12, 2012
Dear Friends:
I've arrived at my destination, the prison where René's furtive presence of peace,
respect, friendship, his dedication to study and physical exercise still lingers.
Yes, I'm talking about the medium security prison of Marianna, in Florida.
A brief summary of my trip:
I left Thursday the 5th (January), from Florence headed to the airport of Pueblo
(Colorado).
Already waiting for us, to our surprise, was the plane from Oklahoma for the first
exchange of prisoners, the ones who would remain in that zone of Colorado and those of us who would travel to the Transit
Center.
We flew to California. I had never flown so far to the west. I was "close" to Gerardo,
because there we picked up the ones who were leaving Victorville.
Then it was a direct flight of several hours returning to the center of this extensive
country, that is to say, to Oklahoma. Nothing new awaited me there. I was on the list of the first ones who exited the plane:
those of us headed to the "hole."
Already reserved for me was the same cell during my last stay there. Yes, the same
"secluded place" where various poems were created two years ago.
This time, "the girls" who distributed the medications were no one I could recall.
There was no time nor inspiration for verses. I left Oklahoma this past Tuesday the 10th.
We flew in another long journey with destiny to Jacksonville. There a bus picked
us up that took us to a prison in Tallahassee, where we barely spent a few hours "sleeping."
At 3 in the morning on the 11th, we were already getting ready to travel by highway
to our final destiny. It felt to me like an endless trip, a dark morning of intense rain.
We have had no communication until today the 12th (it is always a 24 hour delay
when you get to a new prison).
Oh, I almost forgot: this time, finally, there was no "black box" (a torturous box
around the hands of an inmate in transit).
I have missed you all, although as I told you, you have accompanied me and always
will.
Later I will be giving you my first impressions here.
Five hugs. Venceremos! Tony Guerrero Rodríguez Jan. 12, 2012 FCI Marianna,
6:35 a.m.
Note: My new address is:
Antonio Guerrero #58741-004 Quarters: APACHE A FCI Marianna P.O.Box
7007 Marianna, FL 32447-7007
Ten Years Ago
by Antonio Guerrero Dec, 27, 2011
Dear friends:
It's been exactly one decade since Judge Lenard — in a Miami courtroom — imposed
a wrong and unjust life sentence on me.
I wonder, how many wrong things had happened until that day of my sentence?
It was wrong to try to find an impartial jury there, which could never be found.
It was wrong not to permit us access to our evidence, classified as secret documents, locking
them into a second hole, where only a few times were we allowed to read them with our lawyers.
It was wrong to decide that only a part of that evidence, which the government decided, would
be permitted to use in that courtroom.
It was wrong to deny us the fundamental theory of "necessity defense," which would demonstrate
the reasons that we carried out our activity without registering (with the attorney general).
It was wrong to allow with impunity all the acts of misconduct by the prosecutors and many
of their witnesses.
Each sentence imposed on my brothers was wrong and unjust. I had the honor of watching them
pronounce their sincere and honorable words, and to receive with courage the serious and extraordinary sentences.
Finally, it was wrong to have had a "trial," the longest seen in the court, where we could
never receive justice, after having denied us a change of venue to a city just a few hours from there.
That error was corroborated by a panel of three judges of the 11th Circuit of Appeals in Atlanta,
who ruled unanimously, after analyzing all the arguments of our direct appeal for three years and giving their verdict in
2005.
There, in the midst of a perfect storm, in that Courtroom of Miami, is our last legal recourse,
the Habeas Corpus, in the hands of that same Judge Lenard, who for her misjudgment caused us to stay in one of the most violent
penitentiaries in this country for 8-1/2 years.
There are things that one is capable of overcoming but not to forget, although we will never
hold one iota of rancor in our hearts.
With love and friendship, we will win!
Five hugs,
Antonio Guerrero Rodríguez
December 27, 2011 FCI Florence
New Year's Greetings from the Cuban Five
From Fernando:
Dear friends:
I wish to convey to all of you my most sincere appreciation for another year of company in solidarity with this struggle for
truth and justice.
The year which will soon end is yet another
year of significant efforts of all those, who in one way or another, contribute to the objective of making the freedom of
the Cuban Five a reality.
We are aware of the activities and events
that all of you organize everywhere in the world as part of the campaign for our freedom. To each one of you, in each place
on the planet where you show the universal value of human solidarity, with the closing of the year 2011, receive my gratitude
and my certainty that we will achieve victory.
May you have a happy and fruitful New
Year, and that 2012 be another year of gains and victories for the causes that we defend.
Happy 2012! Venceremos!
Fernando González Llort
From Ramón:
This year 2011 is reaching an end, and
we want to use this opportunity to extend our gratitude and love to everyone.
We are very honored to count on you,
and in this moment your solidarity and support is extremely important, more than ever before. We are certain that with your
help, we shall overcome! and embrace you in freedom and happiness, then all our dreams will become true!!!
Best wishes for everybody!!!
On behalf of "the Cuban five", our families
and the Cuban people :
"Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2011!!!!!"
Ramón Labañino Salazar Dec. 8th, 2011 FCI
Jesup, Georgia
From
Antonio:
Dear friends,
 Antonio with his sons Gabriel and Tony |
René is free, but it is a
freedom with many conditions, it is a freedom where is in constant physical danger, it is a freedom without being able to
have Olguita and his daughters next to him, it is a freedom without freedom.
Gerardo continues under the
terrible conditions of a penitentiary, something I know very well. His strength remains high against the injustice of the
double life sentence and despite not being able to receive visits from Adriana.
Perhaps soon we will hear
about the Habeas Corpus this December. I am wondering what Judge Lenard's response will be? It gave great strength to us to
hear about the participation of friends from all over the world who attended the VII Colloquium for our freedom in Holguin.
Once again the success of this yearly event shows that the struggle for our cause is growing.
These are some of the things
that 2011 ends with, in the iddle of a world that cannot take it anymore and is dying of pain. It is a world that is asking
us to run to help it in order to save humanity from so much selfishness, a world that is taking us, as Fidel affirmed, "in
a relentless pace, toward a definite and total catastrophe."
For me, the recent visit of
my two sons has been the most wonderful thing that has happened to me in these 13 years of imprisonment.
With great thanks for your
support, on behalf of the 5, I wish you a Happy New Year 2012! Peace, health, and happiness. ¡Venceremos! Cinco abrazos.
Antonio Guerrero Dec. 2011
From
René:
Dear Friends:
With the end of another year, and the festivities and symbolism that these dates signify for each one of you — in your
space of our diversity — the family spirit is renewed and our best wishes are conveyed for the near future; a reflection
of our aspirations, dreams, realities and devotion.
For the five of us who have been separated
from our families and our people for more than 13 years, the recurrent wish that this injustice finally be rectified, is once
again our main hope. All of you, our constant companions throughout this arduous struggle for something as simple as seeing
the law applied, have demonstrated the sensitivity that allows you to feel personally the wounds caused by the denial of that
most basic dream of ours and our loved ones. You have made a place in your hearts for this prolonged battle that would have
caused many to give up. For that perseverance we thank you and we reiterate to you the certainty of our eternal gratitude.
We await an important year, possibly a decisive one, in which the results from the last legal skirmish in this long
and tortuous process may finally come to light. As the prosecutors themselves have admitted, the impact of solidarity cannot
be dismissed. To know that we can continue counting on your efforts sustains and comforts us. We have no doubt that we will
continue together in this struggle until victory, and it will be thanks to the actions of people like you that we will finally
be reunited with our families.
It is for that mutual connection that
your happiness is ours as well, we share in your projects, we enjoy your successes, and together we project the optimism and
perseverance that makes us one. With that spirit of fraternity and shared feelings, we wish you the best possible New Year's
celebration. May you have success in all your endeavors, which are ours as well.
A happy and prosperous 2012.
Affectionately,
René
González Sehwerert
Messages from the Five / Mensajes de los Cinco
12 de septiembre de 2011
Thirteen years is a long time; many things have changed and others things can change as well, but what will
never change is the certainty of our victory and the gratitude of the Five to people from all over the world who have given
us their solidarity.
Gerardo Hernández September 12, 2011 Victorville Penitentiary
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Queridas hermanas y hermanos de todo el mundo,
Hoy, 12 de septiembre, 2011, se cumplen 13 años de injusto y largo encierro, donde las manipulaciones, mentiras
y ocultamiento de evidencias, por parte del gobierno de este pais, hacen interminable y aun mas dolorosa esta odisea juridica.
sin embargo, en el otro lado de la balanza, y sin faltar un solo segundo a lo largo de esta batalla hermosa y ya epica, estan
todos ustedes, hermanas, hermanos, familiares, amigos eternos, que nos llenan de orgullo y privilegio.
Gracias a ustedes, a toda la solidaridad internacional, hemos obtenido pequenos avances, como la resentencia
de 3 de nosotros, aunque aun condenados a exageradas e i injusticiables sentencias. mas la lucha continua.
Aun, nuestro hermano Gerardo Hernandez permanece cumpliendo dos cadenas perpetuas y 15 anos, por delitos
que jamas cometio, cuyas evidencias exculpatorias el gobierno se niega a entregar, burlando no solo la justicia y la etica
universal, sino las propias leyes y constitucion de estados unidos. para el no ha habido nunca ni el menor descanso en esta
batalla, contra el se han empleado todos los recursos de castigo y menosprecio, y se siguen utilizando.
Por otro lado, Rene Gonzales, ya esta a punto de cumplir su injusta condena, y aun pelea porque se le reconozca
el derecho legitimo de reunirse con los seres que mas ama, y volver a su patria.
Todos seguimos en la pelea por la justicia y la verdad. ahora presentamos los ultimos recursos legales extremos
para obtener algun remedio que rectifica tanta insidia. se presentaron los "habeas corpus" de gerardo, tony, y de ramon. podemos
decir que son fabulosos documentos, fuertemente basados en las leyes y con evidencia real de nuestras inocencias, y de lo
aberrado de todo este proceso. pero no somos ingenuos, como muchas veces antes, sabemos que este es una causa totalmente y
unicamente politica, y a ello se debe la decision de jueces y fiscales.
Nuestros familiares sufren por segundo esta situacion, nuestros hermanos, nuestros amigos.
No podemos permitir que esta injusticia continue por mas tiempo, que otros hermanos cumplan sentencias que
no se merecen, que gerardo continue siendo tratado con tanta crueldad.
Esta es la verdad y el panorama que enfrentamos en este 13 aniversario de cautiverio.
Pero nosotros, seguimos y seguiremos luchando hasta la victoria final, porque no hay razon mas hermosa que
se defienda que el decoro y el derecho de nuestra patria a ser libre, independiente y soberana.
Y estamos orgullosos de saber que contamos con esta solidaridad fabulosa, que algun dia, cada vez mas cercano,
nos llevara ya libres a nuestro suelo patrio.
!Gracias a todos por la fiel compania! !Nuestro amor y carino queda con ustedes! !Venceremos!
Ramon Labañino Salazar
Septiembre 12, 2011. 11:50 a.m. FCI Jesup, Georgia |
Dear sisters and brothers around the world,
Today, September 12, 2011, thirteen years of an unjust and prolonged incarceration have been completed,
where the manipulations, lies and concealment of evidence engaged in by this country's government, have made this legal odyssey
an endless and even more painful one. However, on the other side of the equation, without so much as a single second's hesitation
throughout this beautiful and already epic battle, are all of you, sisters, brother, family, eternal friends, who fill us
with a sense of pride and privilege.
Thanks to all of you, to the entire international solidarity movement, we've made small steps forward, such
as a re-sentencing for three of us, although the sentences remain exaggerated and unjustifiable. The struggle continues.
Our brother, Gerardo Hernández, still remains under a double life sentence plus 15 years, for crimes he
never committed, whose exculpatory evidence the government refuses to hand over, making a mockery not only of justice and
universal ethics, but of the very laws and constitution of the United States. For him, there has been no rest whatsoever in
this battle, and against him, every kind of punishment and disparagement have been and continue to be used.
On the other hand, René Gonzáles is finally at the point of completing his unjust sentence and still must
fight for the recognition of his legitimate right to reunite with those who love him most, and return to his homeland.
We all continue in the fight for truth and justice. Now our final legal appeals are being presented to obtain
some kind of remedy that might rectify so much injustice. The "Habeas Corpus" petitiions of Gerardo, Tony and Ramon have been
presented. We can say that they are marvelous documents, with a strong legal basis and with real evidence of our innocence,
as well as the aberrations of this entire process. But we are not naïve. As in many prior moments, we know that this is a
totally and uniquely political cause, and that is behind the decisions of judges and prosecutors. Our families, brothers,
friends also suffer from this situation.
We must not permit this injustice to continue any longer, that other brothers should be forced to complete
undeserved sentences, that Gerardo should continue to be treated with such cruelty.
This is the reality and the scene that we are facing on this, the thirteenth anniversary of captivity.
But we are continuing and shall continue struggling until victory is achieved, because there is nothing
more beautiful than the defense of the dignity and right of our country to be free, independent and sovereign.
And we are proud, knowing that we can count on this wonderful solidarity that some day, ever closer, will
free us and bring us home.
Thank you to everyone for your faithful companionship!
Our love and affection remain with you!
We shall be victorious!
Ramon Labanino Salazar Sept. 12, 2011, 11:50 a.m. FCI Jesup, Georgia
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Queridos amigos:
Yo me levanto, por mi reloj biologico, unos 15 o 20 minutos antes de que abran las puertas cada man~ana.
Hoy me sorprendio el aspero ruido del oficial con la llave, abriendo mi celda a las 5:55 a.m. Es una llave no habitual,
grande, de mas de 10 centimetros de largo, que siempre accionan con fuerza. Mi primer pensamiento, inevitablemente, viajo
a aquel amanecer de un dia como hoy, hace ya 13 an~os. De aquellos momentos, en que a la misma hora y en similares condiciones,
violentamente nos arrestaron, escribi estos versos.
EN EL ARRESTO DE UN HERMANO
Lo hicieron todo una mañana horrible de un dia doce, despertar violento. Ni un solo paso hacia la
sala oscura de donde vino el ruido dio. !Al piso!- dieron la orden con aspera amenaza y con furor. No es sueno~o es
realidad- decia en su interior un eco. Los brazos a la espalda le llevaron salvajemente, y apretadas pusieron en
sus muñecas rigidas esposas, como a un vil bandolero. Ya en un auto sono, con recio golpe, la puerta. No tuvo miedo. En
un auto oficial tirar la puerta es por algo rotundamente serio. Ante su firme calma se rompian todas las tretas para
convencerlo de traicionar su patria, aceptando lo que no habia hecho. En una celda gris, como una fosa, termino
todo aquello. Y fue el instante en que echo a andar el largo y cruel encierro.
Mas tarde mejores pensamientos fueron sustituyendo al de este amanecer. Imagine a mi hijo Gabriel en
su primer dia de clases en la CUJAE. Recorde el magnifico programa de ayer en la Luz en lo oscuro. Lei varios mensajes,
siempre alentadores, de varios amigos. Me fui a pintar por algo mas de una hora. Se que en Cuba y el mundo continuara
la batalla por nuestro regreso a casa, a la amada patria. Es un dia mas de injusta prision.
!Venceremos! Cinco abrazos. Antonio Guerrero Rodriguez 12 de septiembre de 2011
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