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Message from the Free the Cuban 5 Committee - Vancouve

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"To you, our eternal gratitude for your immense and constant support that makes us continue to be resistant and makes us taste our inevitable freedom each day." - Antonio Guerrero 

Dear friends in the struggle to free our 5 Cuban Heroes,

The year 2013 has passed with great victories in the continued struggle to free our 5 heroes. As we look together towards 2014, we are sure that there will be many more victories and challenges in our campaign for justice. 

Vancouver will honour our 100th consecutive monthly picket action in front of the U.S. Consulate for freedom for ALL of the 5 Cuban Heroes on March 5, 2014. On this important day, the Free the Cuban 5 Committee - Vancouver invites you to join with us by organizing an event in solidarity with the 100th picket and the Cuban 5 in your community. We know that with more unity, coordination and action , we are ever closer to the day when ALL of the Cuban 5 will be free.

With the return of René González, one of the Cuban 5, to Cuba, the International campaign for the Cuban 5 has more hope and courage than ever before. It was a great step forward in the case of the Cuban 5 and in the world-wide struggle for human rights when, after spending 13 years in a U.S. jail and 1.5 years on parole in Florida, René González returned to Cuba.

The launching of the Yellow Ribbon Campaign by René González has also been another step forward for the freedom of the Cuban 5. On the 15th anniversary of the arrest and imprisonment of the Cuban 5, September 12th, 2013, René appealed to people in Cuba and around the world to 'tie a yellow ribbon.' Yellow ribbons covered the island of Cuba, each one representing the desire to see the 5 heroes return. Yellow Ribbons were also tied by activists around the world, in fact, they remain to this day on the trees in front of the U.S. Consulate in Vancouver. 

With every correspondence and expression, the Cuban 5 Heroes show to us the dignity and honour that they have maintained through 15 years of cruel and unjust imprisonment. More than that they have given us the example of how it can be possible to stand strong for justice and the dignity of oppressed people everywhere fighting against U.S.-backed terrorism from behind U.S. prison bars.

To win the freedom of ALL of the 5 Cuban heroes we need to educate, organize and mobilize people in Vancouver, in British Columbia, in Canada and around the world for their freedom. 

It is now less than one month away from the occasion of the 100th monthly picket action in Vancouver. On March 5, 2014 the Free the Cuban 5 Committee - Vancouver is inviting you to organize forums, pickets and demonstrations, film showings, petitioning and postcard signing, or whatever event you can imagine for freedom for our 5 Heroes. Together we will make this important action for our 5 Heroes as loud and wide-spread as possible. 

Our work for the freedom of ALL of the 5 Cuban Heroes must be intensified. The 100th consecutive monthly picket in Vancouver is another opportunity to break the media silence around the case of the Cuban 5. Also, another opportunity to campaign on social media for their freedom. It is another opportunity to make it known that Obama - Yes You Can! Free ALL the Cuban 5 NOW! 

Every day Gerardo, Fernando, Ramon and Antonio wake up locked inside four walls, however their desire and conviction for freedom continues to inspire us in the struggle. Through our united action on Wednesday, March 5th, 2014 we are following their example, raising our voices ever louder, "the Cuban 5 will return."   

Let us know what you are planning in your city. Together, let's make 2014 the year to free ALL the Cuban 5! 

Free the Cuban 5 Committee - Vancouver Member of the Canadian Network on Cuba (CNC)