Rene Gonzalez Asks Cuba to Grow Yellow Ribbons on September 12

The antiterrorist fighter and Hero of the Republic of Cuba Rene Gonzalez called the Cuban people to fill the country with yellow ribbons on September 12 as evidence that all its citizens “are waiting for four of its sons who are imprisoned in the U.S.” .

In a speech released yesterday through the Cuban television, Rene Gonzalez explained that: “a yellow ribbon is a symbol that has entered American culture, which began during the English Civil War, when the wives of soldiers were waiting for them with yellow ribbons.”

The International Committee for the Release of the Five Cuban Antiterrorist Fighters convicted in the United States, called also today friends and solidarity groups to multiply yellow ribbons, a symbol of hope for the return of these men to their homeland.

During the actions to be carried out from September 5 to October 6, especially those on September 12, the day marking the 15th anniversary of the detention of Gerardo Hernandez , Ramon Labañino Salazar, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez Llort, and Rene Gonzalez Schewerert, should carry yellow ribbons, the group said.

It is expected that “not only in the United States but also throughout the world, people carry yellow ribbons in marches, sit-ins, events, and vigils in front of the White House and the Washington embassies in those countries, as the families of the Five and all the Cuban people will use. They are waiting for the return of their children to homeland,” the Committee said in a statement released today.

“There has been fifteen years of unjust imprisonment, 15 years of revenge for the crime of being honorable and defend the right to life of their people, 15 years that are a disgrace for the most basic principle of justice, 15 years of perverse manipulation, of violations to them and their families,” the text stated.

And despite that, the Five, as they are worldwide known, bear no hatred, or bitterness, and all we ask is to give the truth to the U.S. people, he added.

The yellow ribbon is a symbol for the American people, based on a legendary love song, whose story has been adapted, but has endured for over a century.

The Five were detained while monitoring from the city of Miami the movements and activities by violent groups and individuals engaged in planning terrorist acts against Cuba, as those that have left more than 5,000 deaths and people with disabilities for more than 50 years.