Brazilian residents in the state of Pernambuco demanded today the release of the five Cuban antiterrorist fighters unjustly held in the United States for 14 years, and announced new actions for those youth.

Several organizations of solidarity with Cuba, as well as university professors and students met in Recife, the capital of Pernambuco, and agreed to write a letter to demand the release of the Cuban Five, as they are known internationally, Edival Caja Nunes, president of the Manoel Lisboa Cultural Center, said in a telephone interview with Prensa Latina.

Four of those fighters, Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labañino, Fernando Gonzalez and Antonio Guerrero, are currently serving severe sanctions since September 1998, to monitor terrorist groups based in Miami, from where they planned actions that have caused more than 4,400 victims in Cuba in the last 53 years.

Meanwhile, Rene Gonzalez was released from prison on October 7, 2011, after 13 years, and now faces an additional punishment of three years under supervised release in that U.S. city.

Caja stated that the letter, addressed to President Barack Obama, will be delivered to the U.S. Consulate in Recife.

We want to denounce the injustice committed against Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez, convicted in a rigged and biased trial, with no right for the defense and partial jury, due to the pressures of the Cuban-American extreme right, he said.

This event aims to bring together men and women from many trends of thought, disciplines, institutions and countries, together with scholars and interested in the life and work of Jose Marti, identified by common concerns to issues of the contemporary life.

The event included members of the Jose Marti and Simon Bolivar departments, the movement of solidarity with Cuba from that State, teachers and students of the University of the territory, and Rafael Hidalgo, director of the Cuban embassy in Brazil.