A massive event, convened by the Workers' Federation from the Ecuadorian province of Esmeraldas, demanded the release of five Cuban antiterrorist fighters unjustly held in the United States and paid a tribute to the island's national hero Jose Marti.

Participants supported the speech by many speakers, who asked U.S. President Barack Obama the immediate release of Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez, Ramon Labañino, Gerardo Hernandez and Rene Gonzalez and the authorization for Rene Gonzalez to reunite his family in Cuba.

The Five, as they are known internationally, were detained on September 12, 1998 in the U.S. city of Miami. A biased trial held there in 2001 condemned them to sentences ranging from two life terms to 15 years.

Many figures and world organizations have defended these antiterrorist fighters, who just watched violent activities by extremist Cuban groups in Florida, to alert their country from terrorist actions.

On the occasion of the presentation last night of the 2013 pocket calendar from Radio Havana Cuba station, illustrated with a picture of Oswaldo Guayasamin on Marti, they reminded that January 28 will mark the 160th anniversary of the birth of the most universal of the Cubans.

Members from the Ecuadorian-Cuban Jose Marti Cultural Institute, of the Coordinating Committee of Solidarity with Cuba, the Parents' Association of Ecuadorian Scholars, and citizens benefit from Cuban education and health programs attended the meeting.

Also on the list were representatives from the Cuban Embassy and Edmundo Bastidas, brother of journalist Carlos Bastidas, alias Atahualpa Recio, who collaborated in the Sierra Maestra mountain range with Radio Rebelde station to spread the heroic action led by Fidel Castro.