Call from Spain in support of the Cuban Five

Call from Spain in support of the Five

By Deisy Mexidor

THE eminent poet Marcos Ana, a symbol of anti-fascist culture, heads the list of a group of Spanish former political prisoners who have signed a call for solidarity with the cause of the five Cuban anti-terrorists incarcerated since 1998 in U.S. jails.

The document, signed in Madrid, calls on the U.S. government to "immediately release the five Cubans."

It affirms that anti-terrorist fighters Gerardo Hernández, Fernando González, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino and René González are "unjustly imprisoned in that country."

The text also asks that "their families be allowed to visit them, especially the wives of René González and Gerardo Hernández, who are systematically denied visas, thus violating the most basic human rights of the prisoners and their families."

"We demand that these violations and injustices be ended," concludes the appeal, made during a meeting in the Spanish capital and whose text was sent to Granma daily.

Fernando Macarro Castillo, known in the intellectual world as Marcos Ana, was born on January 20, 1920 in Salamanca. During his intense life, he fought in the Spanish Civil War, experienced the harshness of the concentration camp, was imprisoned together with the poet Miguel Hernández, escaped from two death sentences, remained in jail from 1946 to 1961 and was forced into exile.

Recently, Ana dedicated a copy of his memoirs, Decidme cómo es un árbol (Tell Me What a Tree is Like) to each of the Five, because "I am a son of the solidarity that I believe must be globalized," he stated.

Translated by Granma International