• Submitted by: lena campos
• Society
• 09 / 22 / 2013

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Thousands of Cubans took to the streets today to run or walk five kilometers for the five patriots unjustly imprisoned in the United States as part of the journey claiming for their freedom.

Glories of Cuban sport as well as athletes of national teams of boeing, karate and other disciplines took part in the non-competitive race that kicked off at the Havana Capitol.

Before starting the race, a number 2002 shirt was given to Rene Gonzalez, as symbolic number created that year to honor the Five by Marabana-Maracuba marathon event.

This is one of the most beautiful races we have organized in the past years, assured Carlos Gattorno, director general of the Project Marabana-Maracuba.

Gattorno extolled the massive participation of the people, together with athletes, sports glories and artists who took part in this initiative to honor also the 8th Congress of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, citizens organization who sponsored this event together with the Cuban Sports Institute.

At his arrival to the finish line in G Street and Malecon in Havana, Rene Gonzalez was surrounded by a group of youths who claimed for the freedom of the Cuban heros imprisoned in the United States.

Among the participants, stood out world recordist in high jump and Olympic champion in Barcelona-1992, Javier Sotomayor, the Olympic Moscow-1980 silver medallist in 100 meters Silvio Leonard and the World campion and Olympic silver medallist in Atlanta-1996 in 800 meters, Ana Fidelia Quirot.

Famous baseball player Enrique Diaz and Olympic and World boxing champions Felix Savon, Jorge Hernandez and Armando Martinez, also took part in the race.

The five-kilometer race took place simultaneously in all Cuban provinces, municipalities and rural communities.

Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González and René González, the Cuban Five, as they are known worldwide, were convicted by a court in Miami with severe sentences in different US penitentiaries, for alerting the Cuban government on subversive plans by terrorist groups based in South Florida.

The first four are still in prison in the United States for the last 15 years, while Rene Gonzalez complied his sentence on October 7, 2011 and is in Cuba since April, 2013 where he stayed after renouncing his United States citizenship.

Source: Prensa Latina