On 20 April Rock around the Blockade held a picket of the United States Embassy in London to call for the release of the five Heroes of the Revolution held in imperialist prisons. The five Cubans Gerardo Hernandez, Rene Gonzalez, Ramon Labaniño, Antonio Guerrero and Fernando Gonzalez have been imprisoned for helping Cuba gather information on the right-wing Miami mafia and so prevent acts of terror against their country. While the United States is waging a supposed "War on Terrorism" against the peoples of the world, it has imprisoned five Cubans for opposing imperialist terror on sentences between 15 years and life.

The event, which kicked off at at midday, was a resounding success with over 50 people from across the country united in a lively, militant and colourful picket. Wearing T-shirts from Cuba demanding the release of the five, we held up A2 placards spelling out F R E E T H E M I A M I 5 and chanting "The Miami Five are innocent! Free the Miami Five!", defying the grim surroundings.

Messages of support were read out from the Midlands, North West and Scotland branches of RATB who could not make it to London but are continuing with their work in other parts of the country.

Cat Wiener gave a history of the Cuban victory over the Bay of Pigs invasion that took place 41 years before to the day, a victory of Cuba's new socialism against imperialism. Hannah Caller spoke about the case of the five Cuban heroes and made the important link with the Boycott Bacardi Campaign against this pernicious multinational that funds the Miami-based terror groups which the five made such sacrifices to combat.
Trevor Rayne spoke for the editorial board of Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism!, newspaper of the Revolutionary Communist Group, giving a powerful speech on imperialism's latest drive to carve up and dominate the world in the form of the "War on Terrorism". Quoting Mark Twain, that the stripes of the US flag should be painted over in black and the stars replaced with the skull and crossbones, he warned that just as Berlin came to resemble Stalingrad, so New York and London will one day be reduced to what the imperialists have made of Kabul if these pirates are not stopped.


For more information on the five, visit Rock around the Blockade's new website www.ratb.org.uk and the International Action Center and e-mail us at  office@ratb.org.uk to get involved in the campaign.

It is also important to write to the five Cubans, not just to let them know that they have not been forgotten and raise their morale, but also to lower the morale of their imperialist gaolers by reminding them that they are not going unnoticed by the rest of the world.

Gerardo Hernandez Nordelo #58739-004
USP Lompoc, 3901 Klein Boulevard
Lompoc, CA 93436 USA

Rene Gonzalez Schwerert #58738-004
FCI Loretto, PO Box 1000
Loretto, PA 15940 USA

Ramon Labaniño Salazar - write to as Luis Medina #58734-004
PO Box 26035, Beaumont,
Texas 77720-6035 USA

Antonio Guerrero Rodriguez #58741-004
USP Florence, PO Box 7500, 5880 State HWY 67
South Florence, CO 81226 USA

Fernando Gonzalez Llort - write to as Ruben Campa #58733-004
FCI Oxford, PO Box 100, Oxford
WI 53952-0505 USA

Free the Miami 5, Heroes of the Revolution in imperialist prisons!