For the Freedom of our Puerto Rican Political Prisoners and the Cuban 5

FOR THE FREEDOM OF OUR PATRIOTS

Gerardo said on one occasion that justice will 
only come when it is dictated by a jury of 
millions.  Ours is the task of mobilizing those 
millions wherever we find ourselves.
Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada

Joint Declaration
For the Freedom of our Puerto Rican Political Prisoners and the Cuban 5

The patriotic Puerto Rican people continue 
alongside the Cuban people in their long journey 
in their struggle for freedom. Throughout our 
long common history of struggle in the face of 
imperialism, it has been necessary to take up 
joint efforts in order to achieve our objectives of justice and freedom.

Cuba has been a consistent and steadfast factor 
in the struggle for the independence of Puerto 
Rico and played a fundamental role in the 
freedom, in 1979, of the five nationalist heroes 
Oscar Collazo, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Lolita 
Lebron, Irvin Flores and Andres Figueroa 
Cordero.  Cuba also contributed to the campaign 
to secure the freedom of our political prisoners in 1999.

Cuba has always been at our side in the campaigns 
that have been carried out throughout the years 
for the freedom of our political prisoners, as it 
has in all the struggle that our indomitable 
people have waged.  This was the case with the 
victorious struggle to remove the U.S. Navy from 
the island of Vieques.  Cuba made key efforts to 
promote support internationally for the Peoples' 
Strike of 1998 and it was the same with the University strike of two years ago.

Thousands of Puerto Rican men and women have 
struggled together with Cuba since the 19th 
Century.  In recent decades, the flag of struggle 
against the criminal blockade, the challenge to 
the prohibition of travel to Cuba and the 
campaign to free the Cuban 5, have given ultimate 
meaning to the versus of our Lola Rodriguez de 
Tia: Cuba and Puerto Rico are the two wings of the same bird.

Today, when our sons , heroes of our homelands, 
suffer unjust prison sentences in the dungeons of 
the Empire, and when their most basic human 
rights are being trampled upon by the government 
of the United States, our people demand with one 
voice the freedom of our patriots: ¡Freedom for 
the three Puerto Rican heroes and for the five 
Cuban heroes!  We exclaim to all the world that 
they are heroes and that their only 'crime' has 
been to defend the freedom, peace and tranquility 
of the Cuban people and to demand the right to 
freedom of the Puerto Rican people.

On this day, when thousands of people come 
together in this March in Washington from 
different places in the world, from Puerto and in 
this Open Tribunal for the Freedom of Our 
Patriots, in front of the installations of the Empire, we:

1.        We demand that the government of the 
United States give unconditional freedom to the 
five Cuban anti-terrorist patriots Gerardo 
Hernandez Nordelo, Antonio Guerrero Rodriguez, 
Fernando Gonzalez Llort, Ramon Labaino Salazar y 
Rene Gonzalez Sehwerert, as well as, their 
immediate return to their Cuban homeland.

2.        We also demand the unconditional 
freedom of the three Puerto Rican revolutionaries 
Oscar Lopez Rivera, Avelino Gonzalez Claudio y Norberto Gonzalez Claudio.

3.        We denounce the crime of against 
humanity that is being perpetrated against 
Companero Oscar Lopez Rivera, who in the coming 
days will have been incarcerated for 31 years and 
the so-called conditional freedom that was 
granted to Rene that has been made into a 
continued torture of 24 months and almost a sentence of death.

4.        We salute and acknowledge this effort 
by so many progressive organizations in the 
United States that serves to demonstrate, once 
again, that the unity of the people will be victorious against the Empire.

5.        We reaffirm the indomitable solidarity 
between the Puerto Rican and Cuban peoples and 
raise our voices against the Empire from Puerto 
Rico to exclaim that our solidarity will never be blockaded.

LONG LIVE THE ETERNAL SOLIDARITY OF THE PEOPLES!
FREEDOM FOR OUR PATRIOTS!
THE PEOPLE UNITED WILL WIN!

 From San Juan, Puerto Rico, on this 21 day of April of 2012.

Organizational signatories . . .

BRIGADA JUAN RIUS RIVERA
COLECTIVO DE RESISTENCIA
COMITE DE APOYO AVELINO Y NOBERTO GONZALEZ CLAUDIO
COMITE DE SOLIDARIDAD CON CUBA
COMITE PRO DERECHOS HUMANOS
COORDINADORA CARIBEANA Y LATINOAMERICA DE PUERTO RICO
FEDERACION UNIVERSITARIA PRO INDEPENDENCIA
FRENTE AMPLIO DE SOLIDARIDAD Y LUCHA (FASyL)
FRENTE SOCIALISTA
FUNDACION FILIBERTO OJEDA RIOS
GRAN ORIENTE NACIONAL DE PUERTO RICO
HERMANDAD DE EMPLEADOS EXENTOS NO DOCENTES
LA NUEVA ESCUELA
MOVIMIENTO AL SOCIALISMO
MOVIMIENTO INDEPENDENTISTA NACIONAL HOSTOSIANO
MOVIMIENTO SOLIDARIO SINDICAL
ORGANIZACION PUERTORRIQUENA DE LA MUJER TRABAJADORA
PARTIDO COMUNISTA DE PUERTO RICO
PARTIDO INDEPENDENTISTA PUERTORRIQUENA
PARTIDO NACIONALISTA DE PUERTO RICO

Former Political Prisoners:
1. Rafael Cancel Miranda
2. Dylcia Pagan
3. Edwin Cortes Acevedo
4. Ida Luz Rodriguez
5. Alicia Rodriguez
6. Carmen Valentin
7. Elizam Escobar
8. Carlos Alberto Torres
9. Adolfo Matos Antongiorgi
10. Luis Rosa Perez
11. Juan Segarra Palmer
12. Orlando Gonzalez Claudio
13. Pablo Marcano Garcia
14. Norberto Cintron Fiallo
15. Federico Cintron Fiallo

Well known Personalities that have added their 
endorsement to this call for The Freedom of Our Patriots:
1. Andres Hernandez Cortes
2. Angel R. Figueroa Jaramillo
3. Antonio (Tony) Rivera
4. Arturo Santiago
5. Danny Rivera
6. Dr. Hector Pesquera Sevillano
7. Elma Beatriz Rosado
8. Eva Ayala Berrios
9. Flora Santiago
10. Guillermo de la Paz
11. John A. Cestare Mercado
12. Jose Rivera Rivera
13. Josefina Pantoja Oquendo
14. Lic. Alejandro Torres Rivera
15. Lic. Alvin Couto
16. Lic. Cesar Rosado
17. Lic. Eduardo Villanueva
18. Lic. Julio Lopez Keelan
19. Lic. Manuel Rodriguez Banchs
20. Lic. Maria Suarez Santos
21. Lic. Osvaldo Toledo
22. Lic. Rafael Anglada Lopez
23. Lic. Ricardo Santos Ortiz
24. Lic. Ruth Arroyo
25. Lilliana Laboy
26. Luis Pedraza Leduc
27. Maria Isabel Rodriguez
28. Miguel Cruz Santos
29. Milagros Rivera Perez
30. Perla Franco
31. Prof. Rafael Bernabe
32. Raul Alzaga Manresa
33. Ricardo Santos Ramos
34. Rita Zengotita
35. Rvda. Eunice Santana
36. William Perez Vega

 From the entrails of the monster/the Empire:
1. Pro Libertad, Campana por la Excarcelacion de los Presos Politicos
     Puertorriquenos
2. Coalicion 26 de Julio
3. Proyecto de Educacion Popular para la Libertad de los 5 Cubanos
4. Frente Socialista de Puerto Rico - Comite de Nueva York
5. Casa de las Americas - Nueva York
6. Comite Organizador 21 de Abril "Pa' Washington por los 5" 
     Nueva York/New Jersey
7. Fuerza de la Revolucion Dominicana, Comite de Nueva York