Cuban Young People Do Not Yield In the Defense of Their Homeland

By Nancy Pérez Medina

Carlos Arce Martínez.

The historical generation of the Cuban Revolution has a guaranteed relief. The recent letter of one of the Five Heroes unjustly imprisoned in the United States to a student of the University of Information Science (UCI), and the answers of this one in an interview on the matter, confirm it

At the end of 2010, the student of UCI, Carlos Arce Martínez, received an E-mail from Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, one of the five Cubans arrested in 1998 in Miami and unjustly sentenced in 2001 to long terms in jail for fighingt against terrorism.


He is the one who is serving the longest sentence (two life imprisonments more 15 years), charged with espionage and conspiracy to commit murder, regarding the shooting down of the light aircrafts of the anti Cuban organization Brother to the Rescue, on February 24,1996, when Cuba was only defending its air space.

Bellow we reproduce the whole letter:

Carly brother:


Thanks a lot for the words you sent me through my friend Alina.


As far as possible I have tried to keep up to date with the task of the UCI, and I know some of the important contributions you do to the development of our country.

The homeland lives a historical moment, and all the Cubans, but especially the young people like you, must have a full consciousness of the role you have to play.


There are many —the same people as usual — that bet Cuban revolutionaries are not able to fix the house without knocking it down. Once again it is up to us to show them how mistaken they are, and for that it is required the efforts of everybody.


Please, give the greetings of the Five to the students, professors and other workers of the UCI, and our gratitude for being a part of that people that honour us with its support.


A strong hug,

Gerardo Hernández Nordelo

Federal prison of Victorville. October 21, 2010

22-years-old Carlos Arce Martínez studies the fourth year of Engineering in Information Science in Faculty number 4 of the UCI, and he works in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the Integral Diagnostic centers.


He told us he wrote to Gerardo through a friend called Alina, who is in touch with him. Carlos´s message offered Gerardo the unconditional support of the group where he studies. Knowing these details, questions and answers arose:


SJ: Why to Gerardo?

Gerardo and his bird in the Federal
Prison of  Victorville.

“I must begin telling you I wrote to Gerardo through a friend who writes to him too. It was not any specific preference, that opportunity came to me and I did not hesitate in taking advantage of it. It was an experience I will never forget”.


SJ: What do they mean to you, as a young Cuban, those patriots and their fight?


“I feel a great admiration for them. Knowing that these men who have been in prison for more than 10 years, bearing some conditions that have attempted against their health, makes me believe more in my Revolution. These young people have known to defend their principles and have demonstrated to the world that in Cuba, the people is still ready for a fight, and the Cuban young people will never yield before anything or anybody that tries to end our dignity”.

”To those who do not trust the Cuban youth, these long years the Five have been in prison are an example of the sacrifice we are willing to do for our homeland, as our parents and grandparents did in their time,


”For me they are an example to follow. We are speaking of heroes of our generation, of the new generation of Cubans, and they are still fighting”.

SJ: How did Gerardo´s advices to the Cuban young people affect you?

“Every Cuban would be proud of receiving some lines in the own handwriting of Gerardo and their four brothers in fight. It was one of the most significant moments in my life. As soon as they gave me this letter I felt it was not only for me, and I felt the necessity to send this legacy to our University.


“The few words written in that letter were enough for me to understand we have to defend Cuba and the Revolution at all costs. It is impressive how such a great love for Cuba arises in a person who has been unjustly in prison for more than a decade, suffering psychological and physical mistreatments”.

“For the young people born and raised in the heat of the Special Period, this unshakeable force arising from Gerardo´s words is more than enough to show us that for Cuba we have to give everything”.


SJ: How the young people can be worthy of the trust those antiterrorist fighters have in them?


“The best way to be worthy of this confidence is to prepare us for the new times. These are not days of guns and battles of guerrilla. As our Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro would say, our battle in these times is of ideas, and for it many knowledge, values, principles are needed and, first of all, the humility and simplicity our main leaders have showed”


SJ: A message to the world on the Five Cuban Heroes.

“They will come back, I do not have the lightest doubt on the matter. There are still some decency and spirit of justice in the U.S.A.. I believe our people, with the solidarity of other nations in the world and especially of the Americans, we will get the release of the five prisoners in the Empire”.


SJ: Why do you think they have been able to stay firm in spite of such injustice against them?


“There are some values among men like the love to the homeland and its people, the unconditional loyalty to their principles and their historical leaders, the respect towards the heroes of their land who have offered their lives for our Revolution with dignity. But there are also men who cling to these values, offering even their own lives if it is necessary. The Five are among them.


“According to the friend who put me in touch with Gerardo, the support they receive from the Cuban peple and even from many places in the world, among them EE.UU., is an incentive to keep to their position before such an injustice”.