Yellow Ribbon for the Cuban Five

Fifteen years in prison for fighting terrorism. 

Tomorrow, September the 12th, marks the 15th anniversary of the imprisonment of the Cuban Five – The Five were detained in Miami on September 12, 1998, and handed down harsh sentences for preventing terrorist attacks in Cuba which have caused more than 1,400 victims in Cuba in the last 53 years.

The international solidarity movement is marking the anniversary with a ‘yellow ribbon’ campaign initiated in response to Rene Gonzalez’s call for Cuba to be swathed in yellow ribbons “in trees, on balconies, on people’s arms, on their pets” ... to make it impossible for visitors to the island and the foreign media to ignore the fact that the Cuban People are still waiting for four of their sons to be returned home.

The ignominious anniversary is being marked in New Zealand with the opening of Humour From My Pen an exhibition of prison art by Gerardo Hernández Nordelo,  one of the Five at Massy University’s Albany campus and the swathing of Hagley Park Christchurch with yellow ribbons