"We were, we are and we will be the Cuban Five"

To my brother Rene, a free man That September 12th, with no adjective to describe its violence, I was the last who arrived in Miami, and therefore the last to be placed in an extremely cold cell, with an uncovered mattress, a blanket and a roll of toilet paper; all isolated. Silence was macabre in that 13th floor of the Miami Detention Center. Due to a purely animal instinct, one starts to walk around that extremely reduced space. Every now and then, I stopped in front of the narrow glass on the metal door, through which we were constantly watched by a guard taking rounds. In a cell across from mine, which was to a side, I looked at a man, who also stopped at times in front of the window. He had an austere bearded face, the naked chest and it made me wonder: who is this guy? Isn’t he cold? It was Rene, I had not met him yet. In those first days, of which there is still a lot to tell, they bring us down, both he and me, to the Court Hall. We were supposed to plead not guilty or guilty, which in our case was to plead worthy or unworthy, honest or dishonest, loyal or traitor. We were both certain of our innocence. But there was a guy I did not know either, who was going to plead guilty. Each one went separately in front of Judge, but Rene had read treason in the eyes of that despicable man, who was trying to convince him with his tale. Then, Rene said to me: “I have to talk to that guy.” I only asked him to calm down That’s how I met him. That’s how we became the five brothers we are. That’s why his freedom is our freedom; his pain and happiness are also ours. That’s why our unfair prison will continue to be his prison. That’s why we were, we are and we will be the Cuban Five, where a single man is formed, a Cuban as millions of compatriots, loyal to his people and his homeland. Tony Guerrero Rodríguez May 10, 2013 Marianna Federal Prison