- Title: Russia gives hero's welcome to five Cuban spies released from U.S. jail
- Date: 10th May 2016
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (MAY 10, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY BUILDING RUSSIAN AND CUBAN FLAGS MEMBERS OF THE CUBAN FIVE WALKING INTO ROOM, POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS FROM LEFT TO RIGHT FERNANDO GONZALEZ, RENE GONZALEZ, RAMON LABANINO CLOSE OF CUBAN MEDAL 'HEROES OF THE REPUBLIC' ON RENE GONZALEZ'S LAPEL RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SERGEI LAVROV WALKING INTO ROOM, SHAKING HANDS WITH OFFICIALS, AND WALKING AROUND TABLE TO BE SEATED CAMERA OPERATOR (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, SERGEI LAVROV, SAYING: "We met earlier with some of your comrades, (WAITS FOR TRANSLATION) and I am very glad that now all of you are visiting Moscow, and at the same time celebrating at a period that is very important for our country and for all humanity." CUBAN FIVE SEATED DURING MEETING (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, SERGEI LAVROV, SAYING: "As you know, Russia from day one stood in solidarity with the international campaign in your support, for your liberation and your return to your motherland (WAITS FOR TRANSLATION). We had been consistently pressing (for your release), including in our contacts with the Americans, and we are glad that in the long run our participation in your release turned out to be useful and yielded results." WIDE OF MEETING LAVROV SAYING WELCOME TO CUBANS CUBAN SPY GERARDO HERNANDEZ SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CUBAN SPY, GERARDO HERNANDEZ, SAYING (ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL TRANSLATION): "As you know, the countries that say they are fighting terrorism are in fact on their territory harbouring terrorists who continue their activities there." WIDE OF MEETING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CUBAN SPY, GERARDO HERNANDEZ, SAYING (ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL TRANSLATION): "People that live there normally, such as Luis Posada Carriles, who in 1976 bombed a Cubana Airlines jet in which 73 passengers were killed." MEETING IN PROGRESS
- Embargoed: 25th May 2016 13:29
- Keywords: Cuba Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spies U.S. jail released
- Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
- City: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0014H85Y6F
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Russia gave a red-carpet reception to five Cuban spies who served long prison terms in the United States, hailing them on Tuesday (May 10) as heroes "of fortitude and resistance" and stressing its own role in securing their release.
The Cuban Five were convicted of spying on Cuban exile groups in Florida at a time when the anti-Castro extremists were bombing Cuban hotels and staging acts of sabotage meant to destabilise the communist government.
Cuban President Raul Castro last year named the five spies Heroes of the Republic, the Cuban government's highest honour, for infiltrating right-wing exile groups that plotted against Havana after a 1959 uprising led by his brother Fidel Castro ousted a pro-U.S. dictator.
The Soviet Union was Cuba's powerful international patron during the Cold War when Havana moved to nationalise U.S. businesses and embraced socialist ideas. Moscow's economic and military aid dried up after the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991.
"We met earlier with some of your comrades, and I am very glad that now all of you are visiting Moscow, and at the same time celebrating at a period that is very important for our country and for all humanity," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said as he greeted the five in the foreign ministry's Stalin-era building in central Moscow.
"As you know, Russia from day one stood in solidarity with the international campaign in your support, for your liberation and your return to your motherland. We had been consistently pressing (for your release), including in our contacts with the Americans, and we are glad that in the long run our participation in your release turned out to be useful and yielded results," Lavrov said. He called the five "a symbol of fortitude and resistance".
On Monday (May 09), the group attended a military parade on Red Square to mark the 71st anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat by the Soviet Union and were to meet heads of Russia's parliament and the communist party, Lavrov said.
Following the reversal of U.S. policy towards Cuba under President Barack Obama who called for normalisation of ties, three of the five Cuban spies were freed on Dec. 17, 2014, in an exchange for a Cuban man who had been jailed nearly 20 years for spying on his own country for the Americans.
That same day Cuba released American aid worker Alan Gross in a humanitarian gesture after he had been held five years for bringing banned telecommunications equipment into Cuba.
The other two Cubans had been released earlier after serving their terms. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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