Havana, August 13 (AIN) Cuban President Fidel Castro sent a special birthday greeting and warm embrace to Rene Gonzalez, one of five Cuban political prisoners jailed in the United States.

It is an honor for me to have been born on a day like today, said the Cuban Revolution's leader, who celebrates his 78th birthday on August 13th, the same date as that of Rene's.

We feel great admiration for your firmness and we are sure that justice will prevail; time is not the most important thing, though I hope that we will soon celebrate our birthdays together, said Fidel Castro.

In statements to the press during his visit to the Cuban Meteorology Institute, where he evaluated the passage of Hurricane Charley across western Cuba, Fidel Castro referred to the ongoing international campaign in solidarity with the Cuban Five, sentenced for having fought against terrorism.

At present, the world is taking vigorous actions in support of justice and against the abuses committed against our five countrymen, stressed Fidel.

The Cuban Revolution leader assured that the five men will join the list of the most revered Cuban patriots and that the people will struggle until their last breath making truth prevail so that the Five can return home.

René González, Ramón Labañino, Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero and Fernando González are incarcerated in the United States and are serving unfair and long sentences for preventing anti-Cuba terrorist actions from being organized in the US.

The Cuban people on the island and hundreds of solidarity committees around the world are waging a tremendous struggle for the Five's release.

13/8/2004

(AIN)