Havana, December 17 (RHC) -- Cuba remembers this Sunday the ninth anniversary of the return from the United States of three of the five anti-terrorist fighters, after a tenacious political battle for their release, led by historic leader Fidel Castro.

On his account on X, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez recalled the event that united the "five Cuban heroes" Antonio Guerrero, Gerardo Hernández, Fernando González, Ramón Labañino and René González in their homeland. The five, as they were known then, had served unjust and long sentences in U.S. prisons, after a rigged judicial process that blamed them for various charges that, in some cases, confined them to more than 100 years of imprisonment.

The case acquired international relevance when an espionage network infiltrated in terrorist organizations of Cuban origin based in the United States was discovered, from which acts against the island and the United States itself were perpetrated.

According to data from the Cuban government, almost 3,500 dead and more than 2,000 disabled are the result of the actions organized, financed and executed from the United States, particularly from Florida.

The five Cuban fighters decided to withstand the pressure of the manipulated process, the harassment of the press and psychological torture during their imprisonment, "without their honor, their integrity and their loyalty to the Cuban revolution and its people having been broken", said Fidel Castro, after the return of the heroes.

On December 17, 2014, Havana and Washington reached a historic agreement that provided for the release and return of the five fighters against terrorism.

Then, "there were no alternatives for the U.S. government, the release of the Five was not a gift or any concession, it was a constant and victorious battle by the hand of all the people and their families," said the late diplomat and leader Ricardo Alarcón.