In an event on December 10 at the Union of Cuban Writers and Artists (UNEAC) marking the United Nations Human Rights Day, prominent figures in the country’s cultural life affirmed they would redouble their undertakings and contributions to the campaign to return the Five to the homeland and their families.

As Parliamentary President Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada noted, "Barack Obama has the power to immediately and unconditionally release the Five. With that he would be ending an injustice that has been prolonged for close to 15 years."

Mothers and wives of the Cuban anti-terrorists expressed their thanks for the participation of writers and artists in the battle for justice and the truth. The words of Adriana Pérez, wife of Gerardo Hernández, were particularly moving. She said, "They should know that we weep for every day of separation and over there they weep as well, because as Eusebio Leal once said, they are tears of resistance."

Justly, Havana City Historian Leal closed the event with a reaffirmation of the power of words in action that Cuban intellectuals and artists could take in order to raise awareness of the case among their U.S. colleagues, in a way that would compel the President Obama to act.

Those reaffirming their commitment to promoting initiatives to break the wall of silence around the Five in the United States included writers Graziella Pogolotti and Daniel Chavarría, musician Juan Formell and painter Juan Moreira, as well as U.S. filmmaker Saul Landau, and Max Lesnik, a Cuban journalist located in Miami. The message sent by the legendary Alicia Alonso was also read.