Valentina Tereshkova, the world’s first woman astronaut asked US President Barack Obama to listen to the international claim for the release of the five Cuban antiterrorists held in the United States for 14 years now.

“The five Cubans were defending their country, an independent and sovereign nation, which has its own history. I ask you to read the petition for their immediate release,” Tereshkova told Obama in a video published on Saturday, as part of the international solidarity campaign for the Five.

Gerardo Hernandez, Fernando González, Antonio Guerrero, René González and Ramón Labañino, known as the Cuban Five, must keep representing a symbol of courage and fighting for their convictions and interests, said the heroine of the Soviet Union in her message, which was sent to the Five via the Internet.

The National Committee for the Release of the Five in Russia and the Venceremos Social Movement called a demonstration in front of the US embassy in Moscow on Saturday, but local authorities did not gave them permission to carry out the action, according to a report by PL news agency.

However, Russian solidarity organizations said that they will continue to send messages to the White House demanding the release of the Cuban Five and to spread the truth of their case through different means.
Tereshkova became the first woman to have traveled outer space on June 16, 1963, on board the Vostok 6 spaceship, at the age of 26.

Tereshkova se convirtió en la primera mujer en viajar al espacio el 16 de junio de 1963, a la edad de 26 años, a bordo de la nave Vostok 6.