A formerly imprisoned member of the so-called “Cuban Five” has taken the first steps to renounce his U.S. citizenship after a U.S. judge ruled he must do so in order to remain free in Cuba. René González was convicted along with four other people of espionage in 2001. The other four members of the “Cuban Five” remain behind bars. They say they were not spying on the United States but trying to monitor violent right-wing Cuban exile groups responsible for attacks inside Cuba. González was released on parole in 2011. He spoke to reporters in Havana Monday about the Cuban Five.

René González: “What is missing from this campaign is for the American people to know about the five heroes, that the American people know that the American government put us in prison to defend terrorism, because that’s what we must keep in focus. This case is about the American government’s right to defend its terrorists, and in order to do that, they put us in prison.”