Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, one of the Five Heroes, recently visited this province as the national vice-coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR). He thus settled a debt of gratitude, since there were numerous signs of affection he received from the people of Las Tunas when he was unjustly serving two life sentences plus 15 years in the dungeons of the empire, for defending Cuba from terrorism.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- One, in particular, won his affections: that of a physically disable 6-year-old boy named Andy Daniel Oro Rivera. "When I saw a picture of The Five, I told my grandmother Vivian: 'I want to write to the little baldy'," the little boy would later declare. It was Gerardo. Since then, such a fraternal relationship was created that they exchanged more than 60 letters between 2006 and 2013. Andy treasures them.
The reunion of both friends in the city of Las Tunas was emotional. The boy, now 20 years old, gave the Hero details of his Social Communication studies. The photos could not be missing. Gerardo proposed one in which, in addition to the two of them, there was Luisa, the mother. They were surprised when, a few hours later, Gerardo gave it to Andy enlarged with a special dedication: "To Grandma Vivian, the main promoter of my beautiful relationship with Andy. A big hug. Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, Las Tunas, June 23, 2020."
SOLIDARITY EPISTOLARY
In his first message to Gerardo in 2006, Andy tells him that he belongs to the Cuban Association of Limited Physical Activity and that he has just won first prize in a drawing on the theme of The Five in a contest organized by the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP). Hernández Nordelo answers on July 17, 2006 from the Federal Prison of Victorville.
"Dear Friend Andy: I was happy to receive your letter (...) I have been told that you draw very nice pictures and that you also like to study and play chess. And I want to thank you for your solidarity with your brothers who are prisoners of the empire. I hope you have a happy holiday, playing and walking around, but also reading a good book.
In another letter, the boy sends a photo of himself. Gerardo acknowledges receipt on December 31, 2006, with a text that condenses the nobility, the Cuban people and the teaching of his soul:
"Brother, you looked so beautiful in the photo, I think a few girls are going to fall in love with you... (...) Let me tell you that I know many older people who don't have such beautiful handwriting or such good spelling like yours. By the way, remember that after you put a dot in a paragraph, the next sentence must begin with a capital letter.
By March 10, 2007, they are treated as lifelong friends. Andy had even met Adriana, Gerardo's wife, as they used to call each other frequently on the phone.
"I told Adriana that when she goes to Las Tunas you want to invite her for ice cream, but if there is chocolate, it will be expensive," he says, jokingly, in an epistle dated that day.
After a few days, Andy writes to him again and sends him a photo dressed as a karate man. He also notifies him that he is now one tooth short. Gerardo responds immediately:
"What a surprise with those karate photos! You look like a ninja in a kimono. I congratulate you on the yellow ribbon (...). Your grandmother is right, you couldn't send me the tooth that fell out because it's not allowed here (...). I hope the new one comes out quickly, so you can chew well.
On August 20, 2007, Gerardo writes to him, this time worried about the health of the little boy. He also congratulates him on the marks he got at the end of the second grade.
"I think a letter from you was lost because I don't remember you telling me that you broke your foot. I hope you're 'in one piece' now. Brother, you pressed on the second-grade notes! I never got an 'A' in all of them in any grade."
Sometime later, Andy tells him that he won a bike in a contest. It's September 16, 2007. His friend congratulates him on the prize, urges him to be careful with the spokes, and says, "Adriana told me she talked to you on the phone and saw you on the TV. On October 16, he takes up this last matter with joviality: "Adriana told me that she saw you again on TV. I think you are already more famous than the actors in the novels."
On that occasion, Gerardo begins to "provoke" Andy with a theme that will be recurrent in his communication: baseball and his evident sympathies for the team from the capital: "In December the National Baseball Series begins and already Industriales is preparing to beat Santiago," he announces as a joking.
On October 27, he sends a cordial message to Andy to congratulate him on his birthday. "Congratulations on your eighth birthday! I realize now that when you were born, the Five of us had been prisoners for a year!
NOTHING IS FORGOTTEN
A letter that reflects all the sensitivity and tenderness of Gerardo is the one he wrote on March 12, 2008. In it, he asks Andy to visit on his behalf the Camilo Cienfuegos Special School: "I would like, besides greeting the children and the fifth-grade teacher of that school, to know if they received my letter because sometimes they get lost, and I don't want them to think that I didn't answer them."
On July 6, 2008, he answers some lines from Andy where he communicates the death of his pet. "I was sad to hear that your dog died ('Malcriado', I think it was like you told me). But well, you still have the cat, and maybe in the future, you can have another dog."
Gerardo's proverbial playfulness leads him to send the child a picture on October 17, 2008. In it, he appears with a sign on his chest that says "Industriales campeón" and the following text: "Dear Andy: I am sending you this photo with an invitation so that, whenever you want... you can change your team."
Andy's progress in karate motivates him. On March 17, 2009, he said, "Congratulations on the green ribbon. You already caught up with me, because when I was practicing karate (Joshi-Mon style) I got to green belt, so when I go I can't get along with you, because you beat me up so badly."
He also asks him to say hello to several people that he has told him about in his dialogues: "Say hello from me to Parrita the postman (the one who delivers your mail), to the baker in the front and to all your friends over there. Also to the family, to the neighbors, to your teachers and little friends, to everybody." He even asks him to go to Las Copas ice cream parlor and convey his gratitude for the solidarity shown to him and his brothers in prison.
When Andy lets him know that he was visiting with a group of children in the Holguin village where the Commander in Chief was born in 1926, Gerardo reveals to him on June 3, 2009: "So you were in Biran? How nice! I have never been there, I hope to be able to do so someday."
Allusions to the baseball theme and to the teams with which they both sympathize in the National Series follow one another in their epistolary exchanges. On October 9, 2009, Gerardo puts them into practice again with a question about chess that appears naive, but intentionally "provocative": "How are you doing in chess? I know how to move the pieces, but I'm bad, you sure beat me. The one who's a barbarian is Lazaro Bruzón. I'm sure the Industrialists are doing well!" In his answers, Andy always refers to his loyalty to the team of Las Tunas, and that he trusts his players to stay in the national series.
On February 23, 2010, Gerardo says, ironically, "I haven't told anyone, but I'm going to tell you. I know you will like it: I have half convinced Joan Carlos Pedroso to play with Industriales next year, what do you think? (...). I'll leave you now because I'm going to prepare some instructions that I have to send to my lions for the play-offs. Did you know that lions eat little tunas?"
The Hero's keen sense of humor is admirable and recurrent, even in the difficult circumstances in which he finds himself. On April 1, 2010, he jokingly comments on a portrait Andy sends him in which he appears wearing a new hairstyle that young people call pinchos. "I was scared when I saw you in the picture with that hairstyle because I thought you touched the power line. No, I´m kidding, that's what they use. I want to see if I can get it done too. You look handsome. I have to find out because I'm sure there's a girlfriend out there already."
Gerardo doesn't miss the opportunity to show his industrialist proclivity. In that same letter of April 1st, he writes to him in his impeccable, print-like handwriting: "I'm leaving you because I have to continue celebrating the victory of the Industrialists (did you see that I wrote to you in blue?)."
LAST LETTERS AND... FREEDOM!
One of the last letters Andy receives from Gerardo is dated October 16, 2013. In it he expresses: "Congratulations! You finished the eighth grade with very good marks. It is true that you can improve in Chemistry, but the mark is not bad anyway. This has been one of the busiest years for me and I haven't been able to write to you much, but you know that The Five love you and we are very grateful for everything you do to contribute to our fight for victory.
On December 17, 2014, - as Fidel had predicted - Gerardo was released and returned to Cuba in the company of his brothers Ramon and Tony. Fernando and René had done so earlier. Justice prevailed over arrogance. Andy embraced him sometime later in Havana and reminded him of his promise to visit Las Tunas. His presence here paid off that debt.
