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Cuban Youths March Against Terrorism, Urge US to Free Cuban Five

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Cuban students have descended on the streets of the capital Havana to protest against terrorism and demand the release of a group of Cuban intelligence officers who have been detained in the United States.

MOSCOW, October 1 (RIA Novosti) - Cuban students have descended on the streets of the capital Havana to protest against terrorism and demand the release of a group of Cuban intelligence officers who have been detained in the United States.

The demonstration Tuesday was organized by the Union of Young Communists, various student organizations and youth movements. The two-mile-long march began at the University of Havana and ended at Jose Marti Anti-Imperialist Platform, located across the street from the United States Interests Section in Havana.

The march, which gathered students under the "I am Cuba" slogan, was focused on the release of the Cuban Five, a group of Cuban intelligence officers arrested in 1998 in Florida. While the US government accused them of spying, Havana insists that they were on an investigative mission to uncover alleged terrorist plots in Miami that were endangering Cuba.

Despite the condemnation of the US arrest by Latin American countries and Cuba itself, three of the group's five are still imprisoned. In Cuba, the detained are viewed almost as national heroes.

In 2005, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights criticized the US decision to arrest the Cuban Five as the trial was found to be completely objective and partial.

In August, it was revealed that the United States reportedly deployed young Latin Americans to Cuba to work undercover and foment anti-government sentiment among the population just when its president advocated a fresh start in bilateral relations that have been mired in decades of mistrust.

Later, the US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Washington denied accusations of launching a "cover up program" in Cuba, saying its main objective was to promote democracy and access to information among the population.

Relations between Cuba and the United States have deteriorated dramatically since the 1959 Cuban Revolution. There are currently no diplomatic relations between the two states and a US embargo on Cuba was imposed in the 1960s.

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