Havana, Cuba:
The three Cubans released in a prisoner exchange that paved the way for a historic breakthrough Wednesday in Havana's Cold War standoff with the United States are celebrated as heroes back home.
The trio, who spent more than 15 years behind bars, were the last remaining prisoners from the "Cuban Five," a group arrested in Miami in September 1998 and convicted in 2001 of spying for Cuba's communist government.
Havana has acknowledged that the men were intelligence agents.
However, it insists they were not spying on the US government but rather on Cuban exile groups determined to overthrow then president Fidel Castro, who has since handed power to his younger brother Raul.
It calls them heroes of the "anti-terrorism fight," whose mission was to stop attacks on their country.
The three men freed are Gerardo Hernandez, 51; Ramon Labanino, 51; and Antonio Guerrero, 56.
They were part of the so-called "Wasp Network," the largest Cuban intelligence operation ever mounted in the United States.
A Miami court convicted them on charges including conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit espionage, conspiracy to commit crimes against the United States and acting as unregistered agents of a foreign government.
Hernandez was serving the harshest sentence: two life terms plus 15 years.
He was convicted in connection with the deaths of four Cuban exiles from the anti-Castro group Brothers to the Rescue, who were piloting two small planes shot down by Cuban fighter jets in 1996.
Labanino was initially sentenced to life plus 18 years, but his term was reduced in 2009 to 30 years.
Guerrero, who was born in Miami but raised in his parents' native Cuba, was initially sentenced to life plus 10 years but had his term reduced in 2009 to 22 years.
The two other members of the "Cuban Five," Rene Gonzalez, 58, and Fernando Gonzalez, 51, had already been released after their sentences were reduced.
Fernando Gonzalez was freed on February 27 this year and returned to Cuba the following day.
Rene Gonzalez was released in 2011 but had to remain in the US on parole before returning to Cuba in 2013.
The two men -- who are unrelated -- had made international tours to call for the release of the remaining three prisoners.
All five have been named "Heroes of the Republic" in Cuba, with posters bearing their pictures adorning streets and government offices.
The trio, who spent more than 15 years behind bars, were the last remaining prisoners from the "Cuban Five," a group arrested in Miami in September 1998 and convicted in 2001 of spying for Cuba's communist government.
Havana has acknowledged that the men were intelligence agents.
However, it insists they were not spying on the US government but rather on Cuban exile groups determined to overthrow then president Fidel Castro, who has since handed power to his younger brother Raul.
It calls them heroes of the "anti-terrorism fight," whose mission was to stop attacks on their country.
The three men freed are Gerardo Hernandez, 51; Ramon Labanino, 51; and Antonio Guerrero, 56.
They were part of the so-called "Wasp Network," the largest Cuban intelligence operation ever mounted in the United States.
A Miami court convicted them on charges including conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit espionage, conspiracy to commit crimes against the United States and acting as unregistered agents of a foreign government.
Hernandez was serving the harshest sentence: two life terms plus 15 years.
He was convicted in connection with the deaths of four Cuban exiles from the anti-Castro group Brothers to the Rescue, who were piloting two small planes shot down by Cuban fighter jets in 1996.
Labanino was initially sentenced to life plus 18 years, but his term was reduced in 2009 to 30 years.
Guerrero, who was born in Miami but raised in his parents' native Cuba, was initially sentenced to life plus 10 years but had his term reduced in 2009 to 22 years.
The two other members of the "Cuban Five," Rene Gonzalez, 58, and Fernando Gonzalez, 51, had already been released after their sentences were reduced.
Fernando Gonzalez was freed on February 27 this year and returned to Cuba the following day.
Rene Gonzalez was released in 2011 but had to remain in the US on parole before returning to Cuba in 2013.
The two men -- who are unrelated -- had made international tours to call for the release of the remaining three prisoners.
All five have been named "Heroes of the Republic" in Cuba, with posters bearing their pictures adorning streets and government offices.
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