Cuban Ladies in White harassed by pro-Castro hecklers
Cuban government supporters harassed a group of dissidents who met at a
home in Havana to commemorate the eighth anniversary of a sweeping
crackdown on dissent.
Hundreds of mostly young counter-demonstrators gathered Friday outside
the home of Laura Pollan, leader of the Ladies in White organization
that comprises relatives of dozens of government opponents arrested and
given long prison terms in 2003, the vast majority of whom have since
been released.
Twenty-seven dissidents met at the residence, including members of the
Ladies in White and dissident Guillermo Fariñas – both winners of the
European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought – as well as
recently released Amnesty International-adopted prisoners of conscience
Hector Maseda and Angel Moya.
The dissidents were marking the eighth anniversary of the Black Spring
crackdown of 2003, when 75 independent journalists and democracy
activists were rounded up and sentenced to prison terms of between six
and 28 years.
They were accused of conspiring with the United States to undermine the
independence of the state and "the principles of the revolution."
On Friday, the large pro-Castro crowd forced the Ladies in White and the
other dissidents to remain inside the home and shouted slogans in
support of the government and against the dissidents, whom they
denounced as "traitors."
They also hung a large Cuban flag from a rooftop and with a directional
speaker at full volume played the national anthem and music by Cuban
singer-songwriter Silvio Rodriguez.
A contingent of police and state security agents also had been deployed
to the area surrounding the home and several streets were blocked off to
traffic.
Tensions flared at one point during the hours-long "act of repudiation"
against the dissidents, when one member of the Ladies in White tried to
leave Pollan's home to hold a peaceful march on the street.
The government supporters prevented her from doing so and pushing and
shoving erupted between the two sides.
Shortly afterward, plainclothes security agents arrived and helped one
of the Ladies in White who felt ill, escorting her away from the crowd
in a vehicle.
In statements by phone early in the day, Ladies in White spokeswoman
Berta Soler had vowed that the harassment would not prevent her group
from commemorating the anniversary of the Black Spring.
For his part, Fariñas, a psychologist, independent journalist and
frequent hunger striker said the years since the 2003 crackdown have
been ones of "resistance, civic struggle and perseverance."
This year's anniversary comes at a time when most of the Group of 75
prisoners have been released following Spanish-supported talks last year
between President Raul Castro's government and Cuba's Catholic hierarchy.
No comments:
Post a Comment