Sunday Respite for the Ladies in White

Sunday Respite for the Ladies in White
14YMEDIO, Havana | Diciembre 22, 2014

The Ladies in White marched for the freedom of political prisoners as
they left mass this Sunday, an activity held every week and one which
had special significance on this occasion because it was the first time
since the announcement of reestablishment of relations with the United
States. In Havana and Pinar del Río, where there are usually arrests and
acts of repudiation against these peaceful activists, there were no
repressive activities.

In Santiago de Cuba, however, the Citizens for Democracy suffered the
usual repression, according to the Commission for Human Rights and
National Reconciliation. Of the 36 women who were preparing to go to
mass, only half managed to arrive there, while the remaining 18 were
detained and abandoned in sites far from their homes.* The organization
came into being after a rift with the Ladies in White over differences.

No other province had reported, as of last night, more cases of arrests
or ill-treatment. The meeting this Sunday put to the test, for many, the
political will of the Cuban government to behave in way coherent with
the negotiations held with the United States government. The relative
calm of the day has been interpreted by many opponents, however, as a
maneuver by the regime to deceive public opinion and the international
press.

At the end of the mass at Santa Rita Church in Havana, some 60 women
marched through the pedestrian crossing on Fifth Avenue and then
gathered in a park where some activists expressed their disagreement
with the resumption of diplomatic relations between the United States
and Cuba, which some classified as a betrayal of the Cuban people.

Among the speakers who expressed that view were Ángel Moya, former
prisoner of the Cause of the 75 of the 2003 Black Spring, and Antonio
González Rodríguez, who both rejected the results of the talks because
they only lead to sustaining and recycling in power the current leaders
and their family members.

*Translator's note: It is a common practice of State Security Agents to
detain dissidents and, rather than processing them at a police station,
to simply drive them far out into the countryside and put them out of
the vehicle, with no way to get home.

Source: Sunday Respite for the Ladies in White -
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