Castro supporters harass Cuban dissidents' wives

Mon March 21, 2005 7:05 AM GMT+05:30
By Marc Frank

HAVANA (Reuters) - Some 200 women supporters of Cuban President Fidel Castro laid siege on Sunday to a march by 30 female relatives of imprisoned dissidents in an attempt to intimidate them

The women, waving Cuban flags and chanting "Fidel, Fidel" and "down with the worms" intercepted the wives and other relatives as they quietly marched, dressed in white with flowers in hand, down 5th Ave., the main thoroughfare in Havana's Miramar district.

Some 50 men, who appeared to be from the Communist party and security forces, stood by across the street and later were seen telling the women what to do.

The dissidents' female relatives have gathered every Sunday for two years at the Santa Rita Church for Mass, then walked a few blocks outside along the avenue without incident, staging brief rallies in a nearby park.

The Palm Sunday march marked exactly two years since the government ended a round up of 75 pro-democracy activists, independent journalists and others. The dissidents were sentenced to average 19-year terms a few weeks later for working with the United States to subvert the government, a charge they deny.

The wives and relatives protests, combined with international pressure, are credited with obtaining the release of 14 of the dissidents for health reasons.

The female relatives held their own against the jeering throng, concluding their march and gathering in the park and then on the church steps to sing hymns and recite religious passages as the crowd taunted them.

"We are going to continue here, every Sunday. We are not going to stop marching because they threaten us ... we have the duty to keep seeking the freedom of our husbands," said Gloria Leal, wife of dissident Nestor Aguiar.

The crowd then followed the women two blocks to a bus stop, continuing to chant and sing patriotic songs until all the relatives had left.

On Saturday a mob attacked the home of dissident doctor, Darci Ferrer, after he placed photos and posters of the imprisoned Castro opponents in front of his house. Ferrer was slightly injured and his protest trashed.

"This could be the start of a new wave of political repression by the government using all means at its disposal, including these brigades, which typically are connected to security forces. I know, they attacked me four or five times," said veteran human rights activist, Elizardo Sanchez, head of the illegal but tolerated Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation.

On Friday the relatives, known as the "ladies in white", marched on state media offices demanding coverage for their cause and they have twice marched on government buildings and once staged a sit in near Castro's offices, actions unheard of in Cuba without inviting serious government reprisals.

A report issued by Amnesty International on Friday said some of the imprisoned dissidents were being poorly treated and demanded their release, along with more than 200 other prisoners of conscience.

The report by the world's biggest rights group coincides with the annual meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva, which will discuss Cuba, one of the last Communist governments

Female Castro supporters break up protest

By VANESSA ARRINGTON
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

Dulce Amador, center, cries while surrounded by protesters from the Federation of Cuban Women outside of the Santa Rita Roman Catholic Church on Sunday, March 20, 2005. The government supporters interrupted a weekly silent protest by the wives of political prisoners after church services on the second anniversary of the crackdown that put 75 activists behind bars. (AP Photo/Jorge Rey)
HAVANA -- With shouts of "Viva Fidel," female government supporters interrupted a weekly silent protest by wives of political prisoners held after Sunday church services.

The noisy standoff after Palm Sunday Mass at a Havana church appeared to be peaceful, but tensions ran high, prompting curious neighbors to leave their homes and cars to slow down for a better look.

It was the first such confrontation since the wives began the weekly protest shortly after the government crackdown in the spring of 2003 that put 75 activists behind bars. Cuba accused the dissidents of working with the United States to undermine Fidel Castro's government - a charge the activists and Washington denied.

Over the last year, the dissidents' wives, known as the "Ladies in White," have become increasingly bold, staging candlelight vigils and public protests - practically unheard of in communist Cuba.

Some credit their pressure with leading to last year's release of 14 of the 75 prisoners, but supporters of Castro's government say the dissidents deserve to be behind bars and they feel little sympathy for the wives.

"We cannot let them damage the revolution," said 70-year-old Aida Diaz, who said the counterprotest by about 150 women was organized by the Federation of Cuban Women.

She said the march outside the church by about 30 prisoners' wives dressed all in white and holding flowers "goes against the country."

The Cuban government launched the weeklong crackdown on March 18, 2003, rounding up the dissidents and later sentencing them to long prison terms.

While the wives demanded the release of their husbands, the protesters from the Federation of Cuban Woman called for the release of the "Five Heroes" - five Cuban intelligence agents serving long terms in U.S. federal prisons.

Even before the Mass at the Santa Rita Roman Catholic Church in western Havana, several dozen state security officers in civilian clothes, some of them discreetly talking into walkie-talkies, were stationed outside the church, indicating that this week's protest would be different.

After the prisoners' wives left the sanctuary and began walking down a nearby avenue, the pro-Castro protesters marched aggressively toward them, waving tiny paper red, white and blue flags commonly used at government organized rallies.

The prisoners' wives looked stunned by the protesters, who chanted "Viva Fidel" - "Long Live Fidel!" - and carried a full-sized Cuban flag and banner of revolutionary icon Ernesto "Che" Guevara.

The government supporters surrounded the "Ladies in White" as they tried to continue walking. The wives cut their weekly ritual short, returning to the church steps then, after briefly gathering in a nearby park, going to a bus stop.

Alicia Rojas, the 34-year-old daughter of prisoner Jesus Manuel Rojas, said she would not be deterred.

"I feel more strength and courage to defend my father who is a political prisoner in this country," she said.

Bertha Soler Fernandez, whose husband is prisoner Angel Moya Acosta, agreed.

"The government feels powerless to respond to us so it sends us these people to give a response," she said.

The government protesters followed the women to the bus stop, shouting and shaking their fists as the bus drove away with the women on board.

"We are not going to permit them to take our streets," Mileides Chavez, the general secretary of the Federation of Cuban Women for the municipality of Playa, yelled into a megaphone as the group gathered in the park.

The confrontation came a day after scores of neighbors broke up a protest by little-known dissident physician Dr. Darcy Ferrer, striking him with sticks and ripping down posters of prisoners' photographs he had placed on the side of his house.