Ladies in White brutally attacked once more

This is the fourth Sunday in Eastern Cuba since July 24, 2011, that numerous “Ladies in White” accompanied by female supporters in white attire are arrested after suffering violent physical and verbal assaults by forces of the Cuban Ministry of the Interior. Government sponsored mobs besieged the homes of human rights defenders in different towns of the province of Santiago de Cuba to curtail any acts of solidarity with the Cuban women.

According to Belkis Cantillo, wife of Cuban ex-political prisoner of conscience, Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, she and all the women traveling with her to attend mass at the Cathedral of Santiago de Cuba were forced down with punches from a truck in the city of “El Cristo” where authorities had set up a control point. More than 50 women dressed in military uniforms beat and pushed them into police cars where Cantillo says she was beaten once more and her hair was pulled.

Around twenty women were arrested. Advocates of the Ladies in White: Maria Elena Matos, Annia Alegre and Adriana Nunez were threatened with German shepherd dogs during their detention. Ms. Nunez had to be hospitalized due to the ill treatment she suffered. The police cars eventually abandoned the women in the outskirts of their home towns.

Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia informed that the home of Rene Hierrezuelo Arafe in the town of ‘El Caney’ was attacked while ‘Palma Soriano’ and ‘Palmarito de Cauto’ were militarized by Rapid Response Brigades. Some of the activists besieged in El Caney were: Agustin Magdariaga, Reinier Arocha Tellez, Eliecer Consuegra Velazquez, Pavel Arcias Cespedes, Guillermo Cobas Reyes, Yimmy Eduardo Arocha Montoya, Henry Perales Elias.

In ‘Palma Soriano’ the home of Marino Antomarchy was surrounded by mobs with sticks, stones, and metal rods. Rolando Reyes and Miguel R. Cabrera were arrested and Jose Antonio Zulueta was injured when authorities slammed him against a wall.

As the Ladies in White in Cuba vow to continue their peaceful struggle on behalf of the freedom of all Cuban political prisoners, and as long as the human rights activists continue to defend fundamental rights in the island, the Coalition of Cuban-American Women will persist in demanding international solidarity for the leaders of the civil resistance in Cuba. We make an urgent call to women in positions of leadership in religious, political, educational, social, and cultural institutions, in NGO’s, and in the press to denounce the increase of these cruel and degrading acts committed by the Cuban government against their own people.


Source: Canada Free Press

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Cuba: Defending “Las Damas”

The Ladies in White on the sreets of Santiago de Cuba, last Sunday.

Cuban bloggers continue to update their posts about the most recent attack on Las Damas de Blanco (The Ladies in White), in which members of the group were reportedly “attacked and brutally beaten…by agents of Castro State Security upon exiting a church sanctuary.”

The Coalition of Cuban-American Women has issued a press release denouncing the attack, which even includes an audio clip [es] of one of the Ladies, Tania Montoya Vázquez, relating her experience. El Cafe Cubano has republished the Coalition's statement in a show of solidarity.

Babalu comments on the “recording by opposition leader Tania Montoya Vazquez, who called in to Hablalo Sin Miedo while a violent attack against the Ladies in White was taking place yesterday”, saying:

You can hear the desperation and fear in her voice. Even if you do not speak or understand Spanish, the tone of her voice and the screams in the background give a chilling account of the brutality of the Castro dictatorship.

The incident has caused an outcry from other factions as well; see The International Federation of Liberal Youth's statement, here:

Belkis Cantillo Ramirez was shot in the arm, while others were brutally beaten with batons, stones and other objects. In the midst of the violence, Tania Montoya and Rodaisa Corrioso were arrested by the authorities. Aside from these two brave women, thirteen members of this organization, including Belkis Cantillo Ramirez, are receiving medical care at a local hospital.
The International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY) condemns these attacks in the strongest terms. Las Damas de Blanco is a strictly peaceful movement. To respond to such non-violent resistance with such brutal repression colours the Castro regime as tyrannical at best. If these attacks were not sanctioned by the authorities, then an investigation must be immediately initiated and given far-reaching jurisdiction.

The statement goes on to demand that “Tania Montoya and Rodaisa Corrioso must be immediately and unconditionally released”, while Babalu writes another post with “more graphic details” (including photos), saying:

A quick review this morning of the websites run by some prominent ‘Cuba Experts' finds no mention whatsoever of this brutal and violent attack on these defenseless yet courageous women. The narrative put forth by these ‘experts' mirrors the narrative put forth by the Castro regime…they are not about to shine the light of truth on the atrocities…

Uncommon Sense also weighs in, making the point that:

To its credit, a spokesman for the Catholic Church in Santiago de Cuba confirmed the report, and denounced the attack.

This has proven to be an interesting observation, considering Babalu's take on a USA Today editorial suggesting that:

Post-Castro Cuba will need someone trusted by all segments of society to help shepherd this nation into a new era, without bloodshed or upheaval. Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, archbishop of Havana, is that man. The son of a sugar mill worker, Ortega is uniquely equipped to fill any power vacuum.

Babalu strongly disagrees:

In a colossal display of sheer ignorance and contemptuous arrogance, Pinsky nominates for president one of the most corrupted and compromised individuals in Cuba today while ignoring venerable leaders such as Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, who unlike Ortega, has not compromised his principles or allowed himself to be used as a political tool by the dictatorship.

El Cafe Cubano supports this view, saying:

This past Sunday in ‘Santiago de Cuba, a city in the Eastern province of Cuba, women pro democracy activists were savagely beaten and verbally attacked in the streets by Cuban State Security agents after they attended mass in the Basilica of El Cobre, a Catholic shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Charity, where they prayed for the freedom of all Cuban political prisoners and for the freedom of Cuba.'
The Catholic Church silent and looking the other way…

No doubt, the Cuban diaspora will continue to follow developments and provide cyber support for The Ladies in White.

Written by Janine Mendes-Franco
Source: Global Voices

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