The Weekly March of the Ladies in White
Photos by Juan Suarez
HAVANA TIMES — Each Sunday members of the Cuban opposition group known as the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White) march along Fifth Avenue in the more affluent Miramar District of Havana. Last Sunday, December 11, HT was on hand to capture a few pictures of the women and some of their followers.
The group, founded in 2003, first rallied on the cause of the release of their relatives and loved ones held as political prisoners by the Castro government.
When the original prisoners were finally all released by 2011, the Ladies in White continued on, centering on the issues of freedom of speech and association, calling attention to new arrests, and their sharp opposition to the government.
They are accused by the official press of receiving support from the United States government and other foreign groups. On numerous occasions they’ve received a violent reception from police and government supporters and some have faced detentions harassment around their homes.
Last Sunday everything was calm.
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Juan keep up the great reportage
The same way the cuban dictaroship backed all the terrorist groups in Latin America Tupamaros, Motoneros, Sandinistas,And Africa, Angola,Congo, end Vietnam, and the Israel OLP, USA has the right to support the oposición in Cuba I lived in Cuba until 1980 my father was a Military man that was part of the trainers to the subversive group to creat focus of conflict in Latin America. I m cuban I know details I’m not any updated nostalgicos Canadian or American.
Your attempt at sarcasm falls flat, John. Here are a few photos of the Ladies in White being assaulted and arrested by regime goons.
http://www.stonecuban.com/stonecuban-cubas-1933-history/design/damas7.jpg
http://havanajournal.com/images/uploads/ladies-in-white-march_thumb.png
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nTvVHM0ejBA/UufDTCVuD6I/AAAAAAAAQNk/ljLMf9GydUQ/s1600/represion.PNG
http://s4.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20100317&t=2&i=77469629&w=&fh=&fw=&ll=700&pl=378&r=2010-03-17T190614Z_01_BTRE62G1H2K00_RTROPTP_0_CUBA-DISSIDENTS
I was in Grenada and on the day of the coup a Russian ship was in port and we were immediately put under curfew for almost one year from 6pm to 6am and would get stopped at checkpoints by people with AK 47 guns and reminded that we would be shot on sight if we out, before that they only had the old 303 rifles. We could not sleep at night as they practiced using the anti aircraft guns which they would show at parades .My older brother was in the PRA and guarded Maurice Bishops wife, who happed to be my sisters good friend. We had the inside information and knew what coming. Again, Reagan was correct !
If you have clear and provable evidence that Cuba supplied arms to the countries in Latin America, you should provide it to the U.S. government/State Department because they do not have any of that evidence and never did.
I lived through those times and although the U.S. CLAIMED the Cubans were doing what you said , they never could come up with proof.
If you remember the 1983 U.S, invasion of Grenada , one of Reagan’s 13 lies in his pre-invasion speech was that Cuba was storing arms in Grenada to subvert the Caribbean and Latin America. The invading Americans took the warehouse in which they claimed the arms were being stored and found……….antiquated , small arms that could not be used or classified as suitable for subversion.
To put it nicely, you haven’t got a clue as to reality or history.
I really have to give these Ladies in White serious credit.
What with the way they are knocked down, dragged through the dirty streets and beaten by Castro’s goons every time they demonstrate ., I am in awe of their ability to keep their white clothes so sparkling clean and in such good repair . and with the detergent shortages and all . I tell you , it’s just some sort of miracle .
Evidently these photos were taken early and just before the Castro Brothers charged the procession with their batons and bloodied them up.
.
As usual Mr Moses gives his “slant” of who these ladies represent….an funded and backed by WHO?????
Freedom of association that is it. Why the government are so afraid of this ladies? If the Revolution is so powerful and has the support of the people why they are so afraid of this ladies? When the Castro dictaroship interfered in other countries with his mercenaries soldiers in Angola,Congo, or supporting with arms and Money in El Salvador, Nicaragua,Bolivia, you called Internatinalism. Give me a ducking break
Armed with gladiolas, backed financially by an aggressive and hostile superpower, and with unlimited public relations and propaganda support from the world Capitalist media is more like it. Like I’ve said before, they are a vulgar and insulting knock-off of the Damas de la Plaza de Mayo. They are shameless sell-outs of their country who are undeserving of so much attention when there are other who truly risks their lives to resist real injustices.
Given the fear these ladies strike in the hearts of the Castro regime, you would think they were the heavily reinforced US Navy Seals that took down Usama bin Laden instead of middle-aged women armed with gladiolas.