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Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Outside of Havana, the partial results of the referendum give a solid majority to Berta Soler

Outside of Havana, the partial results of the referendum give a solid
majority to Berta Soler / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar
Posted on March 10, 201

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 10 March 2015 — The leader of the
Ladies in White, Berta Soler, talks about the first voting on the
referendum to determine whether she will remain at the front of the
organization, and denounces the repression that accompanied the
consultation. The first results are very favorable, although the votes
from Havana still need to be counted, those results are expected to be
known on Wednesday.

Escobar. What is the latest news about the recall referendum?

Soler. It was planned to hold it this coming March 16, but considering
the conditions in each province and the problems of some Ladies in White
that should be dealt with, it was decided to move up the date.

Escobar. Was Matanzas the first province to vote?

Soler. Yes, they voted last Saturday. For me it has been impressive
since this province has 33 Ladies in White with voting rights and all
participated. Of these 32 voted "yes" and one voted "no."

On Sunday, many of them went to the sites of each delegation to exercise
their vote. Of the 22 members in Guantanamo, 18 participated and 16
voted "yes" and two annulled their ballot. In Santa Clara 12 of 13
members participated; eight voted "yes." In Santiago de Cuba, of the 12
with a right to vote 10 chose "yes" and two chose "no." In Bayamo, five
voted "yes" and one did not show up. Today, Tuesday, the referendum was
held in Holguin, with 22 "yes" and 4 "no," plus one annulled ballot and
one blank ballot.

The vote of seven people from Ciego de Ávila is now pending now, as are
five votes in Pinar del Rio and at least another 92 in Havana.

In all the provinces the vote has followed the same rules. There is a
ballot box, the girls come, watched by observers from various
organizations that have nothing to do with the Ladies in White, like
UNPACU and the Republican Party for example.

Escobar. How is the information reported?

Soler. By phone. As soon as the voting ended, with observers present and
the ladies who were there, the ballots were opened, the counting was
done and the results publicly announced. It was then sealed and the
votes were sent to Havana so there can be a count before Wednesday.

Escobar. Has there been any kind of repression?

Soler. Yes. An observer from Granma province was arrested in the morning
and as of five in the afternoon had not yet released. In Havana, we
pasted up pictures of Ángel Santiesteban and El Sexto (Danilo
Maldonano). We did it, we are doing it and we will continue to do it,
because if the Cuban government has pasted up photos of "The Five," we
know we have the right to do that for our prisoners.

They arrested seven Ladies in White in Virgen del Camino along with
three human rights activists from other organizations. One security
agent who is called Luisito said to Dayami Ortiz, "If you vote for Berta
you're going to spend four days locked up with prisoners." Sobrelis
Turroella, who is ill, was also taken prisoner yesterday in Alamar. They
said to her, "How's your cancer going?" "You're really sick, what are
you going to do with cancer?" Or, "If you vote yes, instead of fining
you 1,500 pesos for having 'undocumented' sugar, we're going to find you
3,000 pesos."

We looked for this referendum to be clear, very transparent, but the
Cuban government wants to tarnish it. So far, there are 112 "yes's,"
nine "no's" and five ballots blank or annulled. I congratulated everyone
including those who said no. I wanted there to be "no" votes so people
could see that is it possible to vote "no."

This process emerged from a disagreeable incident and, in the end, will
strengthen the movement. I think that in Cuban civil society we have to
learn democracy by practicing democracy.

Source: Outside of Havana, the partial results of the referendum give a
solid majority to Berta Soler / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar | Translating
Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/outside-of-havana-the-partial-results-of-the-referendum-give-a-solid-majority-to-berta-soler-14ymedio-reinaldo-escobar/

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