Sun May 25, 10:05 PM
By Will Weissert, The Associated Press
HAVANA - An activist support group for the wives of Cuban political
prisoners has written to Sen. Barack Obama, expressing hope his policies
toward the communist-run island may help free their loved ones if he
wins the U.S. presidential race.
The Ladies In White, wives and other female relatives of 75 dissidents
and independent journalists who were rounded up during a 2003
governmental crackdown on political dissent, sent an open letter to the
Democratic candidate during his visit to Miami on Friday.
Two days later, 15 of its members - dressed in white and many wearing
T-shirts with the pictures of their imprisoned relatives - marched
silently down Havana's crowded Fifth Avenue, clutching small plastic
Cuban flags and flowers.
Varying group members repeat the same ritual every Sunday after Roman
Catholic Mass, marching two blocks, then returning to face the church
and yell "Freedom for political prisoners!" again and again.
Most Cubans walking or driving past ignored their small demonstration,
though some honked in support and others rolled down windows to shout
obscenities.
The government doesn't tolerate organized opposition, and considers
political opposition leaders "mercenaries" who take money from U.S.
officials to undermine Cuban communism.
In the five years since the arrests, authorities have freed 16 of the
inmates on medical parole and released four others into forced exile in
Spain.
"We have great hope that you can contribute to the immediate,
unconditional liberation of the 55 who are still in horrible prison
conditions, with serious health problems," the group wrote to Obama.
One of the founders of the Ladies in White, Miriam Leiva, said Sunday
that representatives of the group living outside Cuba travelled to Miami
to deliver the letter, and spoke with Obama for a few minutes.
"This has nothing to do with the presidential race or support for one
candidate or another," she said. "We are not political.
"The only thing we hope for is the liberation of our prisoners and
improved well-being for the Cuban people."
But Leiva and her husband, economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe, also drafted
a separate letter to Obama in which they applauded his pledge to meet
with President Raul Castro and ease restrictions on Cuban Americans who
want to travel or send money to the island.
The letter said an Obama win during the presidential election in
November could "begin an era of political realism toward Cuba due to
increased contact in all areas and with all representatives of society,
including governments and leaders."
Espinosa Chepe was among those imprisoned in 2003, but was released on
medical parole.
Leiva said she supports doing away with Washington's nearly 50-year-old
trade embargo because Havana uses it as an excuse for all the country's
problems.
Obama says he would maintain the embargo to use as leverage for winning
democratic change in Cuba.
But he said he would allow "unlimited family travel and remittances to
the island" and repeated that, if elected, he would be willing to meet
with Raul Castro, who in February became Cuba's first new president in
49 years.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080525/world/cuba_ladies_in_white
No comments:
Post a Comment