Helen Popper and Esteban Israel
HAVANA
Thu Dec 10, 2009 3:42pm EST
HAVANA (Reuters) - Hundreds of government supporters drowned out two
small opposition protests in Cuba's capital on Thursday, chanting and
jeering at the dissidents as they marched to mark International Human
Rights Day.
About 30 female relatives of political prisoners walked silently through
the ramshackle Havana streets carrying flowers and Cuban flags before
being surrounded and jostled by some 250 people shouting "Traitors" and
"The street belongs to Fidel."
Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, 83, remains a powerful force on the
communist-ruled island nearly two years after handing the presidency to
his younger brother Raul, 78, due to poor health.
"How can it be possible that they won't let us walk in the streets on
this day?" said Melba Santana Ariz, whose husband has been held on the
island as a political prisoner since 2003. "There are no human rights here."
At the same time, several hundred government supporters stopped about 10
dissidents from marching in a park in the leafy Vedado district.
Protests by government opponents, who Cuba views as mercenaries working
on behalf of its arch rival Washington, are rare in Cuba and are usually
broken up by members of the Communist Party and neighborhood groups.
Cuban officials cite free education and health services as evidence of
respect for human rights, but the issue strains Cuba's diplomatic ties
and the Cuban Human Rights Commission says some 200 political prisoners
are held on the island.
"The Cuban government, far from a concrete and practical program to
improve the unfavorable human rights situation that has existed in the
country for decades, is turning to political repression," said Elizardo
Sanchez of the human rights commission, which is tolerated despite being
illegal.
Sanchez said at least two people were arrested at their homes before
leaving for the protest in the park in Vedado, where men with short hair
and walkie-talkies grabbed hold of several protesters and forced two
into nearby cars.
A third demonstrator was carried off by his arms and feet and a British
diplomat who had gone to watch the planned march was hustled into his
car and forced to leave.
The women relatives of political prisoners, who call themselves the
"Ladies in White," were allowed to finish their march despite a few
minor tussles along the route through Havana's crumbling historic center.
"These women are counter-revolutionaries," said retired economist
Erlinda Gomez, 68. "They're trying to harm things with arguments that
just aren't true."
(Additional reporting by Rosa Tania Valdes; editing by Todd Eastham)
Cuban dissidents mark rights day with protests | Reuters (10 December 2009)
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5B94QH20091210
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