Marchers in U.S. back dissidents, rip regime
SATURDAY, MARCH 27, 2010
Cuban-Americans are responding to an incident that occurred in Cuba last
week which highlights the island government's treatment of political
dissidents.
A group of about 30 women called the Ladies in White were marching in
Havana when they were assailed by state security agents and
pro-government bystanders. The marchers, mothers and wives of 75
dissidents and independent journalists who have been jailed since 2003,
were rushed off to jail themselves.
The Cuban government explained on state-run TV stations that the protest
was broken up by private citizens loyal to the Cuban government.
Accompanying the marchers were American and European diplomats in Cuba,
the government reported, who caused the "provocation" that resulted in
arrests.
Photos of the disrupted march were posted on the Internet and Cuba drew
condemnation from several governments, USA Today reported. President
Barack Obama referred to the attacks on the Ladies in White and the
recent death of Cuban political prisoner Oswaldo Zapata Tamayo, who died
after a hunger strike, as "deeply disturbing."
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To support the Ladies in White and Cuba's political dissidents,
Cuban-born pop singer Gloria Estefan organized a march Thursday in
Miami's Little Havana. Thousands participated. Another rally in support
of the group was planned for Sunday in Los Angeles.
As one Miami marcher commented: "Nonviolent activists like Ladies in
White are leading the way to freedom in Cuba." America should support
such efforts toward "libertad" in Cuba.
http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20100327/OPINION01/303279972/-1/opinion
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