Obama’s visit to Cuba

Last week, while in Cuba, Robert came to me so excited that Obama was coming to Cuba. I had heard that, just before boarding the flight from Miami so it wasn’t news. What was news was his statement that Obama was going to meet with the Ladies in White (Damas de Blanco), in a private session, without overseers.

Misinformation is the only information in Cuba, so I have no way of knowing if that is true or not. We most likely won’t know until after Obama’s visit. Since my return to the U.S. I have seen nothing about Obama’s visit, outside of his attending a baseball game. I don’t believe this all is being kept a secret, I just know that the regime in Cuba is not the easiest to make efficient plans with.

It would be exceptional if Obama met with the Damas de Blanco, as I believe they are a better representation of the situation than if he met with individual dissidents.

The Ladies in White came about after the ‘Black Spring’ in 2003. At that time the Cuban government arrested, tried and sentenced 75 people protesting human rights. These journalists, librarians and ordinary citizens were given prison terms of up to 28 years.

The Cuban government accused them of “acts against the independence or the territorial integrity of the state”, this included belonging to “illegal organizations”, they were accused of accepting money from the United States, “hijacking”, “terrorist activities”, and collaborating with foreign media.

The Damas de Blanco, originally led by Laura Pollan, are the wives and other female relatives of these jailed dissidents. The organization is now headed by Berta Soler.

The movement began when the ladies attended services at St. Rita’s Church in Havana on the Sunday, two weeks after the arrests. They wear white, just as the Argentine Mothers of Plaza de Mazo did in the 1970s, in an attempt to force the junta government to explain where their children had disappeared to.

The Damas de Blanco continue to attend mass every Sunday and afterwards slowly and silently walk through the streets. They often carry flowers and photos of the oppressed. Through the years many others have joined the movement, and there are now groups throughout Cuba.

These women are routinely arrested and beaten by the police, or even by fellow citizens that hold the same beliefs as the Castro regime.

The last dissident of the ‘Black Spring’ was released in 2011, but this organization has grown, silently protesting against other wrong doings they see continuing on their island. These Damas de Blanco have come to represent to so many in Cuba, the only way they can protest against all that is so wrong with their oppressive government.

A visit to these women by Obama, and even more significantly, if he were accompanied by Michelle, would bring so much hope to the hopeless at this time.