DAMAS DE BLANCO MEMBER DETAINED FOR CHANGE BRACELET

C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 001044 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR WHA/CCA E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/05/2017 TAGS: CU PGOV PHUM PINR PREL SUBJECT: DAMAS DE BLANCO MEMBER DETAINED FOR CHANGE BRACELET Classified By: COM: Michael E. Parmly: For reasons 1.4 b/d ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: On 4 November a policeman took Bertha Soler, a leading activist in Damas de Blanco, an organization of the wives of Cuban political prisoners, to a police station in Central Havana after she refused to remove a bracelet with the word Cambio (Change) on it. After Bertha asserted her rights she was released after 25 minutes with the bracelet still on her wrist. No charges were filed. End Summary ¶2. (C) A local police officer stopped Bertha Soler in a street in Central Havana just outside the home of Damas en Blanco leader, Laura Pollan. Bertha is the wife of Angel Moya Acosta, one of the 75 dissidents jailed in a massive crackdown in 2003. Bertha works closely with Laura, and stays frequently in Laura's home when Bertha visits Havana. The police officer escorted Bertha to the local police station after Bertha refused to remove a bracelet with the word Cambio (Change) on it. ¶3. (C) Less than an hour after the incident Bertha reported to POL officers that at the station she said that she would not surrender the bracelet because Fidel and Raul say that everyone lives in a free and democratic Cuba and she has the right to wear whatever she chooses. When police officers asked her what was the reason she was wearing the bracelet, she told them that the word "change" has many meanings that they could look up in the dictionary. She suggested that if they did not know who she was, they should call state security. In that case they'd know that she was a member of Damas de Blanco and for her it meant change of the system. Apparently the police officers did call state security. They then released Bertha still wearing the bracelet. She was in the police station a total of 25 minutes. No charges have been filed. ¶4. (C) Comment: The response of the police to Bertha's courageous defiance is instructive. It also indicates the continued prestige of the Damas de Blanco. PARMLY