EMOTIONAL MARCH 18 FOR DAMAS DE BLANCO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HAVANA 000271

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/19/2017
TAGS: SOCI PHUM KPAO CU
SUBJECT: EMOTIONAL MARCH 18 FOR DAMAS DE BLANCO

REF: HAVANA 248

HAVANA 00000271 001.3 OF 002


Classified By: COM Michael E. Parmly; Reasons 1.4 (b/d)


1. (C) Summary: Cuba's Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White),
spouses/relatives of political prisoners, commemorated the
fourth anniversary of the 2003 crackdown with their trademark
appearance at Santa Rita Church and march down Havana's 5th
Avenue, followed by an emotional video-conference with former
political prisoners and their relatives in Miami (hosted
jointly by USINT and Radio/TV Marti). The day before, the
Damas marched down the seafront "Malecon" avenue, and posed
for pictures in a mock jail cell. Sunday evening they
attended a mass for Miguel Valdes Tamayo, a former political
prisoner from the 2003 crackdown who died soon after the
Cuban regime released him. The Damas (please protect
strictly) are coordinating an opposition-wide appeal to the
UN Human Rights Council to free all Cuban political
prisoners. We have learned (and are reporting septel) that
the Damas' continuing activities have put them on a collision
course with regime security forces.
End Summary.


2. (U) Attending Sunday mass and marching down 5th Avenue are
the Damas' stock in trade. However, Sunday, March 18 was not
just another Sunday, but rather the fourth anniversary of the
2003 crackdown that put 75 dissidents in jail. That was the
proximate cause for the founding of the Damas de Blanco, who
are the female relatives, mostly wives, of those 75. March
18, 2007 attracted considerable media attention and a healthy
turnout at Santa Rita Church by European members of the
diplomatic corps, as well as USINT. Additionally, five
members of the Italian Radical party (including one Member of
Parliament and another European Parliamentarian) unfurled a
banner saying "Freedom and non-violence for Cuba" and marched
near Santa Rita Church.


3. (SBU) Video-Conference: Following the march, most of the
Damas, accompanied by some of the 75 who have been released
from prison on health grounds, reassembled at the USINT PAO
residence, just two blocks from Santa Rita. With the help of
Radio/TV Marti and Cuban exile NGOs based in Miami, USINT
staged a live video-conference with the Damas on this end and
former Cuban political prisoners and family members in Miami.
This was an emotional event for both audiences, providing
each with a sense of connectedness and community under the
cruel circumstances imposed upon them by the Castro
dictatorship.

-- In Havana, principal Dama representative Laura Pollan said
the contact with the exile group gave her more courage and
energy to carry on the fight to release her husband and the
others. Most of the Damas present, plus some of the released
75ers, got a turn to identify themselves and make a similar
statement about: 1) the enduring agony of having a loved one
imprisoned; and 2) the importance and the energy that they
derive from support from the exile community, the diplomatic
corps and publicity of their activities.

-- The Miami group, which included many close personal
friends of the Damas and 75ers, was as sympathetic and
supportive as possible. One of the organizers wrote us to
say: "This has truly been the most memorable event I have
been privileged to be a part of. From our end we could feel
the electricity, and everyone was extremely pleased to have
been able to participate ... I will never forget their faces
and their words. Determination, courage and dignity are the
best words to describe the guiding principles of the
interaction. There was not a dry eye in the room; not even
the people providing technical assistance could avoid it."


4. (SBU) Other Activities: The Damas on Saturday set up a
makeshift jail cell at Laura Pollan's home and posed for
photographs. Also on Saturday they marched down Havana's
seafront "Malecon" avenue. They attended a mass for fallen
75er Miguel Valdes Tamayo. During the video-conference,
Laura Pollan announced that five Damas from Ciego de Avila
and Camaguey gathered and marched to mark the occasion. Some
of the Damas in these Cuban cities and elsewhere were
forcefully prevented from traveling to Havana. One
participant in the video-conference said she had to disguise
herself to be able to travel from her home in the interior to
Havana. Another called home to Santiago and learned that her

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house was surrounded by State Security agents. One of the
Miami participants in the video-conference said that parallel
March 18 events in support of the Damas were taking place in
Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, and elsewhere. We
and the Damas also saw media reports of the mock Cuban prison
cell set up this week in a Prague public square by the Czech
NGO "People in Need."


5. (SBU) Additionally, USINT has learned that 84 activists in
Villa Clara are holding a week-long fast, and that a dozen
dissidents gathered at the Havana home of former political
prisoner Leonardo Bruzon to commemorate March 18. We are
aware of at least two dissidents being detained over the
weekend, including Aurelio Bachiller, one of the leaders of
Cuba's free labor movement.


6. (C) Follow-Up: Pollan and COM discussed the former's
initiative to circulate a broad Cuban opposition appeal to
the UN Human Rights Council to release all Cuban political
prisoners (numbering roughly 280). Given some of the
rivalries in the democratic opposition, the Damas recognize
that they are the one group, representing the one cause that
unites everybody: "Release the Political Prisoners." The two
most well-known opposition figures, Martha Beatriz Roque and
Oswaldo Paya, have indicated to us that they would agree to
sign onto such an appeal, if/when asked.


7. (C) Comment: We could not possibly imagine a better use
of video-conferencing than this. We already heard on March
19 from a dissident in Matanzas, that the Radio Marti
rebroadcast of the video-conference was on the air and
well-received. This is gratifying, but also an opportunity
to create momentum to push harder for the release of the
political prisoners.
PARMLY