Dissident leader Laura Pollán died under suspicious circumstances four years ago today

“If we must give our own lives in pursuit of the freedom of our Cuba that it be what God wants.” - Laura Pollán, September 24, 2011

Laura Pollán February 13, 1948 – October 14, 2011

Four years ago today Cuban opposition leader and human rights defender Laura Pollán  died under circumstances which Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet described as "death by purposeful medical neglect."

Laura Inés Pollán Toledo was a courageous woman who spoke truth to power and protested in the streets of Cuba demanding an amnesty for Cuban political prisoners. A woman who had been a school teacher, before her husband was jailed for his independent journalism in 2003. Laura was a figure greatly admired both inside and outside of Cuba.

However when one dissents from the dictatorship in Cuba not only is their physical life in danger but their reputation is systematically slandered. The Castro regime claimed that she was a stateless "traitor." She became ill and died within the space of a week under circumstances that raise the question of foul play by the Castro regime. Following her death the dictatorship's official media began a campaign asserting that she was a common criminal.

 Laura Pollán became a dissident when her husband was imprisoned during the Black Cuban Spring of 2003 along with more than 75 other activists and civil society members. She was one of the founders of the Ladies in White and challenged the Castro regime on the streets of Cuba. Following brutal repression in an effort to prevent them from marching through the streets of Havana Laura Pollan directly and nonviolently challenged the regime: "We will never give up our protest. The authorities have three options — free our husbands, imprison us or kill us. Unfortunately beginning in 2010 a new and deadlier pattern of oppression presented itself with the extrajudicial death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo.

Today let us remember that Laura practiced what she preached and that was nonviolent resistance to tyranny.

They tried to silence 75 voices, but now there are more than 75 voices shouting to the world the injustices the government has committed. (2004)

"We fight for the freedom of our husbands, the union of our families. We love our men." (2005)
"They can either kill us, put us in jail or release them. We will never stop marching no matter what happens." (2010)

"We are going to continue. We are fighting for freedom and human rights.” (September 24, 2011)

"As long as this government is around there will be prisoners because while they've let some go, they've put others in jail. It is a never-ending story." (2011)

“If we must give our own lives in pursuit of the freedom of our Cuba that it be what God wants.” (September 24, 2011)

"We are not going to stop. If you have imprisoned our sisters thinking that we would give up, they are mistaken. We are very united (...) all the women's movements are very close." (October 2, 2011)

Laura Inés Pollán Toledo: Still shaking the confidence of the Castro regime

"They can either kill us, put us in jail or release them. We will never stop marching no matter what happens." - Laura Pollan

Laura and the Ladies in White on the march in 2010

Two years later and the forces of repression still tremble before the memory of the 65 year old wife and mother. Watching her in the video below and one begins to understand the existential threat she represented to the totalitarians in Cuba.

She was a former school teacher turned human rights defender and international pro-democracy figure who courageously and nonviolently confronted Castro's half century old totalitarian dictatorship and paid for it with her life.

Laura Inés Pollán Toledo has not been forgotten and today across Cuba the political police organized acts of repudiation, closed streets, used loud speakers and detained over 120 Ladies in White across the island in an effort to drown out in a wave of repression activities in her memory.

The forces of repression failed.

They killed Laura but could not kill what she represents and now symbolizes. In 2010 she and the women's movement that she led, the Ladies in White forced the dictatorship to do the right thing and they used methods alien to the regime. It was the power of love and dignity backed up by courage and nonviolent discipline that forced one of the worse dictatorships on the planet to bend and release prisoners of conscience.

The Ladies in White continue their march for freedom and human rights and now also do it in memory of Laura. Love and dignity will always triumph over hatred and indecency. 

 

Take Action and Protect the Ladies in White

"We are women who are conscious of our nonviolent struggle against injustice and for freedom. If they throw us to the floor, we will stand up. No matter how many times it takes." - Berta Soler, Lady in White

Ladies in White marching for human rights in Cuba following Mass in Havana / AP

Members of the Ladies in White and their loved ones over the course of 2012 have been subjected to death threats, physical assaults, arbitrary detentions and knife attacks. The previous year saw one of the founders of the movement die under suspicious circumstances.

The Ladies in White were founded in March of 2003 following a massive crackdown on the 18th of that same month in which over 100 activists were detained of which 75 were sentenced in show trials to up to 28 years in prison for their nonviolent defense of human rights and liberties.

These courageous women succeeded in obtaining the freedom of their loved ones after long years of struggle and have continued in their effort to free all remaining political prisoners and to see that the laws are changed in order to ensure that their are no more prisoners of conscience in Cuba.

The regime in Cuba has responded with violence and arbitrary detentions. The Ladies in White have responded by redoubling their efforts and expanding their nonviolent movement.


On the eve of International Human Rights Day and on December 10, 2012 itself more than a 100 of these women were arbitrarily detained, many of them violently by agents of the government of Cuba. Over the course of 24 hours, according to Hablemos Press, there were 207 politically motivated detentions across Cuba.  This was done in order to prevent them taking part in activities on Human Rights Day. Others had their homes laid siege to and were unable to leave their homes without being attacked by regime organized mobs.

On December 18, 2012 the dictatorship used its state security apparatus to block streets, threatened and detained women in an effort to stop them from holding their Literary Tea gathering. 

Despite all of this, these courageous women continue to meet and march demanding an end to the systematic violation of human rights in Cuba, and the immediate liberation of all of Cuba's prisoners of conscience.

In an interview to the El Nuevo Herald on December 19, 2012 the spokeswoman of the Ladies in White, Berta Soler, in response to the wave of violence against them said: 

"We are women who are conscious of our nonviolent struggle against injustice and for freedom. If they throw us to the floor, we will stand up. No matter how many times it takes."

On December 7, 2012 issued a call for signatures to protect human rights defenders in the Americas stating:

Human rights defenders in the Americas play a vital role in exposing and combating human rights violations. Many have paid a high price for their courageous efforts to break cycles of injustice, discrimination and impunity.

As of 3:10pm on December 22, 2012 there have only been 389 signers. Indifference and neutrality to injustice is what allows it to proliferate. Arch-Bishop Desmond Tutu observed: 

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”

Please take a minute and sign the petition to defend human rights defenders in the Americas and the Ladies in White in particular.

 

Mass for the eternal repose of Laura Pollan at La Ermita in Miami

Ladies in White in Miami attend Mass at Ermita for Laura Pollán

A Mass for the eternal repose of Laura Pollán was held at La Ermita de la Caridad on October 15 at 8:00pm. Many of the political prisoners now exiled who, in large part, owe their freedom to the Ladies in White took attended and paid their respects. As did many of the Ladies in White now exiled. Some traveled from long distances to pay their respects. Pictures and videos are posted below.

Poster reads: "United in prayer for Laura Pollán"

Press accounts expressed surprise at the tributes for Laura that are flooding cyberspace from the famous, the powerful and countless every day people whose lives she touched. The Mass at La Ermita was standing room only and along with the Ladies in White, former prisoners of conscience, a US Senator, a former Congressman, and a commandant of the revolution the general public gathered to pray for her immortal soul on a rainy Saturday night dodging heavy downpours.

On Friday, October 14, 2011 at 11pm the first prayer service for the eternal repose of Laura Pollán was held at La Ermita. An video clip excerpt from the service is embedded below. Parishioners were still in a state of shock and and intense sorrow having learned of Laura's passing at 7:50pm that very night.




Early the next day it was announced in both the mass media and social media that a special Mass for the eternal repose of Laura Pollán would be held that same night, Saturday, October 15 at 8pm.

Bishop Agustin Roman

Cardinal Raymond L. Burke in CatholicCulture.org presents in an article "On the Christian Burial of the Dead" why this type of mass for the recently departed is so important:

Praying for the dead is an integral part of our Christian life; it is one of the spiritual works of mercy. Our prayer for the dead both honors their memory and expresses our faithful love as we assist them to be purified of any temporal punishment due to sin and to reach their final destiny and lasting home with God. The Catechism of the Catholic Church instructs us about the importance of prayer for the dead:

From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God. The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead. (No. 1032)

According to the Cardinal, "There is no more effective means to express our love and provide spiritual help for those who have died than to have the Mass offered for the eternal repose of their souls."

While there exists a political prisoner in Cuba the Ladies in White will be there ask for their liberty." - Laura Pollán


Ladies in White gathered at La Ermita to pay their respects and pray for the immortal soul of Laura Pollán.

Agustin Roman, the retired Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Miami, and an icon of the Cuban exile community delivered the homily. A video clip excerpt is available below along with a very loose translation which attempts to remain true to what the Monsignor said.



"A person as left us who very much loved liberty. We must agree that Laura was a person who struggled mightily for freedom and she has left but she left us a remembrance, a gift, a seed that she planted: The Ladies in White. Let us pray her and also pray for what she sowed. So that it will continue. Today we pray in a special manner for the freedoms that she sacrificed for. Let us fight for that and pray for that." [...]

Peace is founded on four pillars: The first is the truth. There cannot be peace where there is not truth. There cannot be peace where there is not justice. There cannot be peace where there is not love. Hate can never achieve peace. There cannot be peace where there is not freedom. If one of these four pillars is absent said Pope John XXIII peace collapses. To rebuild peace requires rebuilding the four pillars. Undoubtably that is what the Ladies in White have done. They have done it nonviolently.


Following the Mass former prisoners of conscience and Ladies in White gathered to remember and exchange anecdotes of their time with Laura Pollán.

Former prisoner of conscience Carmelo Díaz Fernández

Former prisoner of conscience Fidel Suarez Cruz

Two Ladies in White conversing with Antonio Diaz Sanchez (his back to the camera)

Former prisoners of conscience Roberto de Miranda and Normando Hernandez

Laura Inés Pollán Toledo: From school teacher to nonviolent human rights icon

“Complete civil disobedience is rebellion without the element of violence in it.” – Mohandas Gandhi

Laura Pollan’s own words demonstrate the evolution and transformation of this Cuban woman from an apolitical school teacher seeking the freedom of her long time lover to a human rights defender seeking the freedom of her husband and all Cubans. Over the space of eight years confronting all that the Cuban dictatorship could hurl at her and the rest of Ladies in White she and the other women were transformed. She married her longtime partner, Hector Maseda, in the "re-education" offices of La Pendiente prison in central Santa Clara province in December 2004 while he was serving his unjust 20 year prison sentence. The dictatorship's strategy has is to break up the families of the political prisoners in order to increase their isolation. The marriage was both an act of love and defiance. Although she is now no longer physically present, her words live on.



"For the first time I feel the church has made a strong impact. At other times it has been very lukewarm. Now it talks about the dissidents. Whether or not [the bishops] think like them, they support them." (2003)

They tried to silence 75 voices, but now there are more than 75 voices shouting to the world the injustices the government has committed. (2004)

“We ask on this Christmas Day for freedom for our political prisoners and for the Cuban people to have a better future.” (2005)

“It's an extremely sad day for us, because Christmas is a family holiday. Since our husbands are not with us, our families cannot be complete.” (2005)

"We fight for the freedom of our husbands, the union of our families. We love our men." (2005)

“We would never have thought this would go on for so long.” (2006)

Human rights basically have been dead in our country for three years. Physically, I am tired. But I am still fighting, as long as I am alive and my husband is jailed, I am going to keep fighting. – Laura Pollan (2006)

“We are calling for freedom for all political prisoners.” (2006)



"They can either kill us, put us in jail or release them. We will never stop marching no matter what happens." (2010)

"We are going to continue. We are fighting for freedom and human rights.” (September 24, 2011)

"As long as this government is around there will be prisoners because while they've let some go, they've put others in jail. It is a never-ending story." (2011)

“If we must give our own lives in pursuit of the freedom of our Cuba that it be what God wants.” (September 24, 2011)

"We are not going to stop. If you have imprisoned our sisters thinking that we would give up, they are mistaken. We are very united (...) all the women's movements are very close." (October 2, 2011)

The dictatorship in Cuba thought it could break Laura Pollan’s spirit but instead with each new attack and outrage her defiance and awareness of the true nature of the regime only increased. Just eight months ago they gave in and returned her husband to her after eight long years of unjust imprisonment.

Reunited in 2011

They thought with that they could stop Laura and the rest of the Ladies in White. Perhaps that might have worked in April of 2003 but after so many years of seeing the true face of the dictatorship and its oppression of the Cuban people it was too late. Now the Ladies in White who remain to carry on the struggle will rise to the occasion. Never doubt the resolve of a Cuban woman. Today they mourn and tomorrow they continue to march for freedom.

Ladies in White honor guard for Laura Pollan

"We're going to continue our peaceful fight for the liberation of all political prisoners. We'll also continue defending the human rights of the Cuban people." - Bertha Soler

"We plan to march tomorrow on Fifth Avenue like we do every Sunday. It will be a special march for Laura." - Bertha Soler


What of the men who these women defend? They too will be at their side in this nonviolent struggle for change. The man whose imprisonment sparked Laura Pollan to action in deep mourning for his wife called on the Ladies to continue their struggle. Hector Maseda was one of the last to be freed, first because he had refused to go into exile and secondly because he had demanded the false charges under which he had been convicted to be dropped. He had to be forcibly taken out of prison against his will by the prison authorities because they had only granted him parole. He is a stubborn and courageous man.

"You have to keep going as you have until now, with intelligence, not accepting provocations. You have become a dagger in the middle of the heart of the government.” – Hector Maseda

Remembering Laura Pollan and her heroic life

"They can either kill us, put us in jail or release them. We will never stop marching no matter what happens." - Laura Pollan

Laura Inés Pollán Toledo

Laura Inés Pollán Toledo died tonight at 7:50pm from heart failure at the age of 63. One week after she had fallen suddenly ill from a respiratory infection compounded with dengue fever and already existing condition as a diabetic. News wires from around the world: the BBC, AFP, AP, CNN, Reuters, The Washington Post, and The Miami Herald reported on the passing of the founder of the Ladies in White.



Prior to her husband's arrest in March of 2003 she was an apolitical high school literature teacher who loved cats and plants. That all changed when her husband, Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez, was sentenced to an unjust 20 year prison sentence for his activities as an independent journalist. He had been a nuclear engineer until being demoted in 1992 for ideological errors.

Within days of the March 2003 show trials and the unjust prison sentences the Ladies in White came into existence and Laura Pollan was one of the founders of the movement. Their demands were simple and direct. The freedom of their loved ones. Their methods were nonviolent, strategic, and well thought out. In a 2005 interview Laura Pollan stated their agenda: "We fight for the freedom of our husbands, the union of our families. We love our men."



Tonight the dictatorship has mobilized its state security forces around the country and they are visibly nervous. Women attempting to travel to Havana from the provinces to pay their respects to the former high school literature teacher now turned human rights icon have been arrested reports Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia and Yoani Sanchez.

For the world today and for future generations her life and courageous example are transparent and visible for all to see. It is important for those who may not know this woman and the movement that she led, that will now have to continue without her, that what she and the Ladies in White have accomplished be both remembered and acknowledged. Blogs such as Uncommon Sense, Capitol Hill Cubans and Babalu have already started and others will continue over the days and weeks to come.

Lady in White Laura Pollán

Let us honor this woman who demonstrated since March of 2003 until her death resolute courage in the face of a brutal totalitarian dictatorship. Fortunately, for posterity her words are both written down and recorded and they will live on long after the Castro dictatorship is just a bad memory. At the same time the slanders, libels, assaults and mistreatment that she and other Cuban women have suffered for defending human rights and expressing themselves freely have also been documented.

Laura Pollan reunited with her husband Hector Maseda

It took eight years but in the Spring of 2011 Laura Pollan was able to embrace her husband now free from his unjust captivity. At the same time she continued the struggle for the freedom of the remaining Cuban political prisoners. The Ladies in White succeeded in freeing their loved ones imprisoned in the March 2003 Cuban Black Spring.

Returning to the sad news of the night

According to Yoani Sanchez reports that Laura's wake will take place over the next 2 hours at La Nacional funeral parlor at Infanta and Benjumeda in Central Havana on the 2nd floor in Chapel E. Ladies in White from around the country are trying to reach the capitol to pay their respects. The family has announced they will have a small private funeral and that Laura will be cremated afterwards. The picture below taken late last night was of the honor guard for Laura Pollan.

Honor Guard for Laura Pollan (Her husband Hector Maseda front on the right)

Tonight their was also a special service at La Ermita de la Caridad at 10:30pm for Laura Pollan. At least one of the Ladies in White was there, Blanquita Gonzalez the mother of former prisoner of conscience Normando Hernandez.


Excerpt from service at La Ermita in Miami for Laura Pollan

According to Yoani Sanchez, in a 2:00am tweet, starting Saturday at 9:00am and over the next three days a book of condolences for Laura Pollan will be available for signing at Neptuno 963 between Hospital & Aramburu in Central Havana in Cuba.

Over the past week I prayed for Laura Pollan's speedy recovery and tonight I continue to pray for her immortal soul, her family and friends. May her dream of a free Cuba where there are no political prisoners soon be realized.

Service for Laura Pollan on October 14 at Ermita de la Caridad

Orlando Zapata Tamayo & the Nonviolent Uprising in Cuba

"The Cuban regime murdered my friend and brother, Orlando Zapata Tamayo. It did so in a vile, cowardly, premeditated and deliberate manner. They underestimated the stature of this man, who was tried and sentenced to death for the color of his skin and the color of his ideas. Orlando Zapata has loomed large. He has marked a before and an after. I think it is a light that was turned on in the midst of a dark tunnel." -Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta, prisoner of conscience deported to Spain

"We will never give up our protest. The authorities have three options — free our husbands, imprison us or kill us. - Laura Pollan, spokeswoman for Ladies in White









Nine months ago today on February 23, 2010 Cuban prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo died after a prolonged water only hunger strike during which prison officials denied him water for 18 days contributing to his death. The death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo marked a nonviolent moment that shook the dictatorship and exposed its brutality to the world.



A lot has happened since then, and the video above attempts to place it in context. One can debate the analysis or what may or may not have been left out in nine minutes, but the facts remain that the brutal treatment of Cuban prisoners which amounted to torture led Orlando Zapata to respond with the only nonviolent means at his disposal: the hunger strike.

The dictatorship's response which was to try to break Orlando denying him water for 18 days exposed the regime's sadistic nature to an international audience. This combined with the public and violent mistreatment of the Ladies in White generated a public outcry that caught the Cuban regime by surprise and eventually forced them to the negotiating table in an effort to white wash their tarnished image. Nine months later Zapata's legacy continues to challenge injustice in Cuba and leads to the observation that Orlando Zapata Tamayo Vive!