- Title: CUBA: Leader of Cuba's Ladies in White, Laura Pollan, dead at 63
- Date: 16th October 2011
- Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (OCTOBER 15, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PAINTING OF LADIES IN WHITE FOUNDER LAURA POLLAN ON TABLE WITH BURNING CANDLES (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) HECTOR MASEDA, HUSBAND OF LAURA POLLAN AND FORMER POLITICAL PRISONER FROM THE 75, SAYING: "Laura's (Pollan) ashes will take two paths, the ashes were split up. One part will go with the family to Manzanillo and the other part will be spread across a blooming field whenever one appears in Cuba. Hopefully, it will have sunflowers because that is what she asked for." STILL PHOTO THAT SHOWS POLLAN DURING MARCH MEMBERS OF LADIES IN WHITE AT THE FUNERAL (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LADIES IN WHITE MEMBER BERTA SOLER SAYING: "This will continue. Laura will not be physically present but she will be with us in our hearts." VARIOUS OF WAKE (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIDENTIFIED REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE U.S. INTEREST SECTION SAYING: "They are obviously for the family of Laura Pollan." REPORTERS ASK: "From whom?" REPLIES: "From the U.S. Interest Section." MAN ON THE PHONE OUTSIDE POLLAN'S HOUSE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) DISSIDENT ELIZARDO SANCHEZ SAYING: "She had an illness that was common but the years of physical, psychological and moral abuse she suffered took her to her grave. On that point, we cannot hide the political and moral responsibility of the totalitarian Cuban government." VARIOUS OF LADIES IN WHITE CRYING PAINTING OF POLLAN
- Embargoed: 31st October 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Cuba, Cuba
- Country: Cuba
- Topics: Obituaries,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVACWUT1A9RU2IC7VO6KYUN4V9CH
- Story Text: Laura Pollan, who helped found the dissident group Ladies in White after her husband was jailed in a 2003 crackdown on government opponents, died on Friday in a Havana hospital at the age of 63, her family and fellow dissidents said.
The pugnacious Pollan was one of Cuba's leading opposition voices and deeply involved in promoting change on the Communist island until she developed a pulmonary illness and went into the hospital on Oct. 7.
She had been on a respirator in the intensive care ward of Calixto Garcia hospital ever since and died of cardiac arrest, said Berta Soler, her long-time co-leader of the Ladies in White.
Husband Hector Maseda told Reuters on Saturday (October 15) her ashes would be shared.
"Laura's (Pollan) ashes will take two paths, the ashes were split up. One part will go with the family to Manzanillo and the other part will be spread across a blooming field whenever one appears in Cuba. Hopefully, it will have sunflowers because that is what she asked for," Maseda said.
After 75 dissidents, including Maseda, were imprisoned in a March 2003 crackdown known as Havana's Black Spring, the former school teacher helped found the Ladies in White with family members of the other prisoners and began staging silent marches every Sunday in Havana to press for their release.
Dressed in white and each carrying a single white flower, they walked silently along a main Havana avenue after attending services at the Santa Rita Catholic Church in the capital's leafy Miramar neighbourhood.
Public protests were unheard of at the time and still rare today. The government tried to stop them by sending out harassing mobs in what are known in Cuba as "acts of repudiation," but allowed them to continue after intercession by the church.
"This will continue. Laura will not be physically present but she will be with us in our hearts," fellow Lady in White Berta Soler said.
All 75 people imprisoned in the Black Spring crackdown, who received sentences ranging from six to 28 years, have been released, most of them following a deal between the church and President Raul Castro last year. One of the last to be freed was Maseda, who was serving a 20-year sentence.
The Ladies in White have continued their Sunday marches, saying there are still political prisoners in Cuba, and this summer launched a second chapter in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba, which has met stiff government resistance.
A man approached Pollan's home with flowers where mourners were gathered and told reporters he was from the U.S. Interest Section.
Elizardo Sanchez, head of the independent Cuban Commission of Human Rights, said the government was partly responsible for her death.
"She had an illness that was common but the years of physical, psychological and moral abuse she suffered took her to her grave. On that point, we cannot hide the political and moral responsibility of the totalitarian Cuban government," he said.
Cuba considers dissidents to be mercenaries working for its long-time enemy the United States, and so far had said nothing about Pollan's death.
Cuba was heavily criticized last year when an imprisoned dissident died after a long hunger strike.
The international condemnation was believed to be a factor in Castro's decision to release the dissidents. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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