No better mediator in Cuba than the Catholic Church?
Lady in White Laura Pollan seems to think so.
Madrid, Spain, Aug 30, 2010 / 02:06 pm (CNA/Europa Press).- Distancing herself from the recent criticism of the Church in Cuba and its role in the release of political prisoners, Laura Pollan, spokeswoman for the Women in White, stated that “In Cuba there is no better mediator” than the Catholic Church, because it is an institution without a political agenda.
That's an odd comment coming from Laura Pollan. Perhaps they put some type of pressure on her? It's not unusual for the regime to force false confessions, squeeze statements of contrition, or pressure dissidents into agreeing with the regime. Who knows the ultimatum that they gave her?
More sinister even, newspapers often lie.
Her perspective is evidently skewed by ignorance, misinformation, her asphyxiating circumstances and, quite possibly, personal considerations. If supposedly knowledgeable people outside Cuba, with free access to all sorts of information and opinions, are still falling for this RCC-Castro joint venture, why wouldn't someone as vulnerable as she?
As I said before the RCC has set back the disident movement 50 years. its time to start all over again.
The article comes from the Catholic News Agency. Looks like damage control.
From the perspective of someone who knows nothing else except what can be known inside Cuba, which is obviously subject to all sorts of limitations, distortions and outright fabrications, it's not terribly surprising that someone like Pollan could sincerely believe what she's saying (though everyone in Cuba is NOT buying what the RCC and the government are selling with this prisoner business). Pollan, frankly, doesn't look like she's the sharpest person imaginable, meaning she could be someone prone to be credulous, if not gullible. In other words, she doesn't look like Martha Beatriz Roque (who was prominently involved in the letter of complaint recently sent to the Vatican).
What is so manipulative about this Catholic newspaper's coverage of Pollan's remarks is that they pretend to erase the opinions of over 100 dissidents who criticized Jaime Ortega's egregious behavior with the opinion of just one dissident who disagrees.