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Banes, Holguin: Lady in White Denounces Dictatorship’s Violence

Marta Díaz Rondón, Gertrudis Ojeda Suarez and Miladis Rosa are three Ladies in White and pro-democracy activists that have been beaten, dragged, arrested, and kept under surveillance for the simple act of paying tribute to their deceased brothers in struggle, for peacefully and publicly opposing the tyranny, and for trying to assist religious mass. 

January 15th

The 3 women- all of them residents from Banes, Holguin- suffered a brutal attack at the hands of state agents on the morning of Saturday, January 14th, as they were traveling towards the city of Holguin aboard a friend’s car to assist mass that Sunday along with other Ladies in White.  The violence began when a group of State Security agents and political police officials gave orders to the women to get off the car.  Considering that neither of the three had committed a single crime, they refused.  The violence began at that very moment.

“It was a group of police agents, headed by State Security agent Freddy Aguero”, explains Marta Díaz Rondón, “they dragged us off the car as they were beating us”. As they dragged the women, in addition to the accustomed physical blows delivered by officials, the women were being hurt as they were thrown against the car seats, the car steps, and the outside pavement.  In the case of Rondon, she suffered serious injuries on her head and on her thighs.  As for Gertrudis Ojeda, who just a few weeks ago was brutally beaten inside her own house by Cuban political police,  they “twisted her arms and hands, they nearly broke them“.  Afterward, the three activists were thrown inside a police vehicle.

The activists were first taken to a State Security department in Banes, where they once again were dragged, by their hair and by their arms- this time up the stairs to the 3rd floor where the offices of the department are located. Once upstairs, the agents decided where each woman would be taken to.  In the case of Diaz Rondon, she was taken to the unit known as Vagano, in Holguin, where she remained arrested for a total of 29 hours.  Gertrudis was taken to the Rafael Freire Unit (also for 29 hours), and Miladis was detained in a police unit in Banes for a number of hours until that afternoon.

“During the arrest, we all carried out a protest.  We did not accept a single thing from them”, affirmed Rondon.

In this photo, taken in 2010 by Luis Felipe Rojas, Marta Diaz Rondon appears with various bruises on her thighs/legs. It is this same area where she is once again suffering from wounds because of beatings at the hands of the regime.

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