Reports from Cuba: Seeing Berta Soler off at the airport
Seeing Berta Soler off at the airport
Between hugs, handshakes and some tears we said goodbye at the Havana aiport last night, Sunday, 10 March, to the leader of the Ladies in White, Berta Soler.
She was accompanied more than fifty of these brave women and about thirty friends and admirers (including the political police brigade that never misses these events) but not along the the usual route of the Ladies in White through the streets of Cuba to demand freedom for political prisoners. Rather she is taking advantage of a part of Law No. 13, embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, violated for 53 years by the authorities of the Cuban government led by Fidel Castro Ruz, before, and now by his brother Raul Castro the leader of the Communist party, the only party allowed to exist under the constitution created by them and approved by fear. A violation that had motivated thousands of Cubans to make an out-of-control exodus in which many lost their lives trying to escape the dictatorship. For 53 years Cubans could only leave the island to work in international missions (serving as doctors and other positions), in sports delegations, or on cultural tours, all well-controlled by government authorities, but still many members risked desertion under the strict eyes of State Security. Thus numerous talents in all branches of learning and doing fled the island.
A few minutes before leaving this reporter asked Berta Soler two questions:
What will make you return to Cuba?
Berta: My commitment to my people, to political prisoners who remain in prison, to freedom. To demand the rights that are still violated by the dictatorship. I go out into the world only to bear witness to the truth of Cuba and to fight for our rights. We are not mercenaries as we are painted by the dictatorship but patriots, people of any social class who lose the fear of repression and hold to citizenship in search of democracy.
Are you afraid to return home?
Berta: No, not at all. Fear of the tyrant has plunged this country into misery, has made this people mediocre and isolated from the rest of the world, not knowing how to relate to their own brothers. Even the government itself has confessed that it has failed to create a generation within the Party capable of replacing the old and worn out satraps who govern. God willing, I will return to new streets, that do not belong to the Party, to a government or to a dynasty, but to all Cubans, those here and our brothers who have been banished into exile, because for me we have all been banished, expelled from out country, the land that by right belongs to us.
Now on the point of crossing over the high wall of the Revolution, her husband, Angel Moya Acosto, a political prisoner from the Black Spring Group of 75, hugs her and says, “Do the right thing, not one step back. Our best weapon is the truth. Give the world this message. We are here, waiting for you.”
Laughter, applause, excitement, and the cameras clicking, until the Afro-Cubana leader is lost behind the curtains of customs.
11 March 2013
Why are they allowing her out?
After making a big deal about their "immigration reform," the regime couldn't stop everyone from traveling. For instance, her husband Angel Moya and Dr. Biscet were denied passports. I imagined they took a calculated risk letting Berta, Rosa Maria, and Yoani out while holding back a lot more of them.
As of now, Berta Soler and Rosa Maria Paya are making them pay for it. We'll see if they let them back in and if they do, what retaliation they take against them.
I don't see how they can do much to harm those who get out and become known.
I guess they are thinking the world will think they have become more open and now perhaps the embargo can be gone and other goodies can come to them.
But my hope is that it will backfire for Raul and his thugs. The more the world gets information and the more Cubans get to see the world and go back, it may be too late for Raul and company to continue and prosper. At least that is my hope.
Honey, the regime appears to be taking a calculated risk. Much of it has to do with PR and projecting a certain image for foreign consumption. It is critical that they look as “reasonable” and “tolerant” as possible, because what they need is just enough benefit of the doubt to secure sufficient breathing room and buy time, including foreign credit (especially through ending the US embargo) and increasing tourism. The death of Chávez makes all of that much more pressing, because even though the regime will do all it can to keep sucking on the Venezuelan teat, they know they need a contingency plan. The Castro system is parasitic and always has been; it cannot survive on its own, and it knows that better than anybody.
Yes, Berta Soler and Payá’s daughter are potentially dangerous, but the gamble is that they will be offset and overshadowed by the far better known Yoani Sánchez, who is bound to get much more press and attention, and who proudly and eagerly says the magic words wherever she goes: END THE EMBARGO. I find it interesting that all three women were allowed out at the SAME time, which means they have to compete for coverage and notice. Also, the rather obvious contrast may help YS seem even more appealing to liberal elements, compared to the "hardliners" who are "hysterically overwrought" and/or "unrealistically demanding." YS does not call for wiping out Castro, Inc. but rather "reforming" it, and she definitely does not call for the kind of reckoning and justice that SO much crime for SO many years clearly deserves. As I've said, she's very non-threatening and even soothing, and remember her three magic words. It’s very clear which competitor the dictatorship is hoping will come out the winner.