Via Pedazos de la Isla: Ladies in White march in Cuba in honor of Mother’s Day The Ladies in White marched through the streets of Cuba this Sunday, May 12th, in honor of Mother’s Day, sending out greetings to Cuban women around the world, as well as a special tribute to Laura Pollan Toledo, deceased founder [...]

Mary O'Grady in the Wall Street Journal: Havana in Black and White Dissident Berta Soler takes a big risk by telling the truth about racism and repression in Cuba. During an interview at the Journal's offices last week, Ms. Soler told me that the ministry of interior official who escorted her home said "Laura [Pollán, [...]

By Angel Santiesteban via Translating Cuba: The United Nations Human Rights Council and its Great Challenge With Cuba Tomorrow, May 1, the United Nations Human Rights Council will meet in Geneva, where Cuba will present a report with notes on its prison policy. “Dressing up” for the occasion, for the first time in nine years [...]

The incomparable Mary Anatasia O'Grady in the Wall Street Journal: Lady in White In the debate about whether the U.S. should end what is left of the embargo it has imposed against Cuba for the last half century, the side that wants to lift it often invokes the names of dissidents on the island who [...]

University of North Carolina professor Louis Perez penned an Op-Ed that was published in yesterday's Miami Herald that purported to show us what the scandal that ensued after Beyonce and Jay-Z vacationed in Cuba as VIP guests of the apartheid dictatorship of the Castro brothers taught us. The good professor ran down the litany of [...]

Juan Tamayo in The Miami Herald: Eight years late, Cuba’s Ladies in White pick up Sakharov prize in Brussels Cuba’s Ladies in White finally received their Sakharov prize Tuesday, in a ceremony delayed by Havana for eight years but described by the head of the European Parliament as proof that “no dictatorship in the world [...]

Via Pedazos de la Isla: Ladies in White march in solidarity with victims of violence Dozens of members of the Ladies in White assisted Mass this Sunday, April 21st, despite numerous cordons set up by the political police.  The women prayed for the freedom of all political prisoners as they habitually do, and also in solidarity [...]

Via Pedazos de la Isla: Repression against Ladies in White increases, but they keep marching Each Sunday various arrests of Ladies in White in different parts of Cuba are reported, but this 7th of April, the first Sunday of the month, a group of 60 women were detained by the political police in the province of [...]

Via Notes from the Cuban Exile Quarter: Ten years later the Ladies in White continue to walk on for freedom The Ladies in White celebrated today the 10th anniversary of the group's creation taking on their walk a photo of their late leader, Laura Pollán. "Fifty three Ladies in White on Fifth avenue on their [...]

The reforms of Cuban dictator Raul Castro have no room for religious freedom. Yesterday, Palm Sunday, Cuba's Ladies in White marched peacefully in several cities throughout Cuba and the Castro regime's repressive State Security immediately swooped in to arrest several of the women. Via Pedazos de la Isla: Despite arrests, Ladies in White march on [...]

The following is my translation of Zoé Valdés' Open Letter to Pope Francis I, which appeared on her blog on March 19, 2013. ______________________________ Your Holiness Pope Francis I Vatican City Rome First of all, I would like to congratulate you on becoming the Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church. For more than a half-century [...]

By Zoé Valdés - translation to English forthcoming: Carta abierta al Papa Francisco. Su Santidad Francisco Ciudad del Vaticano Roma Primero le deseo mis congratulaciones por su designación de Sumo Pontífice de la Iglesia Católica. Desde hace más de medio siglo, 54 años, mi país, Cuba, sufre una de las más crueles tiranías comunistas bajo el [...]

This is what it has come down to in the reformed, kinder, gentler Cuba of dictator Raul Castro: The stoning of defenseless women for demanding respect for human rights. Via Capitol Hill Cubans: The Stoning of the Ladies in White Castro's secret police has surrounded the home of Denia Fernandez, a prominent member of The [...]

Ten years ago today the Castro dictatorship in Cuba launched an island-wide operation to violently crackdown on Cuban opposition leaders and independent journalist. In total, 75 innocent Cubans were arrested and given long prison sentences -- as much as 25 years -- simply for exercising free speech. The day, March 18, 2003, came to be [...]

Via Pedazos de la Isla: On the streets of Cuba, Ladies in White remember the Black Spring Ladies in White march on March 17th, 2013. Photo by Angel Moya (@jangelmoya) This 17th of March was the first Sunday in which the Ladies in White marched throughout the streets of Cuba with their leader- Berta Soler- out [...]