There was an empty chair at the White House on Monday where Cuban human rights activist, Martha Beatriz Roque, was supposed to be sitting and receiving the International Women of Courage award. The communist Castro dictatorship prohibited the former political prisoner from leaving the island and going to Washington D.C. so she could receive her award in person.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday criticized Cuba for barring a prominent activist, Martha Beatriz Roque, from visiting the White House to receive an award.
The State Department named Roque, who has been outspoken in her criticism of the communist-run island’s repression of dissent, one of its “International Women of Courage” in an annual award presentation.
Presenting the awards at the White House, Blinken called Roque an “unyielding defender of human rights in Cuba.”
“Cuban authorities have subjected Martha to a long campaign of detention and abuse, including prohibiting her from travelling abroad,” Blinken said.
“Martha may not be able to be with us today in person, but we want her to know all of us are with her every single day. I think Martha would be the first to say that.”
Roque, a former statistics professor, was the only woman among 75 people arrested by the government of then president Fidel Castro in the so-called “Black Spring” crackdown of 2003.
She was handed a 20-year prison term but freed after a year for health reasons.
It was good to see Secretary of State Blinken criticize the Castro dictatorship in public, but the Biden administration’s actions do not match the rhetoric. The White House continues to hold meetings with the Cuban government, lending credibility to a rogue and criminal regime that has never earned it.