30 Ladies in White Arrested

30 Ladies in White Arrested / 14ymedio
Posted on May 24, 2014
Police Mount an Operation to Prevent a Meeting in Havana
14ymedio, Havana | May 23, 2014

As of midnight Thursday, the police deployed a strong operation around
the headquarters of the Ladies in White in Havana. Once a month these
women gather in a house on Neptune Street, for what they call a
"literary tea." This activity is frequently under pressure from State
Security and groups organized by the government, who shout slogans and
place loudspeakers facing the house.

In conversation with 14ymedio Berta Soler, leaders of the Ladies in
White, described the situation they are facing at this time. "This is
the 129th Literary Tea and we planned to have a reading of poems and
letters, but the street was already closed off from the night before,"
said Soler. According to her, "They had already detained some thirty
women and others were blocked from getting here."

This newspaper's reporters confirmed the closing of Neptune Street and
the diversion of traffic to surrounding roads. At least two buses with
uniformed as well as plain clothes personnel had been brought to the
surrounding area. Groups usually used in the so-called acts of
repudiation were stationed in the capital's Trillo Park.

Several neighbors consulted confirmed that the police forces began
arriving in the early hours of the morning. "We can't live in this
neighborhood any more," said an elderly woman who lives in Hospital
Street. According to her, "When there are so many police there are a ton
of things you can no longer do. Not even the pushcart vendors want to
sell here." She was referring to the roaming sellers of fruits and
vegetables who pass through the city's neighborhood's with their
merchandise.

The Ladies in White are a peaceful women's movement created after the
2003 Black Spring, a time when Fidel Castro's government condemned 75
dissidents and independent journalists were condemned to long prison terms.

Source: 30 Ladies in White Arrested / 14ymedio | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/30-ladies-in-white-arrested-14ymedio/