Leaders of the dissident group Ladies in White asked the Catholic Church on Tuesday to intervene with the Cuban government to end what they described as violent acts against them and other human rights activists.
[. . .]
Laura Pollan and Berta Soler told reporters they met with Church officials, but not Church leader Cardinal Jaime Ortega as planned because he was tired after returning from a trip.
"We asked the Catholic Church, which is our mediator, to end the harassment and the beatings of the Ladies in White ... and human rights activists," Soler said after the two emerged from the meeting at the Church's headquarters in Havana.
[. . .]
The Church intervened last year after the Havana group was subjected to several "acts of repudiation" as they are called in Cuba and got an agreement from the government to allow them to continue silent marches every Sunday from the Santa Rita church on the main avenue of Havana's Miramar neighbourhood.
But the Ladies in White say they are being harassed by government supporters when they march elsewhere. Their protests began in March 2003 to demand the release of 75 of their family members jailed in a government crackdown.
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| Raul Castro and Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino |
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