Havana, Cuba, Aug 7, 2006 / 22:00 pm
The “Women in White,” an association of wives and family members of political prisoners in Cuba, organized a public march last Sunday calling on the country’s provisional leader, Raul Castro, to release the dissidents who are currently incarcerated.
During the event, in which the women marched in silence through the streets carrying gladioluses and lilies, the group’s spokesman, Laura Pollan, said, “The best thing [Raul Castro] can do as a gesture of good will is to free the prisoners so that people can see he is respecting human rights.”
Among the women participating in the march was Miriam Leyva, the wife of former political prisoner Oscar Espinosa, who said, “The Cuban people deserve a new situation, with greater participation and reconciliation. They deserve to march toward democracy and freedom.”
A statement by the Cuban Bishops’ Conference was read this weekend in all of the parishes of the country, calling for prayers that God be present with Fidel Castro in his illness, that his brother Raul be enlightened in his new tasks in the government, and that Our Lady of Charity, patroness of Cuba, watch over the country.