Posted : Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:56:08 GMT
By : dpa
Havana - Supporters of the Cuban communist government led by President
Raul Castro on Tuesday broke up a dissident demonstration in Havana,
witnesses said. More than 100 men and women shouting slogans in support
of former long-time ruler Fidel Castro and the government now led by his
brother, Raul. They chanted "Long live Fidel!" and "This street belongs
to Fidel!" as they surrounded around 30 members of the so- called Damas
de Blanco, the Ladies in White, a group of wives and mothers of
imprisoned dissidents.
On December 10, government supporters had similarly heckled a
demonstration by the Damas de Blanco to mark the International Day of
Human Rights.
The group has scheduled various protest actions for this week, to mark
the seventh anniversary of the arrest of their loved ones, 75 dissidents
who were sentenced to up to 28 years in prison after being considered
"mercenaries" in the service of the United States. Of these, 53 remain
in prison.
Cuba has been the target of strong international criticism in recent
weeks over the situation of political prisoners. One of them, Orlando
Zapata, died last month while on a hunger strike. Another dissident,
Guillermo Farinas, has been on hunger strike for 21 days and was being
force-fed to keep him alive.
Cuban authorities insist that there are no political prisoners on the
island and that Zapata and others are common prisoners. Human rights
organizations, however, say there are about 200 political prisoners in
Cuba."
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