Ladies in White support Soler in referendum

Ladies in White support Soler in referendum
BY NORA GAMEZ TORRES NGAMEZTORRES@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM
03/10/2015 8:39 PM 03/10/2015 9:44 PM

Ladies in White leader Berta Soler obtained more than half the votes in
a referendum to remain at the helm of the feminine opposition movement
in Cuba.

A total of 108 members of the Ladies in White organization in the
provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, Holguin, Santa Clara and
Matanzas voted to keep Soler in her current position while nine members
voted against. Six other ballots were left blank or were made null,
Soler told el Nuevo Herald.

"A secret vote is very important because it allows people to reflect
what they want. The ballots which were left blank or were null — there
weren't many of these but they exist — are a form of democracy," said
Soler, who added that she insisted on the referendum although the
"active Ladies in White, who participate in marches after mass every
Sunday" were not in favor of the referendum.

Soler called for the referendum Feb. 22 in response to criticism after
the release of a video showing a group of Ladies in White members booing
fellow member Alejandra Garcia de la Riva, whom they dubbed a "traitor."

A group of 16 founders of the Ladies in White movement who live in the
U.S. signed a petition asking Soler to resign and for elections to be
held. They called the action in the video "an abominable act of
repudiation."

Later, another petition was signed by 100 women, among them former
members who quit or were sanctioned and formed other opposition groups,
such as the Citizens for Democracy movement. The petion was also signed
by some active members of Ladies in White, including Laura Maria Labrada
Pollan, daughter of the organization's founder, Laura Pollan.

The letter demanded the reintegration of activists who were separated
from the organization in an "unjust" or "arbitrary" manner, elections,
the creation of a Direction Council and for the group to actively
involve women living in exile in decision-making.

However, Soler criticized the inclusion of 16 signatures by women who
never marched with the Ladies in White in the document. She also
questioned the opinions of former members and asked the women living in
exile to "return here to vote, incorporate yourselves into the movement
and march every Sunday dressed in white."

The Ladies in White movement was originally founded by the wives and
relatives of political prisoners who were incarcerated in the Spring
2003. Many of its members were exiled when their husbands or relatives
were liberated and forced to leave the country. The Ladies in White
received the European Parliament's Sakharov award in 2005.

The referendum will conclude Wednesday with the final voting taking
place in the capital, Ciego de Avila and Pinar del Rio. Another 106
women are expected to participate in a process Soler said is
characterized by its "transparency."

Source: Ladies in White support Soler in referendum | Miami Herald Miami
Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article13272410.html