Berta Soler

Berta de los Angeles Soler Fernandez (born July 31, 1963 in Matanzas, Cuba)[1][2][3] is a Cuban dissident. She is the current leader of Ladies in White, a group originally composed of wives and female relatives of political prisoners who protested on their behalf which has since 2011 transformed into a more general human rights group open to Cuban women. She assumed leadership following the death of group founder Laura Pollan. In 2012, the Associated Press described her as "one of Cuba's leading dissidents".[4]

Berta Soler
Born
Berta de los Angeles Soler Fernandez

(1963-07-31) July 31, 1963
Matanzas, Cuba
NationalityCuban
OrganizationLadies in White
Known forActivism for political prisoners
Spouse(s)Angel Moya Acosta
ChildrenLuis Angel and Lienys

Biography

Early life

Soler is a former microbiology technician at a Havana hospital.[3] She is married to Angel Moya Acosta, a construction worker and dissident, with whom she has two sons, Luis Angel and Lienys.[5]

Activism

In March 2003, Soler's husband Moya, the founder of the Alternative Option Movement, was arrested during Cuba's "Black Spring" crackdown on political dissidents. He was later sentenced to twenty years in prison.[6][7]

Soler then became a founding member of the Ladies in White, a group composed of wives and female relatives of political prisoners. Each Sunday, members would dress in white and march down Havana's Fifth Avenue in protest of their husbands' continued detention.[5]

When Moya suffered a herniated disc in October 2004, Soler began a campaign to urge the government to give him an operation, submitting a letter to President Fidel Castro on his behalf and staging a rare protest in Havana's Plaza de la Revolución with the Ladies in White.[8][9] She described the protest as "my right and duty as a wife". After two days of protest, Moya was given surgery.[7]

Soler was one of five members of the Ladies to be selected to receive the 2005 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought of the European Parliament.[10] The Cuban government barred the group's leaders from attending the Sakharov Prize award ceremony in Strasbourg, France, drawing an appeal on the group's behalf from the European Parliament.[11]

After Moya's release from prison, he and Soler chose to remain in Cuba and continue their calls for the release of political prisoners, despite being offered emigration to Spain.[12]

In March 2012, Soler and Moya were detained along with three dozen other demonstrators when they staged their weekly protest ahead of a visit of Pope Benedict XVI. Soler told reporters that authorities had warned the Ladies to avoid Benedict's public appearances, including masses.[4] She responded, "They are mistaken because who is going to prohibit us from being close to Christ, being close to God, to the pope who is represents Christ on earth?"[13]

In 2013, seven members and former members of the Ladies in White denounced Berta Soler for the diversion and appropriation of the funds the organization receives from the US and EU supporting governments and agencies, as well for using "dictatorial" practices.

References
  1. "Chávez regalaba petróleo a los Castro para poder reprimir a los cubanos". ABC (in Spanish). 12 March 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  2. "Kuba nach Castro". 3sat (in German). 1 July 2014. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  3. "'El régimen castrista es una fiera herida que vive sus últimos momentos'". Hoy (in Spanish). 21 March 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  4. Andrea Rodriguez (19 March 2012). "Berta Soler And Ladies In White Cuba Dissidents Freed From Detention For Pope Visit Protest". The Huffington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  5. Berta Soler Fernandez (13 March 2005). "Standing up to a dictator". U-T San Diego. Archived from the original on 5 May 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  6. "Síntesis biográfico de Ángel Moya Acosta" (in Spanish). Payo Libre. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  7. "World Briefing Americas: Cuba: Dissident Transferred To Hospital". The New York Times. 9 October 2004. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  8. "World Briefings". The New York Times. 8 October 2008. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  9. "Wife's campaign succeeds in Cuba". BBC News. 8 October 2004. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  10. Mary Anastasia O'Grady (17 December 2005). "Ladies in White". The Wall Street Journal.
  11. "Cuban group not allowed collect award". RTÉ News. 14 December 2005. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  12. Michael Voss (23 March 2011). "Dissidents' release draws line under Cuba crackdown". BBC News. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  13. Marc Frank (19 March 2012). "Cuba releases Ladies in White as pope visit nears". Reuters. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
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