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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Gloria Estefan leads march for Cuban dissidents |
| 2010-03-27 |
| MIAMI (AP) — A teary but smiling Gloria Estefan mounted the stage at the end of a march she spearheaded that drew tens of thousands of demonstrators in Miami's Little Havana to support Cuban dissidents. "Thank you Miami," Estefan told the crowd that packed the street Thursday. "We are a people united by our love for freedom. We are here with all our different flags. That is what this great country allows us to do." Shouting "Libertad! Libertad!" the marchers gathered in support of the Ladies in White, a group of Cuban mothers and wives of 75 dissidents arrested in a 2003 government crackdown there. Last week, as the Ladies in White marched through Havana to mark the anniversary of the arrests, pro-government groups surrounded them and Cuban state security agents put several in choke holds. At Thursday's Miami demonstration, many brought children and grandparents. A small plane flew overhead towing a banner that read, in Spanish, "Freedom for the Political Prisoners." The march was peaceful, with different generations standing together and, unlike past marches, few angry shouts against Fidel Castro, the island nation's longtime leader. Cuba's human rights record has drawn world attention in recent weeks with the death of dissident hunger striker Orlando Zapata Tamayo, the hospitalization of a second activist, Guillermo Farinas, and most recently, video of the treatment of the Ladies in White. "I see the rest of the world speaking out, I see the European Union speaking out, people who usually side with Fidel Castro," Estefan said in advance of the demonstration. "I thought, 'My God. I'm a woman. I'm Cuban. I have the opportunity to speak out because of the music thing. It's something I have to do.'" |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #7 Chimps, _maybe_, wouldn't be beneath their dignity serving in your Congress. But the average gorilla, orangutan, or yeti? It would be a definite step down. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2010-03-27 17:56 |
| #6 Heh! The other night I successfully argued a case against a friend for the recognition of simian as sentient beings affording all rights as a US citizen. Then, taking account monkey years to human years - wouldn't want racism/specism right? - monkeys could qualify and then be elected to congress. Friend conceded after realizing that if C-span's coverage was dominated by fecal throwing and monkey humping the nation would be better off. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2010-03-27 17:22 |
| #5 "that FTFY, Glen. No extra charge. ;-p |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2010-03-27 12:16 |
| #4 Or if Bulldog was tanked outta his mind.... |
| Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie 2010-03-27 11:23 |
| #3 Barbara, that might be true even if Bulldog IS a bulldog. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2010-03-27 09:39 |
| #2 Nothing against Gloria, Bulldog, but right now YOU could handle our foreign policy better than the clowns in the White House. :-( |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2010-03-27 09:19 |
| #1 Sad but almost certainly true: US foreign policy could be handled better by Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine than the current incumbents of the West Wing. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2010-03-27 05:11 |