Laura Pollan

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Laura Pollan

Laura Inés Pollán Toledo (born February 13, 1948 in Manzanillo , Oriente ; † October 14, 2011 in Havana ) was a Cuban dissident and prominent human rights activist who died under previously unexplained circumstances. Opponents of the regime assume political murder. In 2003 Laura Pollán co-founded the women's group Women in White , which publicly protested for the release of political prisoners in Cuba.

Life

Laura Pollán worked in the state school system as a middle school teacher until she left her job in 2003. Her husband, Héctor Maseda , a nuclear engineer who had worked as a non-government journalist, had recently been arrested along with 74 other people in a wave of arrests against Cuban government critics known internationally as the " Black Spring ". Until her husband was arrested, Pollán said he was never interested in politics. Outside the institutions in which her husband was being held, Pollán got to know other wives and members of the "Group of 75" and consulted with them about possibilities of joint protest. At first she joined the little-known, but already active for several years "Mothers' Committee Leonor Pérez for the Freedom of Political Prisoners", whose relatives often attended mass on Sundays in the Catholic Church of Santa Rita in the Miramar district and raised their concerns there . When several dozen representatives of the dissidents arrested in March soon gathered for regular silent marches outside the church and established this as a permanent form of protest, the women's group " Women in White " was formed.

Pollán became one of the most prominent spokespersons for the Ladies in White , especially after two leading members, Miriam Leiva and Blanca Reyes, left the inner circle of the group after the early release of their husbands Óscar Espinosa Chepe and Raúl Rivero in November 2004 . When the European Parliament awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to the Ladies in White in 2005 , Pollán was one of the five representatives selected by the group to travel to Strasbourg for the award ceremony . However, the government denied them permission to leave the country. In the following years, too, she was not allowed to attend subsequent award ceremonies at the invitation of the European Parliament.

In Cuba's government-controlled media, Laura Pollán has been repeatedly attacked and presented as one of the most dangerous public enemies. These attacks increased after Pollán's husband was released on parole in February 2011 as one of the last members of the "Group of 75" - without accepting travel into exile like the vast majority of former inmates. Pollán was referred to as a “ringleader”, “manipulative” and “involved in illegal business”. Her contacts with US diplomats and the acceptance of financial support from abroad were particularly emphasized. These were not denied by Pollán, who had no income in Cuba since she gave up teaching, but in the Cuban media the payments were portrayed as Pollán's main motivation and as evidence of her alleged activity as a “ mercenary ”, and she was also targeted against Cuba Linked to terrorism . Despite clear condemnations in the press and electronic media, Pollán has never been charged with any specific criminal offense.

Pollán's centrally located apartment in the Centro Habana district became a frequent meeting place, also for women in white from other parts of the country. The apartment has also repeatedly been the target of intimidation actions by the Cuban authorities, so-called Actos de Repudio , in which large crowds of supporters of the government were drawn together in front of the house and, with the approval of the law enforcement officers, uttered loud slogans and insults for several hours, sometimes including the application of violence. On September 24, 2011, just three weeks before Pollán's death, the worst incident of this kind to date had occurred in front of her house, preventing a group of women in white gathered in her house and led by her from leaving the house and as previously announced, to visit the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Merced to pray there on the day of the patron saint of prisoners.

Illness and death

A week before her death, Laura Pollán was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Calixto García Hospital in Havana with acute breathing difficulties. In the days that followed, a combination of several disease factors was diagnosed, including a dengue infection in addition to an already known diabetes condition . The main problem, however, was a rare viral infection that attacks the respiratory system. Pollán's family had rejected a move to a hospital otherwise only intended for foreigners and high government officials, as suggested by officials. Pollán's family and the "Ladies in White" believe that Laura Pollán did not die naturally, but was thrown out of the way as an unpopular critic of the regime. Your request about the exact circumstances of death has not been answered to this day (August 2013).

honors and awards

Among the personalities who spoke out on Laura Pollán's death and expressed condolences to the bereaved was US President Barack Obama . Pollán was posthumously awarded the "Democracy Service Medal" by the semi-public US foundation National Endowment for Democracy 2011.

Web links

Commons : Laura Pollán  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Laura Pollán, la profesora a la que no interesaba la política Carles Pérez-Desoy Fages in: El País of October 15, 2011, accessed on October 17, 2011, (Spanish)
  2. ↑ European Parliament: Plenary debate on the 7th award of the Sakharov Prize, address by Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering on December 17, 2008, accessed on October 16, 2011
  3. ↑ There will always be an Emilio ( Memento from May 10, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) in: Granma International from March 1, 2011, accessed on October 15, 2011 (English)
  4. ↑ EE.UU. suministra fondos para fomentar incidentes en Cuba in: Cubainformación from September 16, 2011, accessed on October 16, 2011 (Spanish)
  5. ↑ Ladies in White, or Ruminants of the Greenback? ( Memento from July 22, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) in: Radio Cadena Agramonte from February 28, 2011, accessed on October 15, 2011 (English)
  6. ↑ Los manejos de una impúdica y sórdida relación contra Cuba in: Cubainformación from May 21, 2008, accessed on October 16, 2011 (Spanish)
  7. ↑ Unos 200 paramilitares impiden ir a misa a las Damas de Blanco in: Diario de Cuba of September 24, 2011, accessed on October 15, 2011 (Spanish)
  8. ↑ Obama honors Cuban dissident in: USA Today of October 15, 2011, accessed October 16, 2011 (English)
  9. ↑ Democracy Service Medal on the NED homepage, accessed on December 2, 2011 (English)
personal data
SURNAME Pollan, Laura
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pollán Toledo, Laura Inés (full name); Pollán Toledo, Laura
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Cuban dissident and human rights activist
DATE OF BIRTH February 13, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Manzanillo , Cuba
DATE OF DEATH October 14, 2011
Place of death Havana