America anxious about dissidents’ arrest in Cuba

Earlier at the march, protester Angel Moya – Soler’s husband – slammed Obama, and said the December announcement to normalize relations between the former Cold war foes had bolstered Havana’s crackdown on dissidents.

Despite all the setbacks President Obama’s [policies] have inflicted on the cause of a free and democratic Cuba, I urge you to at least use the opportunity of your upcoming August 14th trip to Havana to demand the freedom and rights of the Cuban people.

“During your meetings with Cuban officials, you should demand that all political prisoners are released”, the Florida senator, who is of Cuban descent, wrote in a letter dated Monday.

The United States is “deeply concerned” about recent arrests of dissidents in Cuba, but this will not affect a landmark visit to Havana by US Secretary of State John Kerry, the State Department said yesterday. “The Cuban government has grown even bolder” as a result of the thawed relations, he said before Cuban police arrested him. “We do not have specific information about which members of civil society the secretary will meet”. On January 20, the countries officially reopened embassies in their respective capitals. Over the past eight months since President Obama announced his new Cuba policy, a steady stream of administration officials and members of Congress visited Cuba with few of them bothering to meet with Cuban democracy and human rights leaders and none demanding to meet with political prisoners.

For her part, Ayler Gonzalez said that 52 members of the Ladies in White were in Gandhi Park, including their leader Berta Soler, as were another 39 dissidents and activists including political organizer Angel Moya, musician Gorki Avila and independent journalists Claudio Fuentes and Camilo Ernesto Olivera.

Sarah Margon, Washington director for Human Rights Watch, said there’s been a rise in short-term detentions by Cuban authorities “as a warning for activists and those who are trying to bring change to Cuba”.

The protesters called for human rights throughout Cuba, and many of those protesting blame Obama for the oppressive regime held in place by Raul Castro.

According to Berta Soler, the communist government of Cuba has been repressing their group for a very long time. Rubio and others also insist they’ll do everything they can to block the appointment of a U.S. ambassador to Cuba.