About 100 thugs from Raul Castro's 3rd Special Security Unit attacked twenty members of the Women in White protest movement over the weekend while they were peacibly remembering Orlando Zapata Tamayo's death on the 23 February. Orlando was a political prisoner who died after a long hunger strike.

The men shouted insults, pushed and spat at the woman all of whom maintained their dignity and refused to respond to the provocation. The Ladies in White are wives and mothers of political prisoners, some of whom have been recently released. Included is Alejandra Garcia the wife of human rights activist Diosdado Gonzalez, who had refused to go into exile. The Cuban government was facing an increasing amount of protest concerning Gonzalez and buckled under the pressure for change. Other political prisoners remain in jail.


The unprovoked attack in Havana came shortly after Cuban state television broadcast a propoganda documentary made by the Department of Revolutionary Orientation, alleging the Ladies in White had been seeking funding from the US government, something that is completely untrue and follows a pattern often used by the Cuban government to smear opposition voices and organisations. Although the Ladies in White made no comment about the popular uprisings in other parts of the world some Cuban dissidents have been expressing admiration on the internet for the people's uprisings in the Arab world.

Today there is an increased police and army presense in all major towns with groups of individuals being quickly broken up and dispursed however dissident groups are begining to work together in the manner seen in Egypt, building a growing people's movement. Some army units are already considered 'unreliable' by the Interior Ministry and would likely join any uprising leading to hardliners from the Territorial Militia Troops being bussed into Havana as they are considered more supportive of the regime.