Cienfuegos Activists Begin Hunger Strike Because Ladies In White Are Not Allowed To Attend Mass

Cienfuegos/The activists Emilio García Moreira and Alexander Veliz García have begun a hunger strike in the town of Aguada de Pasajeros, in Cienfuegos, to demand that the Ladies in White be given unrestricted access to the local parish. Juan Alberto de la Nuez, the provincial coordinator of the opposition organization the United Anti-totalitarian Front (FANTU), told this newspaper that the action started yesterday at six in the afternoon and was motivated by the refusal of the Padre Tarciso to allow eight of these women to participate in Mass last Sunday at the Jesus of Nazareth Catholic Church.

Along with the two men on hunger strike, the Lady in White Mayelín García Moreira began a 24-hour fast ending this afternoon. According to de la Nuez it is expected that “in the coming hours other members of FANTU will join the strike,” and many of the several Ladies in White of the town will rotate in fasting. The protest is being held in House No. 2 of Block 33 in the La Communidad settlement.

The initiative has been accompanied by an open letter addressed to the priest Tarciso and with a copy to Bishop Domingo Oropesa in the Cienfuegos diocese. In the missive it specified that the hunger strike would continue until the priest asked forgiveness from those he offended and was transferred to another parish. However, to date it has not been possible to deliver the letter to its recipient, because in the church they told the activists that “he has been on vacation in Nicaragua.”

Padre Tarciso refused to allow eight Ladies in White to participate in Mass last Sunday at the Jesus of Nazareth Catholic Church

In the three pages occupied by the text, what occurred is classified as an outrage and it is recalled that, “None of us Cubans who are persecuted by the rulers due to our ideas will ever reproach the Church you represent because the families of the five spies who were released in December of 2014 came to your temples to pray for their release for the prisons, because it is understood that the Church belongs to everyone.”

For his part, a resident of Aguada de Pasajero, who asked for anonymity, told 14ymedio that the priest’s gesture had been motivated because, “The community that attends this church asked that the presence of the group not be permitted.” According to this version, Padre Tarciso refused entry to the Ladies in White because to allow them “would bring the consequence that other believers would refrain from attending to avoid problems.”

“We are suffering greatly from State Securty harassment experienced by the people and we don’t want any more problems,” explains the same source. However, the Lady in White Miladis Espino Diaz points out that the activists only want to peacefully attend Mass because “we believe in God,” and she considers herself discriminated against because “some of those who go to the Church look down on us and take off when we walk by.”

This Sunday, the eight Ladies in White previously excluded, accompanied by other supportive people, will return to try to exercise their right to attend Mass.