Gloria Amaya did not live long enough to see her sons, political prisoners Ariel and Guido Sigler, released from prison, and that makes me sad and angry. In her final years, their freedom was her passion, and that they are still in the Castro gulag only compounds the grief felt today by those of us championing the cause of Cuban liberty.
If there was a matriarch of the Cuban opposition, it might have been Sra. Amaya, who died Friday at age 81 after suffering a stroke. She inspired her sons to take up the fight for freedom and judging by the mourners at her wake — including Jorge Luis García Pérez (Antúnez), Martha Beatriz Roque, Guillermo Fariñas, Vladimiro Roca and several of Sra. Amaya's fellow Damas De Blanco ("Ladies In White") — her influence was felt far outside her immediate family.
(For a complete look at her legacy, read the tribute here.)
In a momentary act of compassion by the Castro dictatorship, Sra. Amaya's sons, Ariel and Guido, who have been jailed since the "black spring" of 2003, were allowed to attend the wake under tight security — although not at the same time.
Ariel's appearance only confirmed reports from the past several months that he is a dying man. Hospitalized in a Havana hospital for more than a year, Ariel was brought to his mother's home on a stretcher before being placed in a wheelchair.
Sra. Amaya had made repeated pleas on her son's behalf, pleading for the end of his tortures:
Sra. Amaya's son Miguel, who is in exile in Miami, told Diaro De Cuba, said alarm with his brother's condition — "He looked like a corpse" — turned the wake into a protest.
"When they left, they put him back on the stretcher. That's when those present began shouting, 'Ariel, you are not alone, we are with you,'" said Martha Roque. "It was 4:30 in the morning, and 50 people were in the house shouting, 'Freedom.' 'Down with the Castros,' and other slogans."
The demonstration of support for Ariel was the perfect tribute to an incredible woman.
Recent Comments