Sunday morning has become a dangerous time for members of the Damas De Cuba wanting to go morning Mass in Santiago de Cuba.
This morning, at least 15 women and three men were pushed, beaten, arrested and detained as they tried to gather for Mass at the cathedral in Santiago, according to Diario De Cuba.
"They dragged us, they beat us more than ever," said Belkis Cantillo Ramírez. "Every Sunday they increase the blows, but they will have to kill us because we will continue to attend Mass."
The women were loaded into a bus and later released their homes.
Reflecting the Castro dictatorship's fear of the Cuban people -- especially those, like the Damas, unafraid to confront the regime and to demand freedom -- the police and other goons have made it habit to threaten, beaten and arrest women who only want to go to church to pray for their imprisoned loved ones.
The thought of innocent women being attacked is horrific, but if you think like a desperate tyrant it makes sense.
The Damas De Blanco, which is made up of the family members of political prisoners, dealt a major blow to the regime last year when their protests in Havana contributed greatly to release of the remaining Group of 75 prisoners of conscience in jail. Their steadfast and nonviolent protests, along with outrage over the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, forced the regime to act.
The regime, weakened by that defeat and its continuing mismanagement of the economy, is now unwilling to take the risk of another embarassment thanks to these brave women.
Since most of the world is not paying attention to what is happening on the Cuban street and is instead planning their vacation to the island, the regime figures it can get away with whatever it does.
But as Cantillo indicated, the Damas are not giving up their struggle.
The challenge now is for more in the world to join their cause.
UPDATED, 6:40 p.m. EDT -- Dama De Blanco Caridad Caballero describes what happened.
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