Miami rally to mark 2003 crackdown

Cuban exile women plan to wear white when they gather Wednesday night at the Ermita de la Caridad church in Miami to mark the fifth anniversary of a Cuban government crackdown against dissidents on the island.

The event is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. near the bayside church with a march by the white-attired women. It will culminate with a Mass at  8 p.m. at the Ermita.The curch is located at 3609 South Miami Avenue

   Organizers asked female participants to wear white in emulation of the Damas de Blanco or Ladies in White movement in Havana -- the wives, mothers and sisters of Cuban independent journalists, human rights activists and other opponents of the Cuban government rounded up and jailed in March 2003.

   Every Sunday, since 2003, Damas de Blanco members have attended Mass in Havana and after the service walk peacefully through the streets, flowers in hand, displaying photos of loved ones held in Cuban prisons.

-- Alfonso Chardy