Yamilé Garro Alfonso - ‘Being a Lady in White has taught me to appreciate the desire for freedom’,Posted on December 11, 2015

Yamilé Garro Alfonso: 'Being a Lady in White has taught me to appreciate
the desire for freedom'
Posted on December 11, 2015

Diario de Cuba, Havana, 10 December 2015 — Yamilé Garro Alfonso was just
a housewife, the mother of a baby and a teenager, when regime forces
arrested her sister Sonia and her brother-in-law Ramón Alejandro Muñoz
in a violent operation on March 18, 2012.

"At the time I knew almost nothing of the opposition," she said. Two
months later, she began to march with the Ladies in White movement her
sister belonged to.

"I went to the Ladies in White (…) after I went to government
institutions seeking an answer for the injustice they had done to
Sonia," she says.<"I received no reply from anyone."

"They were very difficult times. There was a lot of harassment, abuse
from State Security. I was completely disoriented. I went to the Ladies
in White and they welcomed me and gave me their support."

The story is similar to those of most of the women who have belonged to
women's organization over more than 12 years. Their lives had been
disrupted by the political imprisonment of a family member.

In her case, Yamilé had to take care of her sister's daughter, who had
been left without her parents at just 15. "I tried to play the role of
her mother, but it was impossible. I tried to do the best I could," she
recalls. "It was very complex for the girl who was a teenager and needed
the guidance of her mother. She did not understand how it was possible
that, overnight, her mother was deprived of freedom. It was a very
radical change."

Sonia Garro Alfonso and Ramón Alejandro Muñoz were in prison two years
and nine months. The authorities accused them of "attacking, public
disorder and attempted murder." The prosecution asked for long prison
sentences, but the trial never took place. Yamilé always maintained that
the regime had no evidence and was trying to gain time to build a case.

"Going to prison was pretty hard. I went there and they told me they had
suspended the visit, that Sonia was in a punishment cell and they didn't
give me any explanations," she says. "They didn't allow me to bring her
many things, the visits were sporadic. My sister suffered a lot, she had
health problems. When I did manage to meet with her and saw her in that
situation it felt horrible."

After her release the regime continued to harass Sonia, who even
reported threats on her life. A few months ago she had to go into exile
with her family. Her sister continues marching in Havana with the Ladies
in White.

"Being a Lady in White is the best thing that happened to me. I have
learned to appreciate the desire for freedom. I've noticed so many
abuses, so much mistreatment. I thank these women who have given me the
opportunity to be among them," says Yamilé.

"There have been extremely difficult moments. Right now we are in a
period when the repression has greatly worsened. The government feels it
has a free hand to abuse the Damas de Blanco and other opponents because
their international situation has improved with the restoration of
relations with the United States," she says.

"They beat us, insult us and take us to deserted areas and leave us
there. No one speaks of it, no one criticizes then, and they feel a
tremendous impunity to continue to do what they want," she criticizes.

A few days ago, Yamilé visited Spain with other Ladies in White.

"I had the opportunity to see a place where freedom breathes, where
there is democracy, where people are not abused when they say what they
think. That reinforced my desire for my country to be free; for my
children, that we Cubans will be able to enjoy the country we deserve."

Source: Yamilé Garro Alfonso: 'Being a Lady in White has taught me to
appreciate the desire for freedom' | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/yamile-garro-alfonso-being-a-lady-in-white-has-taught-me-to-appreciate-the-desire-for-freedom/