Interviews with Ana Lazara Rodriguez

That is the difficult thing about the dissidents in Cuba. Because if you see Oscar Elias Biscet, for example. He enter the arena of politician only because he was a doctor and he saw too many abortions that he said, “No, no. The government cannot do that. That isn’t good for our country.” Then immediately they said, “Unh-uh. You cannot say that. In this country you cannot say what a government do or don’t do.” Then immediately he was persecuted.

That is what I said [Fidel] Castro turn dissidents in opposition people. Because for doing nothing they punish them so much that people say, “Oh, oh. This government isn’t good.” So they start being dissidents and convert themselves in opposition. That is what happened with those groups that start being dissidents and convert themselves to opposition of the government. And the government knows that. That is why they persecute dissidents, because they know they’re going to be opposition of the government.

Ana Lazara Rodriguez began her career as a dissident as a teenager in the 1950s, opposing the Cuban dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. She continued her protest activities after Fidel Castro, who overthrew Batista in 1958, began to establish a Communist dictatorship. Rodriguez was a young medical student in 1961 when she was imprisoned for her anti-government views and activities. She and a group of her fellow female prisoners of conscience became known as the “Plantadas” (those who will not bend) because they refused to co-operate with their jailers, resisting with methods ranging from insults to hunger strikes. Rodriguez was released in 1979 and traveled to the United States via Costa Rica. In May 1995, she published ‘‘Diary of a Survivor” about her experiences in prison.