Interviews with Berta Soler

The Cuban government would enter into agreements to release and deport the men who decided to leave the country with their families, since they were not the only ones who suffered. They had many children with psychological problems who were greatly affected.

We had very affected mothers, wives, and children who were fired from their jobs. Our men’s brothers were also fired from their jobs. And so, many said, “It’s better to leave Cuba than be in captivity.” They were deported, because they were taken from the Central Hospital or from the prison in Havana straight to the airport. They met with their families who were leaving Cuba by plane. That is why I say those men were deported.

My husband and I respect everyone that chose exile since it is their right, because they are human rights activists who are attacked by the Cuban government and were imprisoned. They have a right to emigrate to the country of their choice.

Wherever they are, if they wish to fight for Cuba’s liberty, that support is valid. But my husband always said he would stay in Cuba because he had made a promise to the people of Cuba: freedom. He said he would seek freedom and democracy within Cuba with the support of all of his brothers in exile.

So he decided to stay in Cuba, along with 12 others who chose to stay and 4 others who remained under house arrest. I say it does not matter where he is. A Cuban giving a grain of sand for liberty and democracy is acceptable.

In my husband’s case, he chose to fight from Cuba with the support of the other exiled Cubans. I respect that because I also did not want to leave Cuba. I am a family person, with brothers and a mother who is older. If I leave Cuba I leave family and I cannot leave them. Besides, I have to stay by my husband to fight peacefully in Cuba with the support of all the brothers in exile and the people with good intentions to yield a new Cuba and to change our history.

Berta Soler Fernández was born in Cuba in 1963. She studied microbiology and became a hospital technician in Havana. In 1988, Berta married Angel Moya Acosta, an opposition activist who became one of 75 nonviolent dissidents arrested during the March 2003 crackdown known as the Black Spring.

Berta’s activism began after Cuban authorities imprisoned her husband in 2003. Joining with other spouses and family members of the Black Spring prisoners, she became a founding member of an organization called the Ladies in White (Damas de Blanco) that demanded the release of their loved ones and advocated for greater civil liberties in Cuba.

In October 2004, the Ladies in White staged protests in front of the Communist Party’s headquarters in Revolution Square, pressuring the government to allow Berta’s husband to undergo surgery for a herniated disc. The protest went on for two days until the regime permitted Angel’s operation.

Berta was a central figure in orchestrating the release of her husband and other Black Spring political prisoners. The Ladies in White lobbied Cardinal Jaime Ortega, the leading representative of the Roman Catholic Church in Cuba, and convinced him to negotiate for the release of the prisoners. By 2011, after years of protests, the Black Spring dissidents, including Berta’s husband, were released. While the majority of the prisoners went into exile, Berta and Angel chose to remain in Cuba.

In 2005, the European Parliament awarded the Ladies in White its Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. Berta, along with the other representatives of the organization, planned to receive the honor in person. However, the Cuban government denied them passports and they were unable to attend the ceremony. In 2013, after the regime had relaxed its repressive travel restrictions, Berta received permission to leave the island and led a delegation to accept the 2005 Sakharov Prize on behalf of the Ladies in White.

In 2011, Berta assumed the leadership of the Ladies in White following the death of the organization’s co-founder, Laura Pollan. She continues the struggle for a free and democratic Cuba.