Berta Soler [2nd R] with Cuban-American Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-NJ) [far right] and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) [far left] on Capitol Hill in April 2013.
Soler, described by the Associate Press as “one of Cuba’s leading dissidents,” co-founded and now leads a group of wives and female relatives of political prisoners, known as the “Ladies in White,” who are often brutally attacked while protesting the imprisonment of their relatives. Soler took over the leadership of the group in 2011 following the suspicious death of the group’s co-founder Laura Pollan.
Soler will receive the award at the Washington Oxi Day Celebration black tie dinner on October 24th at the Organization of American States building Washington, DC before hundreds of America’s top policy makers and opinion leaders. Participants will include policymakers from the White House, State Department, Defense Department, US Congress, top US think tanks and human rights groups, leaders and Ambassadors from numerous countries involved in WWII, as well as Greek-American leaders from across the country and WWII veterans.
Soler and her fellow members of the “Ladies in White” are routinely attacked and beaten by agents of the Cuban government, forced on buses and dropped off at unknown locations to find their way home. Many have been detained, questioned and arrested as a result of their involvement. Despite the persistent threat to their safety and attempts by the Cuban government to silence them, Soler and the Ladies have remained resolute in their struggle for justice and human rights in Cuba. In 2005, Soler and other Ladies received the European Parliament’s prestigious Sakharove Prize in recognition of their courageous defense of human rights.
Soler co-founded the “Ladies in White” in 2003, following the arrest and imprisonment of her husband Angel Moya during the 2003 Black Spring crackdown of political dissidents, journalists and human rights defender in Cuba. For the last decade, the Ladies, dressed completely in white, have attended Mass together every Sunday at St. Rita’s Church in Havana and then marched silently through the streets to protest the unjust incarceration of their relatives and the lack of human rights and political freedoms in Cuba.
The Oxi Day Battle of Crete Award is inspired by the women of Crete, Greece, who showed tremendous courage in joining the fight against the invading Axis forces during WWII. In reprisal for their bravery: in battle; in hiding and caring for wounded fighters; in smuggling arms and messages when they knew that discovery meant certain death; nearly 1,000 Cretan women were killed and an additional 500 women were deported to Germany for taking part in the defense of their island. Last year’s recipient of this award was Pakistani women’s rights activist Dr. Fouzia Saeed.
The 2013 Oxi Day Award, which honors a man who took courageous action to promote freedom and democracy, will also be awarded at the black tie dinner on October 24th. The recipient of this award will be announced shortly.
Tickets to the black tie dinner and award ceremony are available for purchase here.