Lech Walesa on the passing of a Cuban oppositionist

“The tragedy, you are experiencing now, is affecting all of us – those to whom close were the values Laura Pollan believed in” – writes Lech Walesa in his letter to Hector Maseda, the husband of Laura Pollan, a Cuban democratic activists and a founder of the movement Ladies in White.

Laura Pollan died on Friday (October 14) in a hospital in Havana. She was one of the most prominent Cuban dissident, a leader of Ladies in White. The movement of wives, sisters and cousins of the political prisoners, sentenced to prison during the Black Spring in 2003, demanded the immediate release of the imprisoned activists.

Gdańsk, 17 October 2011

Mr. Héctor Maseda

Havana, Cuba

Dear Sir,

I was deeply saddened to receive the information about the passing of your wife, Laura Pollan.

The tragedy, you are experiencing now, is affecting all of us – those to whom close were the values Laura Pollan believed in. She managed to inspire not only her compatriots but also the international society to defend the democratic activists who were unfairly sentenced and imprisoned for their beliefs. The cause of a free and democratic Cuba became our common dream and aim. Ladies in White, the movement founded by Laura Pollan, has been the evidence that peaceful struggle and determination brings always the victory.

Please accept my sincere condolences and assurance of my continual support of the mission initiated by your wife.

Yours faithfully,

Lech Wałęsa