Indirect Confrontation:The Evolution of the Political Strategy of the Cuban Catholic
prisoners be freed before he would consider ending the strike. Addi-
tionally, in March, scuffles broke out when a procession of the Ladies
in White was confronted by a series of pro-government rallies that led
state security, for the first time, to arrest and detain several of the
wives, roughly forcing them onto buses amidst crowds of screaming
government supporters and creating a shocking scene of outright state
repression. Holding the Ladies in White responsible for disturbing
public order, the Cuban government subsequently banned them from
holding their protest marches.
These events occurred in a context of heightened international
attention on Cuban government policies: government officials were
preparing to receive a visit in June from the Vatican’s top official in
charge of foreign relations, Monsignor Dominique Mamberti. The
meeting was scheduled to commemorate 75 years of diplomatic rela-
tions between the Vatican and Cuba, and for Msgr. Mamberti to lead a
Catholic social week organized by Cuban church leaders. Having such
high-profile conflicts with dissidents was putting government officials
on the defensive, an uncommon position for a leadership that does
not often make apologies for their political system. Added to this, the
prospects for improved US-Cuban relations were starting to dwindle.
The election of US President Barack Obama in 2008 spurred anticipa-
tion on the part of scholars and international observers that a thaw in
US-Cuban relations was foreseeable, perhaps even including changes
to the US trade embargo on Cuba. But, the issue of political prisoners
would first have to be dealt with. Modifications to the US trade
embargo would greatly help a faltering Cuban economy, harshly
affected by the 2008 global financial crisis. The Obama administration
made clear that any broad changes in US policy would be conditioned
on political reforms being made on the island.
So when the Cuban government decided it would begin the pro-
cess of releasing some political prisoners, they called on leaders of the
one institution on the island that had the independence that could
allow it to serve as an intermediary: the Cuban Catholic Church. Fol-
lowing some preliminary meetings, in May Cardinal Jaime Ortega