The tireless opponent will turn 80 on May 16, and she has dedicated more than 35 of those years to the fight for democracy

14ymedio, Havana, December 28, 2024 — The cell phone of former political prisoner Martha Beatriz Roque doesn’t stop ringing. People call from the most remote prisons, from the most humble homes and from countless radio stations in exile. Her wisdom, deep knowledge of Cuba and wide network of contacts within the Island have made her an essential reference to understand the Cuban dissent that still resides within national borders.
The tireless opposition leader will turn 80 on May 16, and she has dedicated more than 35 years to the struggle for democracy in Cuba from within the Island. This year she was one of the 12 winners of the 2024 Women of Courage International Award.
The award is given by the United States Government to recognize the work of women worldwide who “have demonstrated exceptional courage, strength and leadership in defending peace, justice and human rights.” Roque could not collect the prize in Washington because she is not allowed to leave the country.
The only woman in the group of 75 opponents arrested by the Fidel Castro regime during the Black Spring of 2003, the opponent told foreign media that this international award is the first she has received of this magnitude. “For me, it is as if all the dissidents received it.”
“The people of Cuba have no food, no medicine, no transportation, no water, no electricity, nothing”
About her condition of being regulated [forbidden to travel] and not being able to attend the ceremony, she told 14ymedio that the regime preferred “an empty chair” to listening to what she had to say, and added: “The hatred they have for me is terrible.”
As the doyenne of the Cuban opposition, for years Roque has carried out a work of constant support to the families of political prisoners. Mothers desperate about their children in Cuban prisons and activists seeking help have passed through her house, with their health affected after years of opposition. Her solidarity and perseverance have earned her a special place among those most affected by repression and harassment.
Regarding the current situation on the Island, she recently told The Associated Press that she is “pessimistic.” “The people of Cuba have no food, no medicine, no transportation, no water, no electricity, nothing. And the dictatorship is still there,” she explained.
Given this scenario, “what people are looking for is to leave.” “The current opposition does not suffer prison; it goes to the United States before anything happens,” she said. However, Roque thinks “firmly” that the solution of the Cuban people is “within the country, just as other countries have come to solve their dictator problem.”
Roque signed in 1997, together with Félix Bonne Carcassés, René Gómez Manzano and Vladimiro Roca, the document La patria es de todos ’The homeland belongs to everyone’
Roque signed in 1997, together with Félix Bonne Carcassés, René Gómez Manzano and Vladimiro Roca, the document La patria es de todos, which criticized the management of the Castro regime and called for an opening. The so-called Group of Four was given sentences of between three and five years in prison for the alleged crimes of “actions against the national security of the Cuban State” and “sedition.”
Amnesty International considered Roque and her three companions prisoners of conscience. She was released in May 2000 and three years later received a 20-year prison sentence after being arrested during the Black Spring. Then, the former professor at the University of Havana obtained an extra-penal release for health reasons.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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