Pro-regime mob targets rights activists in Cuba

Some 300 activists backing Cuba's Communist government shouted down 35 relatives of political prisoners, some of whom were roughed up, an AFP journalist witnessed. The pro-government crowd or university students and members of the Union of Communist Youth, massed to demonstrate outside the Havana home of Laura Pollan. She is leader of the Ladies in White group, an award-winning group of political prisoners' kin that won the European Parliament's Sakharov prize back in 2005. The Ladies in White, who organized a prayer meeting, were subjected to more than three hours of shouting and insults, including "Cuba, yes, Yankees, no," and "You witches won't pass by here."  When the women tried to leave the home, they were unable to open the door and Pollan and some other women were struck as they tried to exit. An Interior Ministry bus then showed up to clear the area. "These are the same people as ever," Pollan told reporters. "They are not the 'enraged Cuban people' (as the government calls the pro-regime activists) -- they are not spontaneous, they are brought here," she stressed. Cuban dissidents say the Americas' only Communist regime has stepped up repressive activities in recent weeks. An estimated 50 political prisoners remain behind bars in this Caribbean country of 11 million.