Angel Moya Acosta
Angel Moya Acosta | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 20, 1964 |
| Nationality (legal) | Cuban |
| Occupation | construction worker |
| Organization | Alternative Option Movement |
| Known for | imprisonment, democracy activism |
| Spouse | Berta Soler |
| Children | Luis Angel and Lienys |
Angel Moya Acosta (born 20 September 1964) is a Cuban construction worker and the founder of the Alternative Option Movement.[1][2]
Moya fought for one-and-a-half years in the Cuban intervention in Angola in the late 1980s.[3] In the following decade, Moya was arrested several times for his activism. In December 1997, he was arrested on his way to join a public memorial, and in November 1999 he was arrested for participating in a prayer session for dissident Oscar Biscet. On 15 December 1999, he was arrested and imprisoned after a demonstration along with fellow Alternative Option Movement members Guido and Ariel Sigler Amaya; the latter arrest caused Amnesty International to designate him a prisoner of conscience.[4] In 2000, he was arrested and imprisoned for a year for "disrespect" after commemorating the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[5]
He was again imprisoned during the Black Spring in 2003, and sentenced to 20 years in jail.[1] His wife Berta Soler, now leader of the Ladies in White movement,[6] campaigned on his behalf.[7]
When Moya suffered a herniated disc in October 2004, Soler began a campaign to urge the government to give him an operation, submitting a letter to President Fidel Castro on his behalf and staging a rare protest in Havana's Plaza de la Revolución with the Ladies in White.[7][8] She described the protest as "my right and duty as a wife". After two days of protest, Moya was given surgery.[9]
After Moya's early release from prison, he and Soler chose to remain in Cuba and continue their calls for the release of political prisoners, despite being offered emigration to Spain.[10]
In March 2012, Soler and Moya were detained along with three dozen other demonstrators when they staged their weekly protest ahead of a visit of Pope Benedict XVI. Soler told reporters that authorities had warned the Ladies to avoid Benedict's public appearances, including masses.[6]
Family
Soler is a microbiology technician at a Havana hospital.[11] Moya and Soler have two sons, Luis Angel and Lienys.[3]
References
- ^ a b Marc R. Masferrer (13 February 2011). "Angel Moya Acosta, Political Prisoner of the Week". Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- ^ "Angel Moya Acosta" (in Spanish). payolibre.com. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
- ^ a b Berta Soler Fernandez (13 March 2005). "Standing up to a dictator". U-T San Diego. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
- ^ "Eleven remain in detention following government crackdown on dissent during the Ibero-American Summit in Havana" (PDF). Amnesty International. 31 January 2000. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
- ^ "Cuba: New wave of political oppression". Amnesty International. 16 January 2001. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
- ^ a b Andrea Rodriguez (19 March 2012). "Berta Soler And Ladies In White Cuba Dissidents Freed From Detention For Pope Visit Protest". The Huffington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
- ^ a b "World Briefings". The New York Times. 8 October 2008. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
- ^ "Wife's campaign succeeds in Cuba". BBC News. 8 October 2004. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
- ^ "World Briefing Americas: Cuba: Dissident Transferred To Hospital". The New York Times. 9 October 2004. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
- ^ Michael Voss (23 March 2011). "Dissidents' release draws line under Cuba crackdown". BBC News. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
- ^ "'El régimen castrista es una fiera herida que vive sus últimos momentos'". Hoy (in Spanish). 21 March 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2012.