(28 Feb 2011) SHOTLIST
1. Tilt down from exterior Santa Rita Church in Havana to "Ladies in White" outside at end of mass
2. "Ladies in White" outside church
3. Various of women marching
4. Women chanting for freedom of political prisoners in front of Church
5. Wide of women chanting (Spanish) "Zapata is alive" on street, referring to hunger striker Orlando Zapata
6. Zoom out "Ladies in White" in the middle of crowd on Havana street
7. Medium of people protesting against the "Ladies in White" with signs reading in (Spanish) "Down with the old witches," and "Long Live the Revolution" and "Long Live Fidel"
8. Pan left protesters chanting to camera "Fidel, Fidel"
9. People holding signs reading in (Spanish) "Down with the old witches," and "I live in the free country" and "Long Live Fidel"
10. Wide of people surrounding the ladies on street
11. Zoom out from woman holding sign to people chanting at the "Ladies in White"
12. Pan right of bus arriving with security and "Ladies in White"getting on board
13. Pan left of crowd chanting and "Ladies in White" leaving on bus
STORYLINE
Cuba stepped up its campaign against the island's small dissident community, with pro-government demonstrators screaming insults at the "Ladies in White" opposition group on Sunday, one day after the Cuban government alleged its security agents have been monitoring the dissident group.
About 100 pro-government demonstrators surrounded the Ladies as they marched in Havana's Vedado neighbourhood, shouting slogans like "Down with the old witches!" and "This Street Belongs to Fidel!" as well as some sexually offensive slogans.
The Ladies, mostly middle-aged wives and mothers of political prisoners jailed in a 2003 sweep against intellectuals and opposition figures, wore sweat shirts bearing the image of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a political prisoner who died last year after an 83-day hunger strike.
They stood in the middle of the street and refused to move, until security agents moved in and loaded them onto government buses. It was not clear where they were taken, though in the past the dissidents are usually brought back to their homes.
The government contends the screaming crowd turns out spontaneously to denounce the opposition, though little is done to conceal coordination with state security agents who are also on the scene.
In past demonstrations, state agents have waved for supporters to come forward once it became clear the Ladies would not heed warnings to halt their march.
The women began their march outside a church in the leafy Miramar section of town earlier in the day, as they have done every Sunday since 2003. The demonstration went off quietly, but when the Ladies showed up later in the day in Vedado, the crowds were waiting.
The incident came a day after Cuban television broadcast a programme about the Ladies. It alleged they were interested in getting money from the United States. Cuba maintains the relationship shows them to be mercenaries and common criminals.
The government pledged in July to release all remaining activists, social commentators and opposition leaders jailed since the crackdown, a number that had dwindled to 52 over the years.
Forty-one of the prisoners were freed in the weeks after the decision, and all but one flew into exile in Spain, along with their families.
But the process slowed down because those who remained refused to leave Cuban soil, and some pledged to continue calling for democratic change the moment they were released from jail.
The announcement says Diosdado Gonzalez, a political prisoner, is on the list even though he refuses to leave the island.
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