Cuba’s government has barred members of a women’s opposition movement from traveling to Europe to receive the prestigious Sakharov human rights prize for freedom of thought. The so-called “Ladies in White” are joint winners of the prize but have been grounded by Fidel Castro for being an outlawed group. Repeated petitions by the European Union, which oversees the annual award, have fallen on deaf ears in Cuba’s Foreign Department. Instead, the EU is weighing up the option of sending its own delegates to Cuba to present the accolade. The prizewinners have been protesting since 2003 against the long-term detention of their husbands and sons, who are political dissidents. Havana has so far remained tight-lipped about the prize and travel ban.

Condemnation from Europe over the refusal to issue visas to the women has been fierce. Germany’s Hans-Gert Poettering, head of the European Popular Party, said: “I call on the Cuban authorities to let them depart. If they do not, we will be obliged to again harshly criticize [one of] the last Communist dictatorships on the planet.” Spanish conservative Jose Ignacio Salafranca stated that the women “have committed no offense other than to bravely defend the rights of their family members”. A spokeswoman from the group, Miriam Leiva, lambasted her government, saying: “It does with our lives whatever it wishes.…It controls whether we can travel abroad. It won’t allow any opinion other than its own. We are very peaceful people and we have just been striving for our rights.”

WARM-UPS

1. CUBA SEARCH: Talk to as many other students as you can to find out what they know about Cuba. After you have talked to lots of students, sit down with your partner(s) and share your information. Tell each other what you thought was interesting or surprising. Would you like to travel to or live in Cuba?

2. PROTEST: What do you think is the best form of protest against a government? What kind of protests would your government listen to? In pairs / groups, talk about how effective the following forms of protest might be in your country. How would your government react? Which would you take part in?

Silent street protests Nationwide industrial action Written petitions Armed resistance

Mass hunger strikes Street riots Campaigns on the Internet Sit-ins in government buildings

3. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.

Cuba / opposition movements / prizes / human rights / Fidel Castro / being deaf / detention / travel bans / visas / Communism / dictatorships / bravery / opinions

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

4. FREEDOMS: Do you live in a free country? Do you think there should be greater freedom in your country? Write down five things you are free to do in your country that you cherish. Talk about these with your partner(s). Talk also about what life would be like without these things.

5. OPPOSITION OPINIONS: Discuss these opinions with your partner(s).

1. I would never be concerned enough to protest against my government.
2. People in the world need to stand up against their government more often.
3. All governments will break laws to stop people protesting.
4. Non-violent protests are the most effective.
5. People who live in dictatorships should unite and fight their government.
6. The bravest people in the world are those who actively oppose dictators.
7. All of the world’s people will enjoy basic human rights one day.
8. The world does far too little to defend human rights.

6. FREEDOM: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with freedom. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

7. COMPARISONS: Make comparisons between these countries. They are often in the news regarding human rights issues:

Cuba     China     North Korea     Zimbabwe     Chile     USA     Russia     Sudan

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	Fidel Castro has given a lot of land to Cuban human rights activists.	T / F
b.	Cuba has refused travel visas for a group called the “Men in White”.	T / F
c.	The EU is weighing up the option of sending delegates to Cuba.	T / F
d.	Havana has so far refused to comment about travel bans.	T / F
e.	EU politicians have strongly commended Fidel Castro’s decisions.	T / F
f.	A German politician called Cuba a fascist dictatorship.	T / F
g.	A Cuban activist rebuked Havana over the lack of freedom in Cuba.	T / F
h.	The activist said people are simply striving for their rights.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

a.	barred	pushing
b.	prestigious	restricted
c.	grounded	protestors
d.	weighing up	regimes
e.	dissidents	severely
f.	condemnation	illustrious
g.	harshly	criticized
h.	dictatorships	prohibited
i.	lambasted	denunciation
j.	striving	considering

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

a.	barred members of a women’s opposition	prize for freedom of thought
b.	the prestigious Sakharov human rights	option of sending its own delegates
c.	fallen	dictatorships on the planet
d.	the EU is weighing up the	the refusal to issue visas
e.	Havana has so far remained	for our rights
f.	Condemnation from Europe over	movement from traveling
g.	one of the last Communist	government, saying…
h.	committed no offense other	tight-lipped about the prize
i.	Miriam Leiva lambasted her	on deaf ears
j.	we have just been striving	than to bravely defend the rights…

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words in the column on the right into the gaps in the text.

Cuba grounds human rights prizewinners

Cuba’s government has ________ members of a women’s opposition movement from traveling to Europe to receive the prestigious Sakharov human rights prize for freedom of ________. The so-________ “Ladies in White” are joint winners of the prize but have been grounded by Fidel Castro for being an ________ group. Repeated ________ by the European Union, which oversees the annual award, have fallen on deaf ears in Cuba’s Foreign Department. Instead, the EU is weighing up the option of sending its own delegates to Cuba to present the ________. The prizewinners have been protesting since 2003 against the long-term ________ of their husbands and sons, who are political dissidents. Havana has so far ________ tight-lipped about the prize and travel ban.		called remained outlawed barred accolade thought detention petitions
Condemnation from Europe over the ________ to issue visas to the women has been ________. Germany’s Hans-Gert Poettering, head of the European Popular Party, said: “I ________ on the Cuban authorities to let them depart. If they do not, we will be ________ to again harshly criticize [one of] the last Communist dictatorships on the planet.” Spanish conservative Jose Ignacio Salafranca stated that the women “have committed no ________ other than to bravely defend the rights of their family members”. A spokeswoman from the group, Miriam Leiva, ________ her government, saying: “It does with our lives whatever it wishes.…It controls whether we can travel abroad. It won’t allow any ________ other than its own. We are very peaceful people and we have just been ________ for our rights.”		lambasted striving fierce offense call refusal opinion obliged

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Cuba grounds human rights prizewinners

Cuba’s government has _______ members of a women’s opposition movement from traveling to Europe to receive the ___________ Sakharov human rights prize for freedom of thought. The so-called “Ladies in White” are joint winners of the prize but have been grounded by Fidel Castro for being an __________ group. Repeated petitions by the European Union, which oversees the annual award, have fallen ___ _____ ears in Cuba’s Foreign Department. Instead, the EU is weighing up the option of sending its own delegates to Cuba to present the _________. The prizewinners have been protesting since 2003 against the long-term detention of their husbands and sons, who are political _________. Havana has so far _________ tight-lipped about the prize and travel ban.

Condemnation from Europe over the refusal to issue visas to the women has been _________. Germany’s Hans-Gert Poettering, head of the European Popular Party, said: “I call on the Cuban authorities to let them depart. If they do not, we will be obliged to again _________ criticize [one of] the last Communist dictatorships on the planet.” Spanish conservative Jose Ignacio Salafranca stated that the women “have committed no _________ other than to _________ defend the rights of their family members”. A spokeswoman from the group, Miriam Leiva, ____________ her government, saying: “It does with our lives whatever it wishes.…It controls whether we can travel abroad. It won’t allow any opinion _______ ______ its own. We are very peaceful people and we have just been ___________ for our rights.”

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘ladies’ and ‘white’.

• Share your findings with your partners.
• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. STUDENT “HUMAN RIGHTS” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about our freedoms, human rights and the countries that disallow them.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:

members thought Fidel Castro ears detention tight

fierce depart planet defend wishes striving

DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
2. What do you think of Cuba?
3. Why do you think governments deprive people of human rights?
4. Do you think every single government in the world is guilty of human rights abuses?
5. Which countries do you think are the biggest abusers of human rights?
6. Do you think the Ladies in White should receive a higher accolade?
7. What is the most dangerous thing you would do to defend your rights or those of your family?
8. What do you think of campaign groups like Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch?
9. Where are the biggest abuses of human rights taking place in the world today?
10. What will happen in Cuba after Fidel Castro dies?

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What do you think about what you read?
3. Why do you think the Cuban government is not allowing the Ladies in White to travel to Europe?
4. How would you feel if your government prevented you from leaving your country?
5. Is it right for a government to prevent its citizens from leaving the country under special circumstances?
6. Do you think the EU can get Cuba’s government to overturn its decision and allow the women to travel?
7. What do you think of governments that throw people in prison for criticizing its actions?
8. What human rights abuses is your government accused of?
9. Have you ever stood up for your rights?
10. Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

1. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
2. Was there a question you didn’t like?
3. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
4. What did you like talking about?
5. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

LUCKY? In pairs / groups, talk about the human rights listed below (one of them is not an official right!). Discuss what life would be like without these rights. Put the main points in the middle column. Discuss what your life is like having been afforded these rights. Summarize your thoughts in the right hand column.

RIGHT	LIFE WITHOUT	LIFE WITH
The freedom to travel and hold a passport.
Not being subjected to torture.
The freedom to study English.
Being equal before the law without any discrimination.
The right to rest and leisure.
The right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

• Change partners and explain what you discussed.
• Talk about how (un)lucky you are to (not) enjoy basic human rights.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information on the Ladies in White. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson. Did you all find out similar things?

3. STUDENT RIGHTS: Create a charter of student rights (students of English or other languages and subjects). Think of eight basic rights all students must have. Provide an explanation supporting each point. Show your charters to your classmates in the next lesson. Whose charter best champions students?

4. LETTER: Write a letter to Fidel Castro asking him why his government refuses to allow the Ladies in White to travel. Give him advice on the benefits to Cuba of granting the women travel visas. Show what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all write about similar things?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. F

c. T

d. T

e. F

f. F

g. T

h. T

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	barred	prohibited
b.	prestigious	illustrious
c.	grounded	restricted
d.	weighing up	considering
e.	dissidents	protestors
f.	condemnation	denunciation
g.	harshly	severely
h.	dictatorships	regimes
i.	lambasted	criticized
j.	striving	pushing

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	barred members of a women’s opposition	movement from traveling
b.	the prestigious Sakharov human rights	prize for freedom of thought
c.	fallen	on deaf ears
d.	the EU is weighing up the	option of sending its own delegates
e.	Havana has so far remained	tight-lipped about the prize
f.	Condemnation from Europe over	the refusal to issue visas
g.	one of the last Communist	dictatorships on the planet
h.	committed no offense other	than to bravely defend the rights…
i.	Miriam Leiva lambasted her	government, saying…
j.	we have just been striving	for our rights

GAP FILL:

Cuba grounds human rights prizewinners

Cuba’s government has barred members of a women’s opposition movement from traveling to Europe to receive the prestigious Sakharov human rights prize for freedom of thought. The so-called “Ladies in White” are joint winners of the prize but have been grounded by Fidel Castro for being an outlawed group. Repeated petitions by the European Union, which oversees the annual award, have fallen on deaf ears in Cuba’s Foreign Department. Instead, the EU is weighing up the option of sending its own delegates to Cuba to present the accolade. The prizewinners have been protesting since 2003 against the long-term detention of their husbands and sons, who are political dissidents. Havana has so far remained tight-lipped about the prize and travel ban.

Condemnation from Europe over the refusal to issue visas to the women has been fierce. Germany’s Hans-Gert Poettering, head of the European Popular Party, said: “I call on the Cuban authorities to let them depart. If they do not, we will be obliged to again harshly criticize [one of] the last Communist dictatorships on the planet.” Spanish conservative Jose Ignacio Salafranca stated that the women “have committed no offense other than to bravely defend the rights of their family members”. A spokeswoman from the group, Miriam Leiva, lambasted her government, saying: “It does with our lives whatever it wishes.…It controls whether we can travel abroad. It won’t allow any opinion other than its own. We are very peaceful people and we have just been striving for our rights.”

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