Berta Soler
Leader of the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White)
Berta Soler leads the Damas de Blanco — Cuba's most internationally recognised women's dissident movement, winner of the Sakharov Prize and a target of continual regime harassment.
Quick facts
- Role: Leader of the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White)
- Spanish title: Líder de las Damas de Blanco
- Born: 1963-08-07 — Matanzas, Cuba
- Nationality: Cuban
- Affiliations: Damas de Blanco — Leader
- Sanctioned by OFAC: No
Biography
Berta Soler Fernández is the leader of the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White), the Cuban women's dissident movement founded in 2003 by the wives, mothers and daughters of the 75 men jailed in the 'Black Spring'. The movement is best known for its weekly Sunday march to and from Mass at the Iglesia de Santa Rita in the Miramar neighbourhood of Havana, dressed in white and carrying a single gladiolus.
Soler took over leadership of the movement in 2011 following the death of founder Laura Pollán. The Damas de Blanco received the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2005, and Soler herself has been awarded the Lech Wałęsa Solidarity Prize.
Soler is subject to continual regime harassment — police cordons around her home, short-term arbitrary detentions, and the prevention of attendance at Sunday Mass. On 1 January 2026 she was arrested while heading to the Cathedral of Havana for the New Year's Mass for Peace and released without charge four hours later. In April 2026 she publicly denounced an intensification of repression against the movement.
Career timeline
- : Damas de Blanco movement founded after the 'Black Spring' arrests.
- : Damas de Blanco awarded the Sakharov Prize.
- : Soler takes over leadership of the movement after Laura Pollán's death.
- : Arrested on 1 January while heading to the Cathedral of Havana.
- : Denounces intensified regime repression in March-April.