One of Cuba's most prominent dissidents appears to have fended off a challenge to her leadership of a women's opposition movement, but with her reputation dented after disgruntled followers accused her of abusing her authority.
Berta Soler is leader of the Ladies in White, a group that won the European Parliament's 2005 Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought. The US government periodically cites the group for its defense of human rights, and Soler has received an audience with both President Barack Obama and Pope Francis.
But an internal schism led to calls for her resignation, with disaffected members accusing her of abuse of authority, arbitrarily expelling members and misusing funds.
Final results are to be released today, but Soler said on Tuesday night she had all but clinched victory.
Asked if she considered it a victory, Soler said, "It's looking that way, but I want to wait until tomorrow."
Police harass and detain them, and the Communist government accuses them of being unpatriotic mercenaries working for the US government.
Since then, all 75 Black Spring dissidents have been released from prison, most of the original Ladies have left the group, and founder Laura Pollan died in 2011, after which Soler took over.
Dissidents say they often have no choice but to accept foreign donations because the government derails their careers and prevents them from holding state jobs.
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