{"id":569,"date":"2015-03-17T13:53:10","date_gmt":"2015-03-17T13:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cubasupport.com\/latest\/?p=569"},"modified":"2020-05-04T22:01:19","modified_gmt":"2020-05-04T22:01:19","slug":"bernie-dwyers-ashes-laid-to-rest-in-cuba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/bernie-dwyers-ashes-laid-to-rest-in-cuba\/","title":{"rendered":"Bernie Dwyer’s Ashes Laid to Rest in Cuba"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bernie will be with the Cuban 5 and Cuba forever<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Bernie<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

By: Iliana Garc\u00eda Giraldino photos: Karoly Emerson<\/i><\/p>\n

The rhythmic sound of the waves and the warm sea breeze enveloped the ashes of a dear friend of Cuba- Bernie Dwyer of Ireland. Her ashes were scattered into our sea by Gerardo, Antonio, Fernando y Ren\u00e9, alongside the family members and friends of the much loved social activist, who right up until her death, and despite being gravely ill, did not stop fighting for the freedom of the Cuban 5.<\/p>\n

Silent emotion and angst were sharpened by the memory of the great human being Bernie was. This day, the 6 March 2015, her children Juliana, Cristina, Lissa-Anne and David wept, along with the man who had been her husband, Dave. Their pain was shared by the 5 heroes and their families, by work colleagues at Radio Habana Cuba (RHC) \u2013where she had worked for over a decade- by her neighbours, friends and comrades at the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP).<\/p>\n

This was an inspiring moment. The 5 heroes for whom Bernie struggled for years scattered her ashes. Sadly Bernie never got to see them freed.<\/p>\n

She wanted to share her ashes between her homeland and Cuba. \u201cWe are her children, but you all are also her family, she has come home\u201d Juliana movingly stated, unable to hold back her tears, which interspersed her words.<\/p>\n

\"bernie<\/a><\/p>\n

The Havana coast was the venue for the powerful ceremony. Minutes before Gerardo had spoken to Bernie\u2019s family, telling them that it was thanks to people like Berne Dwyer that \u201cwe are today enjoying our freedom and happiness.\u201d\u2026\u201cSome people think of solidarity in terms of the results it achieves, I believe that what was more important was her role in our day to day lives as prisoners\u201d he said adding: \u201cwe needed her solidarity and support all the time, and Bernie was very important to us in that sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very sorry I did not get the chance to meet her myself, our families told us about her, and I did speak to her on the phone\u201d, Gerardo said. He rejoiced for those who had the opportunity to know her as a \u201cfighter, friend or sister.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that \u201cafter we found out about her illness we were astonished at how she had just carried on battling for the five of us, and working very hard. Her example was always an inspiration for us and gave us strength.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we came back to Cuba\u201d, Gerardo added, \u201cI expressed our gratitude to those friends who fought for us and are now no longer with us, one of them was Bernie\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you have been very lucky having a family member like Bernie, and we are very lucky to have had a friend like her. She will be with the Cuban 5 forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gerardo concluded his oration making it clear that Bernie\u2019s support was not just for the Cuban 5 but for the whole of Cuba and all just causes: \u201cevery revolutionary Cuban is grateful for what Bernie did\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mirta, Antonio\u2019s mother, spoke on behalf of the families of the Five who \u201cgot to know Bernie personally and what she meant for the cause…. we had a strong friendship with her, we held her very dearly and are infinitely grateful to her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am privileged to be here to speak with you, her children, about how Bernie was. I am proud to have known this woman who was full of love. When she fell ill, she went away, she recovered and she returned. She was a woman of extraordinary values, of great integrity. We want to say how much we love her, respect her and are grateful to her\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Everyone embraced Bernie\u2019s family members, in a ceremony dedicated to her memory, which had started that morning, in the Julio Antonio Mella International Camp (CIJAM), in Caimito, where a plaque was unveiled in her honour, around which ashes were scattered.<\/p>\n

\"Bernie<\/a>Kenia Serrano, President of ICAP, also participated throughout the day of memory for our beloved friend.<\/p>\n

Fernando and Mirta were also among those at the CIJAM. Here Elio G\u00e1mez, first vice president of ICAP, spoke of his great honour in of having the opportunity to pay tribute to Bernie, whose links with Cuba began in the CIJAM back in the 1980s, as part of a European solidarity brigade. Bernie founded the Cuban solidarity campaign in Ireland. She subsequently moved to Cuba where she was to be honoured with the Medal of Friendship and the F\u00e9lix Elmuza Award.<\/p>\n

He added that Bernie was a member of the International Committee for the Liberation of the Cuban Heroes, a compa\u00f1era dedicated to her work, and an activist for the five who participated in numerous international events. He added that Bernie was a woman of great conviction \u201dhard to defeat, happy, good humoured, revolutionary, our friend and sister, in the front line with her work… and whose work made a huge contribution to ICAP, who we will never forget\u201d.<\/p>\n

Lissa-Anne, enveloped by the memory of her mother, made clear to her friends that this was a difficult moment for her and her family, expressed gratitude for the tributes and the love felt for Bernie in Cuba, evoking her tenacious struggle for the Cuban 5.<\/p>\n

Later in the day the ceremony took place by the sea, in the neighbourhood of Miramar, near to where Bernie, the prize-winning documentary maker, had lived. Her neighbours were notable by there presence, \u201cshe was one more of us\u201d, recalled Liliam and Miriam.<\/p>\n

Isabel, one of her colleagues from RHC, could not hold back the tears. She remembered when Bernie did her two tours of the United States, overcoming numerous obstacles and costs on the way, to get the truth about the Cuban 5 out. She recalled her titanic struggle against her cancer, and the way she kept up her solidarity work until the last minute possible. Bernie died on the 10th July 2013.<\/p>\n

Everyone agreed that it was very sad that Bernie had not lived long enough to witness the release of the Five. \u201cLife is not fair\u201d I thought imagining how happy she would have been to be there. I said this to Gerardo, who with his clear gaze and from the heart responded \u201cthere is no doubt that\u2019s the case, but life is bit by bit. If she had not been the exceptional woman that she was, she would not have managed to bring together today so many friends who loved and admired her to pay tribute and gratitude to her.\u201d Gerardo\u2019s words were comforting.<\/p>\n

Bernie lives on in her children, in Ireland and Cuba, in the shining, optimistic and solitary horizon where her ashes blew along the eternal path of the good, the noble, the generous, and those who struggle. These are the human beings who sow seeds of love and become unforgettable as we look towards the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bernie will be with the Cuban 5 and Cuba forever By: Iliana Garc\u00eda Giraldino photos: Karoly Emerson The rhythmic sound of the waves and the […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101012,"featured_media":572,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-miami-5"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":452,"url":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/award-winning-film-maker-devoted-to-the-cuban-cause\/","url_meta":{"origin":569,"position":0},"title":"Award-winning film-maker devoted to the Cuban cause","author":"Editorial Team","date":"July 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Irish Times obituary - Bernie Dwyer, born: December 14th, 1943; died: July 10th, 2013","rel":"","context":"In "Cuba"","block_context":{"text":"Cuba","link":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/category\/cuba\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/bernie-Dwyer.jpg?fit=620%2C330&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/bernie-Dwyer.jpg?fit=620%2C330&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/bernie-Dwyer.jpg?fit=620%2C330&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":487,"url":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/dear-president-obama\/","url_meta":{"origin":569,"position":1},"title":"Dear President Obama …","author":"Editorial Team","date":"September 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Open Letter On the Occasion of the Fifteenth Anniversary of the Detention of the Cuban Five and Dedicated to the memory of Bernie Dwyer R.I.P Dear President Obama, The cases of four of the Cuban 5 who remain unjustly incarcerated in U.S. prisons and that of Mr. Alan Gross, who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Miami 5"","block_context":{"text":"Miami 5","link":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/category\/miami-5\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/obama.jpg?fit=1160%2C629&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/obama.jpg?fit=1160%2C629&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/obama.jpg?fit=1160%2C629&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/obama.jpg?fit=1160%2C629&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/obama.jpg?fit=1160%2C629&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2518,"url":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/cuban-government-decrees-official-mourning-for-eusebio-leal\/","url_meta":{"origin":569,"position":2},"title":"Cuban Government decrees official mourning for Eusebio Leal","author":"Editorial Team","date":"August 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"A day of official mourning was decreed in Cuba on Saturday as a tribute to eminent intellectual and Havana Historian Eusebio Leal, who died on Friday at the age of 77.The Presidency of the Republic issued an official press release in which it decreed 24 hours of official mourning, from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Opinions"","block_context":{"text":"Opinions","link":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/category\/cuba\/opinions\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/la-habana-villa-san-cristobal-500-aniversario-1-580x329-1.jpg?fit=580%2C329&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/la-habana-villa-san-cristobal-500-aniversario-1-580x329-1.jpg?fit=580%2C329&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/la-habana-villa-san-cristobal-500-aniversario-1-580x329-1.jpg?fit=580%2C329&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1284,"url":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/the-world-rediscovers-cuban-medical-internationalism\/","url_meta":{"origin":569,"position":3},"title":"The world rediscovers Cuban medical internationalism","author":"Editorial Team","date":"April 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Just\u00a0weeks ago, in late February 2020, US Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders was vilified by the US establishment for acknowledging education and healthcare achievements in revolutionary Cuba. Now, as the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic sweeps the globe, the island\u2019s medical prowess is back in the spotlight, first because the Chinese National Health Commission\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Covid-19"","block_context":{"text":"Covid-19","link":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/category\/cuba\/covid-19\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/cuba_medical_students_graduation_standing_1300x650.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/cuba_medical_students_graduation_standing_1300x650.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/cuba_medical_students_graduation_standing_1300x650.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/cuba_medical_students_graduation_standing_1300x650.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/cuba_medical_students_graduation_standing_1300x650.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8059,"url":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/conservatives-in-the-us-want-the-cuban-people-to-overthrow-their-own-government-or-else\/","url_meta":{"origin":569,"position":4},"title":"Conservatives in the US want the Cuban people to overthrow their own government\u2014or else","author":"Editorial Team","date":"April 26, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This year saw\u00a0record diversity\u00a0in candidates, with the highest number of Black people, women, and young people running in Cuban history. Most of the candidates are women, and 98 out of 470 are under 35. However Republican politicians want to keep Cuba on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list unless Cubans\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/category\/news\/featured\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screenshot-2023-04-26-at-11.36.25.png?fit=836%2C439&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screenshot-2023-04-26-at-11.36.25.png?fit=836%2C439&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screenshot-2023-04-26-at-11.36.25.png?fit=836%2C439&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screenshot-2023-04-26-at-11.36.25.png?fit=836%2C439&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2120,"url":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/what-cuba-has-to-teach-in-pandemic-times-and-beyond\/","url_meta":{"origin":569,"position":5},"title":"What Cuba Has to Teach, in Pandemic Times and Beyond","author":"Editorial Team","date":"June 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"By Diana Block In July 2019, I visited the\u00a0Cuban Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology\u00a0(CIGB) as part of the 50th\u00a0Anniversary\u00a0Venceremos Brigade. We were impressed by the many scientific advances that the Institute had achieved, including the development of interferons to successfully fight viral diseases such as dengue and ebola. Little\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cuba"","block_context":{"text":"Cuba","link":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/category\/cuba\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/Medical-Teams-Fighting-COVID-19.png?fit=1200%2C651&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/Medical-Teams-Fighting-COVID-19.png?fit=1200%2C651&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/Medical-Teams-Fighting-COVID-19.png?fit=1200%2C651&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/Medical-Teams-Fighting-COVID-19.png?fit=1200%2C651&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/Medical-Teams-Fighting-COVID-19.png?fit=1200%2C651&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3xdTY-9b","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/Bernie-011.jpg?fit=404%2C399&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101012"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}