Yoani Sánchez: Living the life

February 20th, 2013

In this Index on Censorship magazine interview from 2011, the celebrated Cuban blogger talks to Nick Caistor and Amanda Hopkinson
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Cuban dissident faces protests during Brazil tour

February 20th, 2013

Cuban dissident and blogger Yoani Sánchez is having a hard time on her visit to Brazil, facing demonstrations by pro-Castro protesters.

One of the most prominent free-speech Cuban activists, Sánchez arrived in Brazil on Sunday (17 February) for a round of conferences and events in the northeastern state of Bahia and federal capital Brasília.

On Monday 18 February, Sánchez was at Feira de Santana (in Bahia) where she would attend a presentation of a documentary about the Cuban regime, but the violence of the protestors caused the event to be cancelled.

The demonstrators accused Sánchez’s blog Generación Y of spreading anti-Cuban propaganda. Some of the protesters went as far as denouncing her as a representative of imperialism and a CIA agent.

Senator Eduardo Suplicy from the ruling Workers’ Party had to intervene and ask for the protesters to ease down their attacks on the Cuban blogger. Security measures have been increased for Sánchez since then.

“I regret the situation got to this point, because I’m a person who uses words, I don’t use guns”, said Sánchez, who nevertheless praised the “freedom” and “plurality” she found in Brazil. In response to protests during her visit, the blogger also said that she was “happy to visit a country where people can speak their minds freely.”

Sánchez is on her first trip abroad after the Cuban government eased travel regulations for its citizens. Before that, she had being denied a travel permit for more than 20 times.

During her 80-day tour, the activist also plans to visit the Czech Republic, Spain, Mexico, United States, the Netherlands, Germany and Peru, amongst other countries.

READ INDEX ON CENSORSHIP’S EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH YOANI SÁNCHEZ HERE

Cuba: Ladies in White prevented from marking activist’s death

February 24th, 2012

Cuban authorities yesterday prevented members of women’s organisation Ladies in White from entering a building in downtown Havana for an event commemorating the second anniversary of the death of activist Orlando Zapata Tamayo. Authorities reportedly diverted traffic from passing in front of the headquarters, stationed police officers in the four corners of the crossroad and checked identification cards of all pedestrians passing through the area.

Cuba: blogger Yoani Sánchez’s travel to Brazil denied

February 7th, 2012

Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez has been denied permission to leave the island to visit Brazil. Last month, Sanchez formally appealed to the Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to enter the country so that she could attend the screening of a documentary about press freedom in Cuba and Honduras in which she features. The blogger tweeted that this was the 19th time she has been denied the right to enter and leave the country. Migration rules that require Cubans to receive government permission to travel have prevented Sánchez from leaving the country since 2004.

Cuba: Journalist faces decades in prison

January 31st, 2012

A Cuban journalist is facing more than ten years in prison for alleged corruption offences. José Antonio Torres, a correspondent for Granma, the party newspaper, in Santiago de Cuba, was detained on 11 March, 2011 after writing two articles criticising a major government infrastructure project. In the articles, Torres said experts undertaking the rebuilding of a key aqueduct intended to supply water to the city’s inhabitants, had claimed that “ineptitude” and “poor workmanship” had caused parts of the aqueduct wall’s veneer to fall off. The journalist also wrote that the project should have been “better planned.” Torres was initially charged with being an “agent of the CIA” and leaking confidential information abroad.

Cuba: Jailed dissident dies after hunger strike

January 20th, 2012

Dissident Wilmar Villar Mendoza, has died in a hospital in eastern Cuba following a 56-day hunger strike. Villar launched his strike shortly after his November arrest, after which he was put on trial and sentenced to four years in prison for crimes including disobedience, resistance and crimes against the state. Fellow opposition activists have claimed mistreatment by the Cuban government contributed to Villar’s death.

Cuba: Blogger appeals to Brazilian president for help to leave island

January 6th, 2012

Dissident Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez has appealed to Brazil’s president to help her leave the Caribbean island. A strong critic of the country’s Communist regime, Sánchez has been accused by authorities of conducting a “cyberwar” against the government. Sánchez’s video appeal to Dilma Rousseff follows her invitation to Brazil to attend the screening of a documentary about press freedom in Cuba and Honduras in which she features. The blogger said she did not expect to be able to leave Cuba without ”high-level intervention”. Migration rules that require Cubans to receive government permission to travel have prevented Sánchez from leaving the country since 2004.

Cuba: Journalist expelled from Havana for the ninth time in two years

October 11th, 2011

A reporter for an independent news service is awaiting deportation from Cuba‘s capital city. Calixto Ramón Martínez Arias of the Hablemos Press agency is awaiting expulsion from Havana for the ninth time in two years, following a recent crackdown on civic groups and dissident organisations. The journalist was arrested for the fourth time this year on 30 September, and will be deported to his home town of Camagüey. More than 2,500 arrests have been made during the political crackdown, and up to 563 people have been briefly detained or exiled.