Wall Street Journal

Yoani Sánchez, Cuba's most prominent dissident blogger, was walking along a Havana street last Friday along with two other bloggers and a friend when two men she says were Cuban agents in civilian clothes forced her inside an unmarked black car and beat her, telling her to stop criticizing the government.
Blogger Yoani Sánchez speaks at home in Havana on Monday, days after she says she was beaten by Cuban agents.

The assault, believed to be the first against the growing blogger movement on the island, has cast a spotlight on the country's record of repression, highlighting how little change there has been in political freedoms during the nearly three years since Raúl Castro took over as president from retired dictator Fidel Castro.

A decline in tourism revenues from the global recession and damage from several hurricanes last year have prompted the island's government to clamp down even harder on dissent and freedom of speech, according to a recent report by the Inter American Press Association, a watchdog group.

The group said Cuba currently has 26 journalists in jail, and it cited 102 incidents against Cuban journalists in the past year, including beatings, arbitrary arrests and death threats.

The U.S. State Department on Monday condemned the alleged beating and called on Cuba to respect its citizens' rights.

The Cuban government didn't respond to requests for comment.

When Raúl Castro took over from his ailing brother Fidel nearly three years ago, many Cubans hoped he would liberalize the country's economy and politics.

So far, the government has taken bold steps in agriculture, giving out some 80,000 land grants to private farmers in a bid to ease chronic food shortages, according to Philip Peters, an analyst at the Lexington Institute, a free-market think tank based in Washington.

But the changes haven't gone beyond there, especially when it comes to freedom of thought. The state media remains as tightly controlled as ever, analysts say.

Until now, Cuba's growing blogger movement has been tolerated by the government, mostly because Internet access is restricted on the island. But the attack on Ms. Sánchez could signal that tolerance is waning.

"I don't think their attack is against the person of Yoani Sánchez, but rather against the blogger phenomenon, a phenomenon of different opinions that is taking place in Cuba," Ms. Sánchez said in an interview with the blog Mediaite.

But, she said, the effort failed. "They still haven't understood the potential of the Web, and that these repressive measures do nothing but increase the number of hits on my blog," she said.

Ms. Sánchez is a 34 year-old whose poignant vignettes of daily life in Cuba -- and the resulting aggravations, humiliations and suffering -- have proved to be far more effective criticisms of the Castro regime than the bluster and bravado from Cuba's exile community in Miami.

Earlier this year, she won a top journalism prize from Columbia University but was barred by the government from traveling to New York to accept the award.

Ms. Sánchez wasn't cowed by the incident and has blogged in the days since. After being thrown from the car with another blogger, she worried about her son.

"We hugged and cried, and I thought about Teo. How in God's name would I explain my bruises? How can I tell him he lives in a country where this happens?" she wrote.

Write to David Luhnow at david.luhnow@wsj.com

Thank you GC for that piece of info. She is the Polish's Walesa of Cuba. Where is the outrage by our international ultra lefty buffoones? The outrage is when these lefty mostly Canadians and Euro trash will be zipping their piña colada under a palapa in Varadero beach. Telling tales to the poor servant how grateful they are living in a socialist country where the goverment is taking care of them.

Made in the U.S.A.

A few days ago the foreign press revealed that when the Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos traveled to Havana, a message from the American administration came with him. It suggested that our leaders take steps to improve civil liberties in order to move in the direction of ending the dispute between our countries. The hidden message was not mentioned in the official Cuban media which, at that time, heightened the critiques of the economic sanctions imposed by the United States. It is these trade restrictions, so clumsy and anachronistic in my judgment, that can be used as justification both for the setbacks in productivity and to repress those who think differently. I am struck, however, that on market shelves the labels and the fourpacks reveal what the anti-imperialist rhetoric hides: much of what we eat says, “Made in USA.”

Never before have we had so much riding on the ups and downs of Washington or Wall Street. In reality, the vaunted sovereignty of this island and the supposed example of independence we show to the rest of the world hide how dependent we are on that nation where thousands of our compatriots live. To the extent that the political slogans against the Yankees become stronger, people become more interested in the economic and migratory flow that has been established between the two shores. The Florida Straits seem to separate us, but in fact there is an invisible bridge of affection, material help and information that links this island to the mainland.

The poor people’s shoemaker was born a couple of years before the United States broke relations with our country, but the glue he uses for repairs was sent to him by a brother in Miami. The flash memory that young man hangs around his neck he received from a “Yuma”, an American, who docked his yacht at the Hemingway marina; the hairdresser on the corner sent to New Jersey for her dyes and creams. Without that flow of products and remittances, many people around me would be begging and neglected. Even the whiskey that the highest Party leaders drink exhibits the unmistakable seal of the forbidden.
Yoani Sanchez-

With market reforms at home, a loosening of travel restrictions from its old enemy to the north, and Fidel Castro out of the picture, Cuba should be on the road to a freer future. A new Human Rights Watch report, however, shows that, under the rule of Raul Castro, Fidel's brother, Cuba continues to oppress even the loneliest dissenter. Canada must work with other nations to demand political reform.

The most pernicious abuse comes out of the use of the "dangerousness" provision. Cuban law allows people with a "special proclivity [to commit crimes] demonstrated by conduct that is observed to be in manifest contradiction with the norms of socialist morality" to be imprisoned. It's hard time for pre-crime.

Human Rights Watch has documented more than new 40 cases of imprisonment for reasons of "danger-ousness" under Raul Castro's presidency. The charges are levied against those who organize or call individually for change in Cuba, and against people who get fired from their jobs for having been activists. One man was charged with dangerousness after distributing copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and sentenced to 10 years in jail.

The regime is preoccupied by self-preservation. None of the rights putatively established in the country's constitution can be exercised "against the state." The national protection law makes it illegal to accumulate "subversive materials." Trials are closed hearings lasting less than an hour. The abuses target only a vocal few, but the impact is national, cowing Cubans into acceptance.

Canada is Cuba's third-largest trading partner and its largest source of tourists, giving this country a position of strength. But it has not taken any lead on rights, instead offering either warm embraces or perfunctory admonitions in official meetings; the latest was delivered by Peter Kent, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, last week. The United States, which tried assassination and invasion, and is only starting to back away from restrictions that harm all Cubans, has been no more effective. A multilateral approach, in which Canada should be at the forefront, would work better. For example, countries in the Americas and Europe could demand the release of all political prisoners within a certain time or institute travel bans and asset freezes against Cuban leaders.

To some Canadians, Cuba is about beautiful beaches and entrancing music; for a misguided few, it is a beacon of social planning. But beneath the surface, Cubans suffer under a repressive regime. Their plight cannot be ignored.

Yoani Sanchez, Cuba's most popular blogger, has been beaten up by thugs for the offence of describing life under the Castro regime


By Andrew Hamilton in Mexico City
Published: 5:47PM GMT 28 Nov 2009
Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez : Blogger Yoani Sanchez is threat to Cuba
Ms Sanchez believes that the Cuban government may yet resort to heavy-handed tactics in order to contain popular dissent

With her platted hair and bookish demeanour, Yoani Sanchez does not look like a threat to the Cuban State. But her blog, an acerbic critique of the hypocrisies of life on the communist-led island might have made her just that.

"Generation Y" receives about one million visits a month. It has won two of the most prestigious awards for digital journalism, and its success meant that last year Ms Sanchez was voted one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world.

Now, it seems, the island's ruling Castro brothers have decided that enough is enough, and have unleashed their thugs to try to shut Ms Sanchez up.

"I was on my way to a peaceful protest against violence with a few friends when it happened," explained the 34-year-old mother, in a rare telephone interview with The Sunday Telegraph from her cramped apartment in Havana's Nuevo Vedado district. "A black car pulled up. The three men inside called out my name and told me to get in."

When she refused, she said, the men bundled her into the car and started punching her. "They were saying, 'It's all over, Yoani.' I really thought they were going to kill me."

She tried to escape but was unable to do so as the handles in the rear of the Chinese-made car had been removed. When a crowd gathered to help her, the thugs ordered them to leave, telling onlookers that Ms Sanchez and her friend - another blogger - were "counter-revolutionaries". Nearly half an hour later they dumped her again in the middle of the street, leaving her bruised, scared and sobbing.

"That day I lost all faith in justice in my country," she said.

The Cuban government has not made any comment about the alleged incident, but the US State Department said it "strongly deplored the assault".

Attacking a blogger might seem an unnecessary strategy in Cuba, where access to the internet is amongst the lowest in the world and only a small number of carefully vetted individuals are allowed to have internet accounts at home. Ms Sanchez believes her roughing up was a signal that the days of tolerance of Cuba's embryonic blogging community are over. "The Cuban government is currently nervous, as a result of the dire state of the economy", she said.

When Raul Castro took over the reins of power from his ailing elder brother, Fidel, three years ago, there were high hopes that the changeover might usher in an era of greater political freedom and economic growth. Instead, the younger Castro is now at the helm of a country which appears close to bankruptcy, the global economic crisis having left the country facing shortages not seen since its chief benefactor, the Soviet Union, collapsed in the early 1990s.

Revenues from tourism and Cuba's main commodity exports have fallen dramatically, and residents report shortages of fruit and vegetables at markets across the capital. The government also recently warned that "extreme measures" were needed to deal with power shortages, including compulsory disconnection of air conditioners and refrigerators at peak periods. Havana's once elegant seafront promenade, the Malecon, is now often dark at night because of lack of street lighting.

In her online jottings, Ms Sanchez talks angrily of how the daily hardships of life under Cuban communism were invariably blamed on America and its economic blockade. "If my friends were leaving the country en masse, it was because of the United States policy of harassment; if the cockroaches were crawling all over the walls at the maternity hospital, it was the fault of the North Americans; even if a meeting at the university expelled a critical colleague, they explained to us that he had fallen under the ideological influence of the enemy.

"Today, everything begins and ends with the blockade. No one seems to remember the days when they promised us paradise, when they told us that nothing – not even the economic sanctions – would prevent us from leaving behind our underdevelopment."

A report earlier this month by Human Rights Watch appeared to confirm that repression had grown even worse under Raul Castro's regime. It accused him of jailing up to 40 people for the vague offence of "dangerousness" - defined in Cuban statute as anti-socialist behaviour, but encompassing activities such as staging rallies, writing articles critical of the government, and trying to organise independent unions.

Attacking a blogger might seem an unnecessary strategy in Cuba, where access to the internet is amongst the lowest in the world and only a small number of carefully vetted individuals are allowed to have internet accounts at home.

Cubans can log on in tourist hotels, but the cost - equivalent to £5 an hour - is prohibitive in a country where the average monthly salary is around £15 a month. When Ms Sanchez began blogging, Cubans were not allowed into tourist hotels, but she was able to evade suspicious security guards thanks to her light-skinned appearance and ability to speak German.

She believes that the internet is something the authorities are right to fear, pointing out that web-savvy youngsters are nearly always ahead of their ageing leaders in the digital race.

Her own blog is hosted on a server outside Cuba, and translated by international volunteers into 15 languages. Her articles are sometimes dictated by telephone, or emailed by third parties. Although her site is blocked from Cuba, she claims individual transcripts are distributed within the country by supporters.

Her efforts have been rewarded by a personal message from US President Barack Obama, who agreed to answer a list of written questions after she won a prize from Columbia University's school of journalism. "Your blog provides the world a unique window into the realities of daily life in Cuba," he told her. He added that he "looked forward to the day all Cubans can freely express themselves in public without fear and without reprisals."

Ms Sanchez believes that the Cuban government may yet resort to heavy-handed tactics in order to contain popular dissent - not least because it can no longer depend on the charisma of its former leader to deter would-be protesters.

Fidel Castro was last seen in public in July 2006. Suffering from an unspecified intestinal ailment, he now spends his days exercising, resting and reading in his 1960s bungalow home, on the site of a pre-revolutionary golf course.

The American film maker, Oliver Stone, was recently granted rare access for a documentary to be released soon. It will show the man who has vexed 11 US presidents - and once brought the world close to nuclear war - in the twilight of his life; surrounded by his extended family, many of whom have their own houses in his closely-guarded compound.

But the former President, who claims that "revolutionaries never retire" has not entirely withdrawn from politics. He writes what has been dubbed as his own blog: occasional, often rambling opinion pieces which are dutifully published in the state media.

One recent musing, predicted that President Obama will serve only one term of office before being replaced by a candidate from the "extreme right".

Ms Sanchez believes, however, that the Cuban system itself might be the first to fall - and until then, she is determined not to be silenced. Her blog on her alleged assault is entitled "a regime in its last throes", and includes downloaded photos of some of the plain clothes spies who hang around her house. "They have watched us for decades," she writes. "Now we are watching them."

To the extent that sedition “may be afoot;” the de facto leader of the Republican Party, hate talk radio host, Rush Limbaugh suggested that many people in American want to stage a coup against President Obama, like the recent military coup in Honduras.

Limbaugh: So we’ve got hell breaking loose in Honduras. You know what we learned about Honduras? We learned the Obama administration tried to stop the coup. Now what was — the coup was what many of you wish would happen here, without the military.

Then Limbaugh falsely described President Obama as a man who dishonors military men and women:

“This is Barack Obama, who led from the United States Senate his party into doing everything he could to ensure the defeat of the U.S. military. … This party was doing everything it could to impugn and dishonor the military.”


had an ordinary person said this about bush during his presidency(much less carried a weapon outside of a public forum where he or cheney were speaking, they even barred folks from entering because of what they wore) such a person would be whisked away pronto. where is the freedom in the USA different from cuba other than the fact that a bigshot loudmouth with a huge following has different rules applied than others?

Good point!! Loved it!

Everytime Castro obsessed Goulet posts things about this cuban blogger , I laugh.... why ? Bcs something doesnt sound right.... according to Goulet, Vacanos, Belly, etc Ms Sanchez is repeatedly kidnapped, beat up and released and told to stop blogging... y es que alla no hay hombres que salgan a defender esa muchachita ????? They say they pulled her from the middle of the streets , in front o f witnesses!!! Instead of telling Castro sympathizers to go to Cuba to live, like Belly LOOOOVEESS to say, why dont they man up and go there to make the changes , starting with standing up for lilttle red riding hood Yoani!!

then they tell you that the Gov't has seized and controlled internet access.... however, the blogging continues... something is isnt clicking.... I already told them that she seems more like spy than the 'Lech Walesa of Cuba (puh-leaze!).... member that Cuba had that cuban spy in the pentagon... sit and wait for it !! ayyayayayyya!

President Obama’s Responses to Yoani Sanchez’s Questions

President Barack Obama: Thank you for this opportunity to exchange views with you and your readers in Cuba and around the world and congratulations on receiving the Maria Moore Cabot Prize award from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism for coverage of Latin America that furthers inter-American understanding. You richly deserve the award. I was disappointed you were denied the ability to travel to receive the award in person.

Your blog provides the world a unique window into the realities of daily life in Cuba. It is telling that the Internet has provided you and other courageous Cuban bloggers with an outlet to express yourself so freely, and I applaud your collective efforts to empower fellow Cubans to express themselves through the use of technology. The government and people of the United States join all of you in looking forward to the day all Cubans can freely express themselves in public without fear and without reprisals.

Yoani Sánchez: QUESTION #1. FOR YEARS, CUBA HAS BEEN A U.S. FOREIGN POLICY ISSUE AS WELL AS A DOMESTIC ONE, IN PARTICULAR BECAUSE OF THE LARGE CUBAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY. FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE, IN WHICH OF THE TWO CATEGORIES SHOULD THE CUBAN ISSUE FIT?

All foreign policy issues involve domestic components, especially issues concerning neighbors like Cuba from which the United States has a large immigrant population and with which we have a long history of relations. Our commitment to protect and support free speech, human rights, and democratic governance at home and around the world also cuts across the foreign policy/domestic policy divide. Also, many of the challenges shared by our two countries, including migration, drug trafficking, and economic issues, involve traditional domestic and foreign policy concerns. Thus, U.S. relations with Cuba are rightly seen in both a foreign and domestic policy context.

QUESTION 2: SHOULD YOUR ADMINISTRATION BE WILLING TO PUT AN END TO THIS DISPUTE, WOULD IT RECOGNIZE THE LEGITIMACY OF THE RAUL CASTRO GOVERNMENT AS THE ONLY VALID INTERLOCUTOR IN THE EVENTUAL TALKS?

As I have said before, I am prepared to have my administration engage with the Cuban government on a range of issues of mutual interest as we have already done in the migration and direct mail talks. It is also my intent to facilitate greater contact with the Cuban people, especially among divided Cuban families, which I have done by removing U.S. restrictions on family visits and remittances.

We seek to engage with Cubans outside of government as we do elsewhere around the world, as the government, of course, is not the only voice that matters in Cuba. We take every opportunity to interact with the full range of Cuban society and look forward to the day when the government reflects the freely expressed will of the Cuban people.

QUESTION 3: HAS THE U.S. GOVERNMENT RENOUNCED THE USE OF MILITARY FORCE AS THE WAY TO END THE DISPUTE?

The United States has no intention of using military force in Cuba. The United States supports increased respect for human rights and for political and economic freedoms in Cuba, and hopes that the Cuban government will respond to the desire of the Cuban people to enjoy the benefits of democracy and be able to freely determine Cuba’s future. Only the Cuban people can bring about positive change in Cuba and it is our hope that they will soon be able to exercise their full potential.

QUESTION 4: RAUL CASTRO HAS SAID PUBLICALLY THAT HE IS OPEN TO DISCUSS ANY TOPIC WITH THE U.S. PROVIDED THERE IS MUTUAL RESPECT AND A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD. IS RAUL ASKING TOO MUCH?

For years, I have said that it is time to pursue direct diplomacy, without preconditions, with friends and foes alike. I am not interested, however, in talking for the sake of talking. In the case of Cuba, such diplomacy should create opportunities to advance the interests of the United States and the cause of freedom for the Cuban people.

We have already initiated a dialogue on areas of mutual concern – safe, legal, and orderly migration, and reestablishing direct mail service. These are small steps, but an important part of a process to move U.S.-Cuban relations in a new and more positive, direction. Achieving a more normal relationship, however, will require action by the Cuban government.

QUESTION 5: IN A HYPOTHETICAL U.S.-CUBA DIALOGUE, WOULD YOU ENTERTAIN PARTICIPATION FROM THE CUBAN EXILE COMMUNITY, THE CUBA-BASED OPPOSITION GROUPS AND NASCENT CUBAN CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS?

When considering any policy decision, it is critical to listen to as many diverse voices as possible. When it comes to Cuba, we do exactly that. The U.S. government regularly talks with groups and individuals inside and outside of Cuba that have an interest in our relations. Many do not always agree with the Cuban government; many do not always agree with the United States government; and many do not agree with each other. What we should all be able to agree on moving forward is the need to listen to the concerns of Cubans who live on the island. This is why everything you are doing to project your voice is so important – not just for the advancement of the freedom of expression itself, but also for people outside of Cuba to gain a better understanding of the life, struggles, joys, and dreams of Cubans on the island.

QUESTION 6: YOU STRONGLY SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES. BUT, CUBANS CONTINUE TO HAVE LIMITED ACCESS TO THE INTERNET. HOW MUCH OF THIS IS DUE TO THE U.S. EMBARGO AND HOW MUCH OF IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT?

My administration has taken important steps to promote the free flow of information to and from the Cuban people particularly through new technologies. We have made possible greater telecommunications links to advance interaction between Cuban citizens and the outside world. This will increase the means through which Cubans on the island can communicate with each other and with persons outside of Cuba, for example, by expanding opportunities for fiber optic and satellite transmissions to and from Cuba. This will not happen overnight. Nor will it have its full effect without positive actions by the Cuban government. I understand the Cuban government has announced a plan to provide Cubans greater access to the Internet at post offices. I am following this development with interest and urge the government to allow its people to enjoy unrestricted access to the internet and to information. In addition, we welcome suggestions regarding areas in which we can further support the free flow of information within, from, and to Cuba.

QUESTION 7: WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO TRAVEL TO OUR COUNTRY?

I would never rule out a course of action that could advance the interests of the United States and advance the cause of freedom for the Cuban people. At the same time, diplomatic tools should only be used after careful preparation and as part of a clear strategy. I look forward to visit a Cuba in which all citizens enjoy the same rights and opportunities as other citizens in the hemisphere.

Dimm SAYS THIS IS ALL A LIE MADE UP BY CAPITALISTS Cuban blogger's husband out to avenge her assault
November 13, 2009
by The Associated Press

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Cuban blogger's husband out to avenge her assault

WILL WEISSERT,Associated Press Writer

HAVANA (AP) — The husband of an internationally known dissident Cuban blogger is challenging the presumed state security agents who roughed up his wife to a verbal duel on a Havana street corner.

Reinaldo Escobar said Thursday he feels compelled both as a husband and open critic of the communist government to avenge an incident last week, when two men in plainclothes allegedly forced political blogger Yoani Sanchez into an unmarked sedan, pulled her hair and kicked her.

The confrontation was so violent, Sanchez said she thought the men might kill her, but instead they dropped her off near her apartment.

"I had many options, like throwing two molotov cocktails at the Interior Ministry or keeping quiet like a coward," Escobar said in a phone interview.

He said challenging the assailants to a duel is the most decent way to respond, since he doesn't have their names or addresses.

Escobar posted a photo on his blog Thursday of a security agent at another event who he thinks was involved.

The Nov. 6 conflict left Sanchez using crutches, though she has vowed on her blog, "Generacion Y," to keep writing her caustic, often witty criticism of the struggles of daily life on an island where there is no freedom of speech or assembly — and shortages of everything from basic food to building materials and school supplies.

Sanchez had been on her way to a small peace demonstration when she was detained with another blogger and government critic, Orlando Luis Pardo. A third cyberspace personality, Claudia Cadelo, was picked up by a police car around the same time.

The U.S. State Department said it "strongly deplores the assault" on all three.

Word of the demonstration was spread by an anonymous text messenger, who is now disseminating word of Escobar's duel to the cellular phones of foreign journalists and members of the political opposition.

To hold his duel, Escobar plans to return Nov. 20 to the spot where Sanchez was detained, the corner of 23rd and G Avenues, amid the decaying mansions, 1950s movie theaters and high-rise hotels of Havana's Vedado district.

"I'll wait for you at 6 p.m. and I'll be unarmed," he said, addressing the assailants on his own blog, "Desde Aqui."

Like "Generacion Y" and all blogs critical of the single-party government, Escobar's site is blocked in Cuba.

The government has not commented, and there is no way to corroborate Sanchez's claim that state security was involved. But government agents routinely harass members of Cuba's tiny political opposition — especially when they try to organize marches or street protests.

Cuba tolerates no official opposition and dismisses nearly everyone who criticizes its government publicly as paid mercenaries of Washington.

Earlier this year, Time magazine named Sanchez — whose blog gets about 1 million hits a month — one of the world's 100 most influential people. In October, the government denied her permission to travel to New York to receive a top journalism prize, the second time th