Cuban blogger joints the list of World Press Freedom Heroes
Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez said this weekend that she feels "very
responsible" following the International Press Institute's decision to
choose her as one of its 60 World Press Freedom Heroes.
"The word that sums up how I feel now is responsibility. Very
responsible for what this means, being on a list with people who are
risking their lives and their reputations as well in many parts of the
world," Sanchez, who received a text message telling her the news about
the award announced in Vienna on Friday, said.
The blogger, who turned 35 on Saturday, joins the list of 60 journalists
awarded prizes since 2000 by the Vienna-based IPI, which has described
her as a "harsh critic of the reality in Cuba," while highlighting her
work to remind "the world about the Caribbean island's restrictions on
free speech."
Sanchez, author of the "Generacion Y" blog since 2007, said the IPI
honour included an invitation and "in theory I should be in Vienna on
Sept. 13 to take part in the ceremony."
"There's not much time but I'm going to apply to see if I can go," said
the blogger, whom the Cuban government on several occasions has denied
permission to leave the island when invited to receive prizes and take
part in international events.
Yoani Sanchez, who also expressed her gratitude for the prize with an
audio message on her Twitter account, won Spain's 2008 Ortega y Gasset
Prize for Digital Journalism and in 2009 received an honourable mention
for the Maria Moors Cabot Prize from Columbia University in New York.
In its announcement IPI said that Sanchez's blog, Generation Y, "is an
acerbic critique of life in Cuba, and a telling reminder to the world of
the restraints on free speech and expression on the Caribbean island".
Sanchez, a graduate of Havana University, left Cuba for Switzerland in
2002, but returned two years later. On her return, she set up, along
with a group of other Cubans, the magazine "Consenso" as a forum for
reflection and debate.
In 2007, spurred by what she saw as a growing repressive climate in her
homeland, she launched her blog, Generation Y. Composed of reflections
on daily life, politics and culture in Castro's Cuba, the blog today
boasts a readership of more than a million.
In early 2008, Sanchez reported that the site may have been targeted by
government censors. In April 2008, the site became unavailable in Cuba.
Since then, Sanchez has resorted to extreme and creative measures to
keep her blog alive. In a country where internet access is severely
restricted and prohibitively expensive, Sanchez often poses as a tourist
to access the internet, emailing her entries to friends outside the
country who then publish them online.
Sanchez has been refused permission to travel outside of Cuba at least
six times in the past two years alone, despite international acclaim for
her blog. In 2008, "TIME Magazine" named her one of the world's 100 most
influential people, noting her "feisty dedication to the truth," and
pointing out that "under the nose of a regime that has never tolerated
dissent, Sánchez has practiced what paper-bound journalists in her
country cannot: freedom of speech." She has also received the Ortega y
Gasset Prize, Spain's highest award for digital journalism; the Maria
Moors Cabot Prize from Columbia University; and in 2009, TIME Magazine
named her blog among the 25 Best Blogs of 2009.
In her own country, however, Sanchez has repeatedly faced harassment by
authorities. In November 2009, the Daily Telegraph reported that she was
beaten by a group of unidentified men while on her way to a peaceful
protest. According to the article, after the attack, she was dumped
"again in the middle of the street, (…) leaving her bruised, scared and
sobbing."
Sanchez says she has not been able to see her own blog since 2007. She
reports on her blog that she is under continuous surveillance by state
security agents. On 24 May, Sanchez's blog reported that her name had
been announced on Cuba's state-run Roundtable program, "mixed with
concepts such as "cyber-terrorism," "cyber-commandos" and "media war."
"To be mentioned in a negative way in the most official program on
television is, for any Cuban, the confirmation of her social death,"
says Sanchez in her blog.
However, Sanchez refuses to be silenced. "If you are insulted by the
mediocre, the opportunists, if you are slandered by the employees of the
powerful but dying machinery, take it as a compliment," she says on her
blog.
http://en.mercopress.com/2010/09/06/cuban-blogger-joints-the-list-of-world-press-freedom-heroes
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