Cuban Blogger Yoani Sanchez is Named IPI's 60th and Final World Press
Freedom Hero
Blogger "provides a glimpse into what is otherwise a closed world": IPI
Interim Director
Nayana Jayarajan, Press Freedom Adviser
The International Press Institute today declared Cuban blogger Yoani
Maria Sanchez Cordero its 60th World Press Freedom Hero.
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.
"Sanchez's tremendously important work provides a glimpse into what is
otherwise a closed world," said IPI Interim Director Alison Bethel
McKenzie. "It is perhaps fitting that our 60th and final World Press
Freedom Hero represents a future where the power of the internet can be
harnessed to promote free speech. We are proud to know Yoani and to
award this prestigious prize to her."
"Yoani's work has contributed tremendously toward a more wholesome
understanding of the reality of life in Cuba. Her clear insights,
beautiful use of language and tenacity have distinguished Yoani as an
outstanding Caribbean journalist, blogger and citizen. We all look
forward to the day conditions in her homeland change so that free
expression can be more fully and abundantly facilitated, encouraged and
exercised. Our congratulations on her achievement of this prestigious
award," said Wesley Gibbings, President of the Association of Caribbean
Media Workers, reacting to the announcement of the award.
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