In America, 2009 has thus far been dominated by discussions about
how best to alleviate a recession that began just over a year
ago. But in communist Cuba, 2009 has been dominated by the
commemoration of a revolution that helped induce 50 years of
economic depression and instability.
But after half a century of broken promises of justice and
prosperity, there is a new revolution stirring in Cuba. Not a
revolution marked by murder and repression of human rights and
waged with guns and explosives. It is, rather, a revolution of
ideas and information undertaken with flash drives, digital
cameras, memory cards and other technologies that are giving
voice to a new generation of Cubans.
Perhaps most prominent among Cuba’s new cyber revolutionaries is
Yoani Sánchez, who writes an influential blog called Generaciòn
Y.
During a December trip to Cuba, one of this column’s authors,
Jordan Allott, spoke with Yoani about how her writing is helping
to bring change to Cuba.
Though Yoani sometimes interjects politics into her writing, she
focuses mainly on the frustrations of daily life in Cuba. “I
don’t have a list of themes to write about,” Yoani says. “I’m not
a journalist. I am a citizen who is writing about what is
happening in my life. I only write about things that I experience
personally, whether it is Fidel Castro or the potatoes at the
supermarket.”
As it happens, Yoani’s personal experiences reveal a lot about
political realities in Cuba. Which is why, she says, “The process
of making Generación Y wasn’t easy. There’s a personal
cost and a family cost, but I don’t want to play the victim. I’m
responsible. I prefer not to be constantly looking over my
shoulder, even if I know they are watching.”
The “they” to which Yoani refers are the Cuban authorities, who
monitor her blog and make it virtually inaccessible to those on
the island. Yoani is regularly threatened with jail time. But she
continues to write, because, she says, it “allows me to say…what
is forbidden to me in my public action.”
Yoani was recently hauled into a police station and read the
following script: “We want to warn you that you have transgressed
all the limits of tolerance with your rapprochement and contacts
with counter-revolutionary elements. This totally disqualifies
you for dialogue with Cuban authorities.”
Though “disqualifie[d]” from dialogue with the Cuban government,
Yoani is engaged in a rich dialogue with millions outside Cuba
who are sympathetic to the plight of a citizenry held hostage.
Yoani’s simple blog has been so influential (Generación
Y receives about 2 million hits a month) that she was
recently named by Time magazine as one of the
world’s 100 most influential people.
Because access to the Internet is severely restricted in Cuba,
Yoani goes through a lot to get her dispatches out to the world,
e-mailing them to friends across the globe who translate and post
her writing on her blog. Yoani is often forced to pose as a
tourist to get into cafes or Western hotelsto access the
Internet.
Traveling in Cuba, one is struck by the sense of hopelessness
among Cuba’s youth. Thousands study computer programming at
Cuba’s University of Information Sciences, and increased Internet
access means more young Cubans are catching a glimpse of what
life is like in free nations across the globe.
Yoani says, “Most young people’s eyes are looking to the outside,
because they see that they cannot make change in their country.
They only see the status quo. Most young people desire to take a
plane to Miami or Europe and in 10 hours change their lives
completely. They know they cannot realize their dreams here.”
But Cuba needs young Cubans like Yoani who are willing to stay
and work for freedom from within.
When Jordan spoke with Yoani in Havana in early December, they
met at the prestigious foreigner-only National Hotel, which was
hosting the Latin American Film Festival the same weekend. This
made for an interesting scene. Numerous Western journalists were
present for the film festival and to laud Che, a
sympathetic biopic about the life of Ernesto “Che” Guevara, the
Castro lieutenant, mass murderer and cult hero to leftwing
radicals. Meanwhile, a short distance away, Jordan met with Yoani
to discuss what she and other democracy advocates are doing to
help tear down the legacy of Che, Fidel, and a government that
keeps its people in bondage.
Yoani remains hopeful and believes “change will come not through
government agencies but through the citizens and the spread of
information and exchange with the outside world.” The Western
media can assist with this exchange or turn a blind eye. Either
way, with Yoani and a new generation of cyber revolutionaries
casting the bright light of reality on the failed Castro regime,
the truth will no longer be easy to ignore.
