Blogs: The new problem for the Cuban Government

Raul Castro became Cuba's new dictator in February of this year, he has lifted some laws which have finally allowed Cuban citizens to own electronic devices such as computer, cell phones and DVD players (you know, things we regularly take for granted).

Anyway, the Cuban government is now facing the same issue which China is currently facing: How to control the flow of different ideas,beliefs and views from entering Cuba via the internet. The internet may contain some information which an oppressive government, like Cuba's, may not want the citizens to know. Cuba is striving to control the internet by monopolizing and controlling the Internet Service Provider and banning many websites. According to an article on Yahoo News, written by the Associated Press, Their ban on websites and the internet is the worst out of any country in the world, even China.

But one young lady hates the fact that Cuba is restricting the flow of information through the Internet. Her name is Yoani Sanchez, and she is a blogger. Yoani, in her blog she criticizes the Cuban Government and tells the outside the world the life of a "typical" Cuban.

Yoani Sanches writes,
"Confieso que me ha dado por portarme mal. Me rebelo ante las órdenes, busco limones que no aparecen, exijo disculpas que nunca llegan y, gran majadería la mía, pongo mis opiniones en un Blog -con foto y nombre incluidos-. Como ven, con estos treinta y dos años –tan impertinentes- ya me viene tocando un correctivo.Así que los anónimos censores de nuestro famélico ciberespacio, han querido encerrarme en el cuarto, apagarme la luz y no dejar entrar a los amigos. Eso, convertido al lenguaje de la red, quiere decir bloquearme el sitio, filtrar mi página, en fin, “pinchar” el Blog para que mis compatriotas no puedan leerlo."

Once again, I will translate this article-like I did in my previous post- so don't scold me if it isn't perfect. Yoani says,

"I must confess, I have been behaving bad. I rebel against orders, I look for lemons that don't exist, I demand apologies that never arrive and--my most foolish action-- I write in a blog, with photos and names included. What do you think? With only 32 years of age, of impertinent living, the correctional officer comes knocking at my door. So the anonymous censors of our famished cyberspace want to lock me in a room, turn of the lights and prohibit my friends from seeing me. That, converted into internet language, means that they want to block my site, filter my pages and, simply put, close my blog so that my fellow compatriots can't read it."

Photo taken from her Blog

I applaud her for speaking her mind, I'm sure she realizes that she may even run the risk of being killed for her actions. Yet she continues to write to this day.

Yaoni Sanches' blog is titled Generación Y
She has recently won the 2008 Ortega and Gasset Prize for Digital Journalism.