WASHINGTON – An arrest. Worse still: a veritable abduction. The victim is a well-known figure. Her name is Yoani Sánchez, one of the most vocal critics of the Cuban government. The news website 14ymedio, which she founded and edits, has reported the incident to the world. It explains that the journalist “was abducted on Thursday (today) at 9.30am local time, as she was leaving her home in Nuevo Vedado to go shopping at the local market”. The editorial team notes that Yoani had informed her colleagues that she was leaving home, but a few minutes later she sent a second message warning that she had been arrested. “Since then,” the website writes, “there has been no further news of Sánchez.” The story was immediately picked up by El País, which posted it on its website. This is important news.
Who is Yoani Sánchez?
Yoani, born in Havana in 1975, is a leading figure in the opposition to the Cuban government. A writer and activist, she has gained enormous prominence thanks to her constant and determined commitment to journalism and communication. She has used blogs and independent media with considerable courage, given the official censorship to which the press is subjected on a daily basis on the island.
In 2007, through her blog Generación Y, she vividly described the hardships of life in Cuba, the social restrictions and the political reality, including the ongoing problems linked to food and medicine shortages, frequent power cuts and the spontaneous protests by the population, which were suppressed with hundreds of arrests. In 2008, she received the Ortega y Gasset Prize for digital journalism, awarded to her by El País, with which she was collaborating. A year later, she was awarded the Maria Moors Cabot Prize by Columbia University.
The other arrests
The Cuban government has cracked down once again on freedom of expression, just as it continues to negotiate with the US over reforms and liberalisation with a view to a smooth transition towards a more robust democracy. 14ymedio also reports that “last Monday, Adelth Bonne Gamboa, a CubaNet contributor, was arrested in a brusque and violent manner by police officers who handcuffed him and took him away in a patrol car”. Camila Costa, also a CubaNet contributor, is said to have suffered the same fate.