Award-winning Cuban blogger says she was beaten, detained

Source: afp/france24

AFP - Secret police agents abducted and beat award-winning blogger Yoani Sanchez, whose online reports chronicle the dark side of everyday life in communist Cuba, on her way to a march for non-violence, she said Saturday.

Three agents in street clothes snatched her and friend Orlando Luis Pardo off the street in the Havana district of Vedado.

"They beat me and then they shoved me into a car head first. They did not give me any explanation at any time, but it is clear their goal was to stop us from taking part in the march," Sanchez, who writes the blog "Generation Y," told AFP.
...
The advocacy group Human Rights Watch condemned the attack in a statement that said "Cuban authorities should cease all attacks on human rights defenders, journalists, bloggers and civic activists.

Read more: http://www.france24.com/en/node/4920209

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kidnap and beating - pure fascist style.

go on talking, girl. whatever you have to say.
her blog: http://www.desdecuba.com/generaciony /

I'm sure we'll hear about how she is a CIA plant or that the CIA infact did it themselves, or that the CIA killed Santa claus.

Just watched SiCKO again today and I'd move to Cuba for health care.

Yeesh.

There are lots of people that surely didn´t want to move there.

...and as soon as i have about guantanamo i'll post them, stay sure.

i've got this vice of hating places where freedom is crashed to pieces.

to write what is commonly written here about their government Fidel's agents would make them disappear.

Americans that allowed BFEE to destroy their freedom and demolish their rights...seems like too many people to think alike...but the posts from the right are just proof of the inability to think for themselves. Flame on.

For definiteness, stick to (say) the last decade -- I don't know what conditions were like in 1959

Since the US maintains diplomatic personnel on the Island, and there is some traffic back and forth, it should be possible to document if dissidents are disappearing there. I'm not expert, but i'm not aware of any recent reports

Enforced disappearances: Annual Report 2008
http://www.amnesty.org/en/enforced-disappearances/annua...

taken by satellite of every inch of the island.

Knight Ridder Newspapers March 30, 2001

First commercial satellite photo of Cuba is released

By Warren P. Strobel


WASHINGTON -- A private satellite firm has released the first commercially available picture of Cuba as seen from outer space, depicting in crisp detail ships in Havana harbor, railroad tracks and even the lettering on the roof of a huge warehouse.

The image, snapped in January by a spacecraft orbiting 423 miles overhead, is the latest example of how "spy" satellites, once the exclusive domain of defense and intelligence agencies, have gone private. And the impact of that shift is just beginning to be felt, say experts on the technology.

In the case of Cuba, the effect could be both political and economic. Some Cuban exiles in the Miami area say satellite photographs could be used to inspect and map properties they still claim on the island.

"Many of these people have not seen their properties for 40 years," said Nick Gutierrez, a Miami-area lawyer with about 100 clients who have claims. "We are not going to get these properties back until Fidel Castro is gone. But there are certain steps we can take to prepare for that day."

More:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2001/010330-ikon...

http://www.zonu.com/cuba_maps/Cubas_Old_Havana_Satellit...











http://cache1.asset-cache.net.nyud.net:8090/xc/73035741...







ETC., ETC., ETC., ETC.

we can buy it for a couple hundred dollars when Castro is gone and build my new mansion..

Like this guy?

WASHINGTON–An American federal court has ruled Canadian Maher Arar cannot sue the U.S. government for sending him to Syria seven years ago, where he was tortured and held for a year without charge on suspicions he was an Al Qaeda terrorist.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/720142--u-s-c...

Once again, you expose your demagoguery for all to see.

"LOL"

Please give the agents the benefit of the doubt would you?

Chubby Checkers, is that you?

lol

Your post implies that she had it coming because you think her blog is U.S. funded. I'm calling you on your implication.

You can clarify your post, or not.

"LOL"

you'd be the first to scream conflict of interest.

And yet here you are, defending this one.

Classic Tatum.

There is conflict of interest, and there is government harassment. You do not dispute that this woman was harassed by the Cuban government, but instead you point to where you think her funding comes from. The strong implication is that she had it coming. I'm not defending her at all, but you're defending the Cuban government's harassment.

Again, feel free to clarify your post anytime. You seem to be indicating that she had it coming.


"LOL"

by the Cuban government who isn't stupid enough to do such a thing but my point was that even before you get there, she isn't credible.

Too bad that advanced degree of yours didn't come with an English proficiency requirement.

And my advanced degree is good for getting people like yourself to clarify their meaning. Your post, unexplained, would lead many reasonable people to assume that you condone government harassment of dissidents.

In your case, I believe the preponderance of the evidence is that you think the Cubans were too easy on her, but that's just my opinion.

But an A for effort.

to let ordinary people go to Cuba so we can see for ourselves, not just sit like witless a-holes 90 miles away, gobbling up anything a person we can't see decides to tell us!

If she told us Fidel Castro masturbates in public, you can be sure there are quite enough breathless tools who would run off to post in on someone's message board.

That would erase all our doubts, clear up any fantastically stupid beliefs we have based on pure crap, and allow us to get right to the heart of the matter on just how tragic this young martyr's life is, after all!

ANY news story critical of ANY aspect of Chavez, Cuba, or any other authoritarian Central or South American regime is IMMEDIATELY called into question by you, and anything that could possibly be construed as supportive of those regimes is held up by you to be Gospel. And when the facts finally seem to be catching up with you, you play the Moral Equivalence Card by pointing out some misdeed done to some person in the United States by the "gummint."

In short, your protests ring entirely hollow because you are, as they say, IN THE TANK for the authoritarians.

I love this sort of rationalization based on senseless conspiracy theories, that certain countries that the US has screwed over in the past can do no wrong.

until I read that they have elections

North Korea and Iraq under Saddam held elections too. The result was always 100% turnout with 100% voting for the incumbent.

Technically, Cuba has free and secret election. In reality no party is allowed to campaign for their members, but the communist party directly controls the media so it is de facto the only party that can campaign -- they just don't call it that. Nominees have to be approved by the election committees, and guess who runs those.

Other small parties have been allowed to exist since the 90s, but they have absolutely no power and no effective say in government policy. I feel sorry for their members if they ever do manage to threaten the communist party's power.

This girl got off light. It's a miracle she is out and around and able to talk about her experience of what happens when you challenge Castro.

Democracy. Yeah, right.

There are small parties but they have to be aproved by corporate money so they have no change to win elections, for more than 200 hundred years there have been only two parties in charge of government and I guess that those two parties are the ones who supervise the elections. Now to challenge those parties someone has to be able to spend 20 millions or more from their own packet like Ross Perot, it would be imposible for a citizen without money to be president then the media is in bed with those parties, having dedicated talk shows to spread their ideology.

God there are too many similarities between those two democracies.

"for more than 200 hundred years there have been only two parties in charge of government".... sorry, no.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_...

There are two major parties *now*. Wasn't always two parties, and it wasn't always these two.

Her blog???? Just asking.

If you're going to jump in with very, very stupid and off-topic comparisons...

Seriously. On one side you have Castro, who does suppress freedoms big time. Dissenters are not shot, but aren't treated well either. Rapes, beatings - all of these are the case.

But then take the CANF - the "other side" to the Cuban Coin. They are outright Right-Wing Dictators. They want someone like Batista, or Somosa or Strossner in power. They liked Pinochet and consider him a hero.

So in the middle you have folks like Yoani Sanchez

...or maybe no - not "anti" - but "for" - for a new cuba, a new "third way" between the extremes.
thanx for the comment. agreed.

Do you in your wildest dreams believe the US would not want to have their way imposed?

Ask Salvador Allende. Oops, he didn´t survive the US-treatment. But I'm sure you will be able to find other successful "third ways", especially in Latin America. If so would you please let us know? Thank you in advance.

Try Honduras for a start? Zelaya was very moderate for a start. And you see where even that got him.

Sorry, until you can convince me there's one place where the US let go and abstained from enforcing corporate rule, I'll stay with "no third way".

All you goodhearted people never realize, that in geopolitics "democracy" is a code word for good old capitalism. If the basis of all social interaction is competition on every level there is no chance for the less wealthy to survive.
Unfortunately economic power translates in dominance. That's antithetic to real democracy.

because this is the news.
she may be a total rightist to me - i do not care. i want her blog to exist and her right to manifest her opinion granted.
see the point?

because I try to be careful not to take the word of paid liars as gospel.

The rest of the world learned long ago that's a bad idea

What will you do when this turns out to be cr@p?

What exactly is going to turn out to be cr@p?

I spent time in Cuba - several times. The country is an enigma. There is no starvation. None. As one Argentinian put it "These are the richest poor folks I've ever seen"

At the same time, for what little social mobility there is - folks will claw each other to pieces for it. Whether its American $$$$ and/or access to a source outside of Cuba to send items to (send a Cuban National a care package and you've made a friend for life.)

It's the classic struggle of human nature vs ideology. For the most part, Cubans are comfortable, but being humans they do want more than what they have.

After seeing Cuba I understand one is not better than the other (Capitalism v Communism.) I also understand its damn near impossible to bottle up human nature.

One thing about Cuba I understood too - the folks who leave, who go to Miami or elsewhere, are not looked highly upon. The term was (and probably still is) gusanos which means worms. And it means exactly what it means here. Family who deserts Cuba for the US is usually not spoken to again.

Communism bottles up human nature. Communism suppresses human nature.

By definition communism is a violation of human rights.

Capitalism is human nature in practice, although left unchecked the darker side of human nature will cause damage.

Communism left unchecked, well, we've seen the horrible results.

Capitalism Unchecked? Well - ever read Oliver Twist? Consider EVERYTHING the British Dutch East India Company was doing in the name of profit - genocide, assassinations, you name it. NAZI Germany was a corporate state, as was Italy - look at what that shit did.

Both systems in extremes, are fucking WRONG!

The British and Dutch East India Companies (two different companies) had government-granted monopolies, no capitalist competition allowed. In Nazi Germany and Italy the government controlled the larger aspects of the economy, not capitalist, more corporatist but with all corporations subservient to the goals of the state.

In both cases...and that is Capitalism run amok

Think Blackwater's bad? The Dutch East India company had its own army, and they plain out eliminated locals. Think Iraq on steroids

A government monopoly immediately cancels out capitalism because it eliminates competition, which is the essential element of capitalism.

Before the British and Dutch East India Companies, companies were set up for just the one voyage. Investors paid for the ship and crew in hopes of it paying off in the end with a boatload of spices. That's capitalism, individual investors, individual companies, all competing to keep the spices flowing.

Then the governments became involved and gave monopoly and practically unlimited powers to these companies.

Basically, these governments used these companies as arms of government in the European race to strip Asia of its riches.

That's not capitalism. That's plain-old government imperialism.

Partly because the level playing field is a goal, not a destination. And partly because we have Never had a level playing field anywhere in this world, especially here.

When you make a monopoly you eliminate competition, an essential element of capitalism.

These were in effect government entities, not regular capitalist corporations. They couldn't have amassed the power they had if they hadn't had government charters.

Of course we don't have pure capitalism. The government interferes to a large extent for non-economic goals, corporations use their influence to buy privilege to hamper competition, etc.

But you'd be wrong

had had "competitors" (it did, from other countries and even other colonial projects based in Britain) then... what are you saying? That the genocidal conquest of the new world would have been more efficient?

One problem is you're working from the myth that capitalism was ever, ever a "free market," when in fact capitalist industries were always predicated on state subsidies and protections.

Cuba is not an enigma to me or to a lot of people. Especially the people who are paid to bad rap it in the American press. They know exactly what they're doing.

The government is just trusting that the people are so ignorant about the rest of the world that they'll think that.

...because she is (in your opinion) a "paid liar".

you would admit that the "treat" described by her is not uncommon against anti-castro voices anyway, wouldn't you?
so i incline to believe her - and yes, i wait for pics we'll never have probably.

and you're inclined to believe her? That's surprising.

I don't wish any harm to her and for more than one reason hope that she's just blowing it out of her ass louder than usual.

I am not saying she does or doesn't, but if she does - I don't blame her a bit

You've never been to, or lived in a Communist Country have you?

I have done both - USSR (lived) and visited many

It's not better or worse, but a trade-off. You learn to do less with more, but at the same time there are a bunch of people to help you do just that.

They have ways of seeing that you say what they desire.

I have no desire to shoot people; so I stayed clear of the military

The military has not shown that in the Middle East.

would be portrait?

That argument is a nonstarter.

say anything that you want.

...she already tells stories of abuses in cuba.

so why should she create this one and be targeted even more by police?
what's the use? not so smart, for a pentagon babe.

anti-castrists do not need this news to be confirmed.
this kind of violent treats are a system, in a country where DU would just be impossible.

i know that you do not wish any harm to her. of course you don't.
my previous was not meant to put it in doubt.

And the rightwing base work 24/7 on these stories as McClatchy has learned since they bought the Miami "we'll print anything" Herald.

...with no presumed connection at all with pentagon and such, possibly never sentenced and not even fined for trifles.
at least he/she has some chances to be believed.
provided he/she can tell some way.

and does it really matter? what happened to her has happened and will happen.
this is a fact, and is not produced by any rightist media.

ciao

lol

I will apologize to you in any public way you'd like. That's only fair.

lol

Obviously, you've never been to a candidate nomination session, nor attended any Cuban town hall political debates.
Obviously, you've never been seen the Cuban nightly 'The Round Table" TV discussion show (its like DU TV, with less uninformed flamewars).


To bad that the US government oppresses /suppresses Americans in that they can't travel to Cuba (except Cuban-Americans who've been granted full US constitutional rights and can go to Cuba, while the rest of us are relegated to travel banned 2nd class citizens).
Because if Americans could see Cuba for themselves, then most of the uninformed "in a country where DU would just be impossible" bullshit would be dispelled for those willing to look.

---

She's made trips there since the '70's. Good for her.

Saw Camilo Cienfuegos in the crowd in the first photo!


He always looked like a US cowboy from the 1800's!



Wild Bill Hickok

Or do you just assume it because she does not agree with you?

if she is not a CIA operative then she could be Cuban operative

Since when has torture been a good policy?

Yes, she takes Pentagon dollars. The Pentagon funds any resistance to Castro. Even militant Islamists.

Rosa Miriam Elizalde has finally pointed out what never occurs to Time magazine or Grupo Prisa. Or maybe it has occurred to them – they just can’t bring themselves to admit it. That blog by the blocked Cuban blogger/whiner ain’t no ordinary blog. Lots o’ cash behind it.

http://machetera.wordpress.com/2009/05/08/yoani-sanchez...

She is part of the non-CANF Democracy movement for Cuba

Yes, she took Pentagon dollars. The Pentagon will fund ANY resistance to the Castro regime, even militant Islamists.

Trust me - she is not of the "Jorge Mascanosa" movement based in Miami.

She's all for Democracy (real Democracy) in Cuba. Yes, she's not liked by Castro. But Castro came of age in a time when you could only trust the guy right next to you.

I've been there - regular Cubans can't just walk into the Western Hotels and fire up a laptop. You need permission, and that costs $$$. You need a laptop, which aren't exactly being handed out at Libraries.

This costs money. Now I'm sure the Pentagon sent her, as well as al Queda, Havana a check, as well as anyone who has any beef against Castro. Shit, they probably sent Maosits for Cuba a check.

But in that kind of situation, you have to do what you gotta do.

And lets just say that $2 a day will cover housing, food and necessities quite well

But lets also say that $2 a day doesn't stack up to ways to do anything outside your local sphere...and definitely could not pay for any access outside of your local sphere.

Our government finds people who are actively fighting for democracy in Cuba, and then supports them.

You just have a love for Latin American dictators and wannabe dictators, don't you?

lol

And the Pentagon only supports freedom fighters.

And Santa sees you when you're sleeping!

Whenever a power-hungry, rights-violating dictator or wanna-be dictator in Latin America comes up, you are always there to defend him as long as he's thrown the word "socialist" somewhere in his policy.

Please point to any of your criticism of Chavez, the Castro brothers or Zelaya.

This is more complicated than "Communism=bad(good)"

it might have ended up as "suicide by cop" or shot while attempted to escape, or any number of familiar scenarios which commonly take place.

Her skull was not the least bit fractured from a night stick, no limbs were broken, she wasn't even tasered. All in all, I'd say she received rather light treatment compared to what could have happened here from a dissenter.

In this particular incident, she sounds more like a frightened little child from what I can read in her blog at Generation Y, <http://www.desdecuba.com/generationy />

Take any US prisoner, and ask them to see their bruises.

Ever been tasered?

Ever "fell down the stairs" on your way to somewhere while escorted by the cops?

-------------------

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaJapSwYLcc

If this were Cuba most DU members would have been rounded up, brutally beaten and sent to prison for "counter-revolutionary activities" years ago.

The government does appear to be getting soft lately.

A decade or so ago it would have been rapes, beatings and a decade in jail for her.

Back in Che's day she would have just been shot.

Thing is, its a dictatorship. It may have some level of benevolence, but in the end it is still a dictatorship

Which means, all dissent is suppressed.

We pointed out, pointedly, the bullshittery and criminality of the Bush regime every single say and no one got disappeared. In fact, NOTHING happened under what many consider the be the most repressive admininstration in US history. So now, after 8 years, DU is under surveillance? By whom? Obama? REALLY?

we had a lot of it in the last years

Doesn't look like you were afraid of squat.

not the entire US. Stay on point.