Cuba won't let blogger go to US to receive award

[Bacchus39]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091012/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_cuba_blogger

Cuba won't let blogger go to US to receive award

HAVANA – A Cuban blogger who has become an international sensation for offering frank criticism of her country's communist system said she was denied government permission Monday to travel to New York to receive a top journalism prize.

Yoani Sanchez had hoped to go to Columbia University for a Wednesday ceremony to receive her Maria Moors Cabot Prize, the oldest international award in journalism.

"Immigration just confirmed that I remain prohibited from leaving the country," she posted on her "Generation Y" blog.

There was no confirmation from the government, but Cuban authorities almost never comment on such matters.

Sanchez's husband, Reynaldo Escobar, who uses his own blog to provide searing criticism of everyday life in Cuba, said in a phone interview that his wife spent the morning discussing her travel request with immigration officials, then posted word of the denial.

In May, Cuban authorities denied Sanchez permission to fly to Madrid to accept the Ortega y Gasset Prize in digital journalism for creating Generation Y, which gets more than 1 million hits a month. Around the same time, Time magazine deemed Sanchez one of the world's 100 most influential people.

In initially announcing the winners in July, Columbia said it was extending Sanchez a "special citation for journalistic excellence."

Sanchez uses Generation Y, started in April 2007, to offer simple but compelling insights into modern Cuba and isn't afraid to criticize the country's totalitarian system, its poverty or the chronically low morale and disillusionment many of its citizens struggle to overcome.

She is one of the few Cubans who dares denounce Cuba's single-party government so openly, though she enjoys more of a following off the island than on it. Internet access to the blog is often blocked in Cuba and Sanchez blames the government, which has refused to comment.

[Billy Burnett]

1. What a load of horse shit.

If I went today to a US OFAC office to apply for a travel permit to receive an award in Cuba, do you think that OFAC would get back to me with approval by Wednesday evening?

Strange that anyone sane would expect that required visas would go through that fast.

[ChangoLoa]

2. You wouldn't get it or you wouldn't get it done in 2 days?

Would they deny you/delay after the date the visa for going and receiving an award ? in US or Canada?

I have never been to Cuba and I don't know this man but somehow they should be proud of a cuban receiving an award, even if he is critical.

[Bacchus39]

4. like Obama and the Nobel prize

well, there are people who are not so thrilled. The Cuban regime in the case of Yoani Sanchez (female). I would though propose she is probably more deserving for her category than Obama for his at this point in time. Nonetheless its a good thing for both.

Hugo wasn't too thrilled about Obama, and I suspect Hugo's gringo brigade on DU isn't too excited either.

also, the other poster didn't seem to read the article. the awards were announced in July and Yoani just got the denial now. I don't know when she applied for a visa but there is no evidence that this was some sort of rush request by Sra. Sanchez.

[ChangoLoa]

5. Ortega y Gasset is a famous award in Spain I think

And, after what you said, it looks like they are preventing her from going and get her award. It's a shame as it would be a shame that an american couldn't go and get an award somewhere in the planet for being critical to his government. The interesting thing is the similarity between the 2 countries (US and Cuba) about this kind of issues that the other poster mentioned, maybe not on purpose. Anyway, I don't think a country like Spain would do this kind of thing to one of its citizens.

[Bacchus39]

18. 4th time denied now for travel. n/t

s

[Bacchus39]

3. the awards were announced in July. and this is the second time she has been denied

travel to accept an award. Your excuse for the repressive Cuban government was pretty pathetic.

[Billy Burnett]

6. She applied on Monday, expecting (not really) the visa by Wednesday.

But it does raise her profile, to many gullible Americans spoon fed media BS, expanding her commercial base. In reality, a not so well managed propaganda campaign - but for the uninformed audience with axes to grind, it make a good story.
:nopity:


Ever tried getting a US passport (which is now an actual travel visa required for Americans to reenter the USA after a trip)? Expecting a passport (US reentry visa) to be processed from an application on Monday to completion on Wednesday is expecting too much even in the "free-ist" country in the world (where one needs a reentry visa to return to one's own homeland).

[Bacchus39]

8. yeah, you can get a same day rush. less than 24 hours. where does it say she applied Monday? n/t

s

[Billy Burnett]

25. Ha ha. You've obviously never dealt with OFAC.

May be on an emergency basis an American can get special dispensation and get a passport document fast, but certainly not a hoop jump like OFAC - the gov agency in charge of authorizing US/Cuba travel.

[Bacchus39]

9. she was denied on Monday, it doesn't say when she applied

there you go again making lame excuses for repression of the Cuban government.

[Billy Burnett]

10. Paragraph 5

Sanchez's husband, Reynaldo Escobar, who uses his own blog to provide searing criticism of everyday life in Cuba, said in a phone interview that his wife spent the morning discussing her travel request with immigration officials, then posted word of the denial.

Of course, the whole story is the usual "some people say" kind of 2nd/3rd hand "information" from a couple of anti government bloggers who's only claim to fame is posting wildly biased inflammatory blogs from their mother's house. The kind of crap bottom feeders thrive on.

[Bacchus39]

11. it still doesn't say when she applied, and its interesting how she keeps getting

denied to travel. one might actually conclude that the Cuban government doesn't want her to receive this recognition. imagine that!!!

back to the "some people say" defense. when all else fails just claim the story isn't true. well, why don't you investigate with the Columbia University and see if she was supposed to receive the award.

[Billy Burnett]

12. Interesting that that detail is missing, eh?

Her repeated m.o. is to apply for a visa at the last minute, too late to get one, and then claim that she was "denied" a visa, when in fact the visa just takes longer. Just as in the case of the so called denial for Sanchez permission to fly to Madrid - her visa came through a week late - again, after she applied for one at the last minute, and a couple of days prior to the Madrid awards date cried that she was "denied". This was posted here during/after that media manufactured brew-ha-ha. She acts like a rich (which she is) spoiled brat used to getting her way, except that the Cuban government doesn't respond to her like her mother does to her last minute requests and tantrums.

[Bacchus39]

13. again, you don't know when she applied

maybe Cuba should re-evaluate their exit visa requirement.

[Billy Burnett]

26. And we don't know if she was even denied a visa.

We only have what the MSM publishes, and that is: Yoani's husband says, in his anti gov blog, that Yoani called him on her cell phone to say that someone told her that her visa was "denied" (probably meaning that it can't be issued in time for her award ceremony, since she applied so late - after all, it's not some serious family emergency like the murdered Coral Gables High School student's mother who got a visa in a day from the same bureaucracy for her to claim her dead son's body in Miami).

As usual, this latest Yoani Sanchez "scandal" is 2nd/3rd hand bullshit.

[flamingdem]

16. I was temporarily suckered in by the Yoani Sanchez story

until I saw the company she keeps and how the bandwagon wants to use her to promote their interests without investigating, or really understanding who she is in Cuba.

She has managed to become a media sensation. In that regard I find it believable that she would lie about the Visa process.

My experience in Cuba tells me that she knows exactly what she is doing, which rules to break and when, and the outcome.

That's how she stays at the top media-wise.

Her friends include some extremely right wing and anti-democratic forces.

She is not truly a friend or representative of the Cuban people primarily
because she resorts to lies and manipulation to make her points.

Many of her points of course are valid. There should be more freedom of press, less censorship, ease of travel, but she uses her position to whine in a one sided way knowing that her story will sell, especially to the Cubans living outside of Cuba who are angry at everything Cuban.

There is another side she can't grasp and that is how the US plays into the situations she complains about.

The majority of Cubans are aware of this, those on the island who are cool are usually able to hold both ideas simultaneously, that Cuba is far from perfect but it has an enemy to the North.

That enemy includes many Cubans up North, and they do little to help their fellow Cubans on the island. In fact they keep the embargo in place and could care less if the Cubans suffer.

Those are Yoani's supporters along with an ignorant and simplistic and opportunistic international media.

[ChangoLoa]

21. Maybe if progressive people supported her, she would have another approach

Or you think it is the reverse?

[flamingdem]

28. The issue is sincerity and her choice of where to draw attention

Many progressives do support her, but then again they usually do not know much about Cuba. Now when I run into a Yoani supporter who also thinks of themselves as progressive I know that their analysis is not rigorous, stick to salsa ..

Cuba and repression, her theme, is a nuanced situation so it can be and has been taken advantage of mostly by the right in the US to maintain the embargo.

Obama appears to have bought into it to some extent (while ignoring similar in China,etc).

If you don't really know Cuba how could you interpret her claims about access to internet and everything else like this latest issue with the Visa. Many Cubans in Cuba see a softening going on but she is not going to be the one to report on that, and so the efforts of the government to enact change don't get seen outside of Cuba and the game goes on.

The game being that many, many, many people benefit from the Embargo and do not want to see change, and don't give a rat's ass about the health or happiness of the Cuban people on the island.

[ChangoLoa]

29. yes

"how could you interpret her claims about access to internet and everything else like this latest issue with the Visa"

exactly, we shouldn't make any interpretations.

[flamingdem]

31. I agree that the facts are highly desireable with all things Cuba

unfortunately it's murky, plus cultural and communication differences, plus agendas. So we have to bring some interpretation to bear based on patterns.

[spanza]

7. Yoani Sanchez's blog:

http://www.desdecuba.com/generationy/

I heard something happened before the Concierto por la Paz, between Juanes, Bosé and Cuban officials. I don't know what exactly, maybe someone does? In the blog, I saw a link to this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPkH27KLYA0

And I don't undestand what the incident was about.

[flamingdem]

14. Was Yoani Sanchez eligible for travel funds from Columbia?

Maria Moors Cabot prize - Wikipedia

Three to four medalists from the United States, Latin America, and Canada are selected each year. Prize winners receive the Cabot medal and a $5,000 honorarium, plus travel expenses to New York City and hotel accommodations for the presentation ceremony. Medalists' news organizations receive a bronze plaque.

[Bacchus39]

15. I don't kinow. why don't you write her blog and ask her?

Billy can ask her when she applied for now the 4th time she's been denied an exit visa.

[flamingdem]

17. My opinion is that she is a media creation and not a spokesperson for the Cuban people nt

[Bacchus39]

19. my opinion is she is self-made and speaks about daily life and repression in Cuba

she blogs on Huffington Post if you would like to follow along.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yoani-sanchez/


here she blogs on September 27 on the remote possibility of getting permission to go to New York. she knows the routine.

http://www.desdecuba.com/generationy/?p=985

[flamingdem]

20. She put herself at odds with, in a confrontational role with a government that

considers itself to be in a defensive posture, and for good reasons, with the USA. If you want to take that factor out of the mix, as she does, sure the repression is over the top.

She knows all the logic behind the position of the Cuban government and so she plays that ... she isn't someone who particularly interests me, I find her snobby and whiney.

Yes, she lives in a poor country, half of her posts are about how hard life is in Cuba, she knows that she is appealing to those outside of Cuba who don't have a point of reference - the ignorants I mentioned in the media - and she speaks to the converted, like you, outside of Cuba.

Entirely overrated.

She might be able to do some good, but it is random, the Cubans government isn't paying much attention.

I would say an example of her overheated ways is the comments about "the Cuban government is maintaining its position" ... somehow that isn't straightforward.

We're not being told what happened in that call.

What about that Visa that was given to her a week late?

Did she blog about that?

I can imagine a low level beaurocrat dealing with her, that's what it is like in Cuba, maybe they'll work it out, things are random and in flux, the Cuban government is not some evil empire as portrayed here. People here think that the USA and opinion here drives Cuba, not true, they have their own scene and they think differently.

She is minor in that universe.

[Billy Burnett]

24. Don't forget that Cuban anarchist anti Cuban gov rocker Gorki got a visa to spread his swill.

The laments by Ms Sanchez of denial are merely tantrums for instant action/gratification by someone who's mother serves as her handmaiden.

Her whole shtick is planned, crying foul over a self created inconvenience (applying too late, knowing the bureaucracy) and then portraying herself as some victim of heinous acts is right out of the Repuke woe-is-me playbook.

Thankfully, for her, she gets attention for these outbursts from the equally stunted, like a child in a grocery store throwing a tantrum because mom won't get them the Lucky Charms or Count Chockula sugar cereal they want. The more sympathetic attention and stroking they get for such inappropriate behavior the more they pull the tantrums for attention. Might be understandable for small children with young inexperienced parents, but for adults Ms Sanchez' age - as well as her fans - it's an embarrassment.

Interestingly, my pointing out the inefficiency of the Cuban bureaucracy is somehow tantamount to my support it. :crazy:

[ChangoLoa]

27. So what do you say?

That you now the girl lives with her mother and that cuban bureaucracy is slow.

Interestingly, you say also that Sanchez applied for her visa too late on purpose in order to victimize herself, instead of going for the 2 awards. For this last one, did someone tell you? did you read it somewhere? how do you know?

[Billy Burnett]

30. Maybe you should subscribe to her blog.

That way you could keep up with her for yourself. I do keep up with subjects of interest. She, and her various support networks, do interest me and they have for quite a while.

She's doing what she thinks is right ... for her ... and she does quite well from it.

[ChangoLoa]

32. So all the writing you did was only for telling you didn't actually know anything n/t

[Billy Burnett]

33. Huh? Care to rewrite your comment in understandable language?

I don't get what you are asking/saying.

I did say (in the post you are responding to) that I do follow what she blogs.

You should too, if you are interested in her writings, and her outrage of the week.

I have many sources of information about Cuba, some from Cubans in Cuba right now who know Yoani. Ms Sanchez is just one of many sources of information, but many of her various outrages are simply distortions if not outright lies.

[struggle4progress]

22. Discussions of stories like this often involve hypocrisy in boat-loads. Since I believe

in the right to travel, abstractly I'm sympathetic to the idea that the woman should be able to go where she pleases, but perhaps there is somewhat more to be said about the matter than that. Since Americans generally do not enjoy a right to travel to Cuba, it is somewhat strange for us here to wring our hands and complain about Cuba restricting the right to travel of its citizens. Moreover, states do not usually encourage opponents to travel to countries they consider enemies, and often prosecute such persons; the US, for example, in recent years prosecuted a number of US citizens who traveled to Iraq in order to oppose US policy towards that country. And since, for about fifty years, the US has had a policy aimed at toppling the Cuban government, it would be extremely surprising if the Cuban government were supportive when government opponents there wished to travel here

The Washington Post
Tuesday, December 9, 2003; Page A25
Crackdown on Cuba Travel Angers Some
Bush Effort Halts Trip by Group of Athletes, Doctors Who Work With Country's Disabled
By Peter Slevin
Washington Post Staff Writer
The athletes and doctors were due to meet in Miami on Nov. 13 and depart for Havana the next day. Those who needed wheelchairs would bring them. Others would arrive with teaching materials and donated artificial limbs in anticipation of working with disabled Cubans. Three years in a row, World Team Sports, a small nonprofit group, had received permission to travel to Cuba. But the day before the scheduled rendezvous, the Bush administration ruled that, this time, the trip would violate U.S. policy ... In recent months, licenses for travel to Cuba have been reduced, and prosecution of accused lawbreakers has intensified, with the Treasury Department recruiting administrative law judges for the first time to hear long dormant civil cases ... http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/us-cuba/us-cuba-12-09.03.htm

ACLU-NJ Defends Peace Activist Accused of Violating Iraq Travel Ban
For Immediate Release
May 26, 2005
NEWARK - The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, in conjunction with the New York Civil Liberties Union, filed a lawsuit yesterday on behalf of a Methodist minister initially accused of going to Iraq as a “human shield” prior to the beginning of the war in 2003. Rev. Frederick Boyle is fighting an effort by the federal Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) to impose a fine on him without affording a fair opportunity to contest the charges. “The regulations violate our most basic freedoms of travel and of religious and political expression,” said Rev. Boyle, a lifelong pacifist and outspoken critic of U.S. military action in Iraq. Boyle said he believes the government has singled him out for prosecution owing to media coverage of his views about the war. Rev. Boyle was assessed a fine of $6,700 for allegedly traveling to Iraq in early 2003, at which time he was pastor at a United Methodist Church in Randolph, New Jersey. He is challenging OFAC’s authority to issue the fine and challenging the legality of the process by which the agency determines such penalties. The Iraq Sanctions Act regulations do not permit a person to find out the basis for the government’s accusations, to confront witnesses, or to have a hearing with a neutral decision-maker ... http://www.aclu-nj.org/news/aclunjdefendspeaceactivist.htm

[ChangoLoa]

23. US and Cuba, both are wrong n.t.