Monday, November 9, 2009

Yoani Sanchez, still irrepressible

En route to a march at 23d and G in Havana’s Vedado neighborhood on Friday, Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez was detained, packed into a car, and roughed up by plainclothes agents.

Here’s coverage from the Herald, Reuters, the Guardian, and AFP.

On her blog (in English here), Yoani took a shot at those who would blame the victim for bringing the attack on herself and at those who choose to look the other way. She says she is “recovering from the physical injuries.”

Penultimos Dias has details and photos of the demonstration itself here and here.

And Ray Walser of the Heritage Foundation leverages the incident to argue against lifting travel restrictions. Yoani’s views on travel and the embargo are pretty well known, including this: “Change will come not through government agencies but through the citizens and the spread of information and exchange with the outside world.”

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, Yoani is irrepressible and irresistible. I would lick her wounds any day. May God have mercy on the souls of the silent men who simply paid witness to the abduction and beating. What kind of blood are these men made of when a women is more valiant than them?

Hector L.

Anonymous said...

Hector L.,

Where were you sleeping and supping last Friday night?

The whole idea of attacking women in quickly so the men can not react is an old psychological warfare tactic meant to demoralize both the men and the women. The serial raping of Bosnian and Albanian women by Serbian armed men was the latest best known instance. Suggest you watch the movie Braveheart! Wallace could not prevent the killing of this wife but boy did get payback! Not that I suggest that Cubans behave as a bunch of bloodthirsty medieval Scots but human nature being what it is it would not surprise me.

Vecino de NF

Anonymous said...

Penultimos Dias has a CNN interview of Yoani Sanchez. She is shown walking around with a crutch. It's reassuring to see no apparent major damage. She says she is continuing to blog.

Vecino de NF

The Hypervigilant Observer said...

Here's a link to a transcript of Sunday night telephone interview translated into English with Yoani:
http://www.mediaite.com/online/yoani-sanchez-blogger-beaten-cuban-authorities/

In it she talks more about the incident, the thugs, her injuries, etc.

I now fear the worst for Yoani's future. First, this mugging;next the inevitable arrest, quick trial and imprisonment, followed by years of nutritional and physical neglect; and finally infirm and crippled, the exile to Spain.

Anonymous said...

"I now fear the worst for Yoani's future."

The regime is more likely to go after her husband and her child, making life so miserable for the family that they will go into exile.

The Cuban tragedy continues, while Leftside applauds.

But the fact that the regime felt it necessary to use violence against Yoani demonstrates that the Castros may be in danger of losing control, at long last. The Cuban people's apathy is sad, but Cubans are not happy when women are brutalized.

Anonymous said...

the cuban government should be condemned for what happened here -- another example of over reacting under siege. let's see what happens next

but don't try and make it sound like it only happens in cuba; the usa has a long history of exactly this thing for different ideological reasons; remember seattle.

end the embargo and restrictions like she wants, and change, reform or take down the regime that way. but those who continue to support the embargo etal are worse than the cuban thugs.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous November 11, 2009 1:38 PM,

"the cuban government should be condemned for what happened here..."

What about the Cuban government being held accountable for its actions for what happened to Yoani Sanchez et alles? Which Cuban law allows anyone in Cuba to force another Cuban citizen into a car, drive them to a distant point, drop them off like refuse, and all the time hitting them and holding them against their will?

The Cuban government is famous for coming up with criminal definitions out of thin air so maybe one simple path out of this madness is accountability and rule of law.

As far as embargo supporters worse than Cuban thugs, please explain that one!

Vecino de NF

Anonymous said...

And LeftSide says nothing

Anonymous said...

Ustedes pensarán que soy superficial, pero qué cara más fea
la de Yoani...