Cuba

Cuba by billboards

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:04:07 +0200

Our Observer in Cuba, blogger Yoani Sanchez, takes us on a tour of the propaganda billboards of Havana. Read more and see the photos.

Yoani runs the blog Generacion Y. She was recently voted by Time Magazine as one of the top 100 influential people in the world. She explains why she took these photos :

A city can be not only portrayed by its people, its architecture and its plazas, but also by its billboards, posters and graffiti. That is why I've taken pictures of the signs around my home.

The photos were taken by Yoani Sanchez. The captions were added by our Observer in Argentina, Johana Kunin.

Time Magazine honours our Observer in Cuba

Julien — Fri, 02 May 2008 18:06:12 +0200

Blogger Yoani Sanchez, who's been commenting on Cuba for the Observers since its launch, has been selected by Time Magazine as one of "the world's most influential people". Fidel Castro, on the other hand, didn't quite make it. Read more...

Castro retires: Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez “relieved”

Julien — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 12:18:37 +0100

Ganma, Cuba's official news site, has just announced that Fidel Castro has given up his presidency of the country. On hearing the news we immediately called our Observer in Havana, blogger Yoani Sanchez, to get her reaction. As the news had not yet been broadcast on Cuban TV or radio, Sanchez was unaware of the declaration and gave an initial reaction of "a sense of relief". She said she believes that the Cuban system could now evolve into something similar to the Chinese regime.

Students openly criticise the Cuban government

Julien — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:45:21 +0100

Seeing Cuban students openly criticise the Castrist regime in front of Parliamentary President Ricardo Alarcón is not easy to imagine. But it's true. And the proof, in this video sent to the BBC by an anonymous source, has now become a huge online hit. Is the nearing end of Fidel Castro's reign bringing about improvements in freedom of speech, or is it a publicity stunt to better outside views of the authorities? Our Observer in Cuba, blogger Yoni Sanchez, gives us her opinion.

This video was filmed on Jan. 19 at the University of Information Technology (UCI). It was supposed to be broadcast only on the school's internal TV channel, but someone anonymously sent it to the BBC. In the auditorium, Ricardo Alarcón is questioned by 200 straight-talking students on domestic policy. They interrogate him on various issues: the double currency on the island (a separate peso for the Cubans and the foreigners); travel restrictions; prohibition for Cubans to stay in tourist hotels; internet controls; and the united vote. Basically, all the subjects that usually irritate the authorities. A few more sceptical observers said that the event was part of a government strategy to facilitate the post-Castro transition, because the questions asked covered topics identical to those of the ‘grand national debate' initiated by Raul Castro. The head of state asked the country to air their concerns before Feb. 24, the date that the Parliament will meet to confirm the removal of Castro from his post, and possibly elect a new president.

UPDATE (12.0207 / 17.00): One of the students, Eliecer Avila, was uncontactable for just over a day, leading to the belief that he has been arrested. He reappeared this Monday in an interview on Cuban television (see in post), where he denounced the way the foreign media ‘manipulated' his statement.

The Lives of ‘Us’ – or how one story of snooping is the same as others

Julien — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 18:41:37 +0100

Material from Team Observers.

In a country where the media is completely state-owned, this young Cuban blogger is extremely brave. In this post, she talks about the release of the Academy Award-winning German film, ‘The Lives of Others'. Set in Communist East Germany in the mid-1980s, the film tells the story of a Stasi agent assigned to monitor an East-German playwright suspected of subversive intellectual pursuits. The film details the alarming efficiency of the East German snooping machinery, including bugs planted in apartments and around-the-clock monitoring of a suspect's private life.

But for Yoani, the film is not so much about ‘the lives of others' as it is the lives of people she knows - as well as her own - in Castro's Cuba.

Post your questions to Yoani Sánchez.