It’s been 14 years since a travelling Pope dropped into Cuba and lit up hearts – faithful and agnostic – with the word ‘freedom’. He said it more than a dozen times in his Plaza de la Revolución speech in 1998, according to Yoani Sánchez who shared her story on BBC Radio4’s The Global Reach.
Sánchez started her blog Generation Y five years ago, as a platform to narrate the daily life of Cuba – “a simple diary about what it means to live under the Castro regime in Cuba: the chronic hunger and the difficulty of shopping; the art of repairing ancient appliances; the struggles of living under a propaganda machine that pushes deep into public and private life.”
Frankly, the odds are stacked against her: internet access in Cuban homes is prohibited, while an hour of public internet access in a local hotel costs a third of most monthly salaries. For 53 years there has been a state monopoly on information and communication around the island. Yet this incredible woman fights to tell the truth about Cuba today.
If you’re heading to Cuba, you could browse through Hemmingway‘s Old Man and the Sea, or Graham Greene‘s Our Man in Havana – or many other fascinating but foreign perspectives on the island (Lonely Planet has a handy list).
But better still, read Yoani Sánchez‘s book: Havana Real – One Woman Fights to Tell the Truth about Cuba Today.
If you need more reasons than an endorsement by Barak Obama, here is Yoani accepting the 2011 International Women of Courage Award:
SporkTalk 