Apr 5, 2008 12:05 PM
Independent Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez, who chronicles the woes of life
in communist-run Cuba, has been awarded one of Spain's top journalism
awards, the Ortega and Gasset prize for digital journalism.
Spanish newspaper El Pais, which awards the prize annually, said Sanchez
won it for her "shrewdness" in overcoming hurdles to freedom of
expression in Cuba, her "vivacious" style and her drive to join the
"global space of citizen journalism."
Her Generacion Y blog is the most popular blog posted from Cuba. It
received 1.2 million hits in February for its Web page on a server in
Germany.
"This is great encouragement for Cuban bloggers who are still at an
embryonic stage," she told Reuters by telephone from her home in Havana.
"It recognises that Cuban blogs can be a parallel source of information,
reflection and opinions independent from Cuba's official media," the
32-year-old philologist said.
Sanchez has drawn considerable readership by writing about her daily
life and describing the economic hardships and political constraints in
her country.
Sanchez said she started her blog as a therapy to "let out
frustrations," and write about the Cuba that never gets into the
official press.
She has criticised Cuba's new President Raul Castro, who succeeded his
ailing brother Fidel Castro last month, for his minimal steps to improve
the standard of living of Cubans.
"Who is the last in line for a toaster?" was the title of a recent blog
that satirised the lifting of a ban on sales of computers, DVD players
and other appliances that Cubans long for, though toasters will not be
freely sold until 2010.
In a country where the press is government-controlled and no independent
media exists, Sanchez and other Cubans bloggers have found a new vehicle
of expression, even though access to the Internet is controlled by the
state.
The younger Castro has encouraged more public debate on Cuba's
shortcomings in a drive to shore up socialism.
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