Pablo Milanes and I share an unforgettable evening at the Tribuna Antiimperialista [Anti-Imperialist Grandstand].  He was on stage, singing his extensive repertoire, while I was hoisting a fabric sign with the name of Gorki.  His concert lasted nearly three hours, but the fabric raised by some of us impertinents took only seconds to be destroyed.  Despite being so close to the singer-songwriter of “Yolanda,” I thought, that August 28th, that thousands of kilometers separated my nonconformity from his apologetic leanings.  I was wrong.

I’ve read the interview Pablo gave to the magazine El Público and any one of his answers would lead to a beating if he expressed it in a central square in Havana.  His opinions seem to be those that led me to start this blog; some of his phrases I might well sign as my own.  When he says, “We are paralyzed in every sense, we make plans for a future that never even comes nearer,” it touches me more than all of his songs put together.  This future he speaks of was painted for us as an abundance of light with a musical score that included his voice crooning, “Cuba will.”  For the sake of reaching such an enormous mirage every sacrifice seemed small, even shutting up about our differences, stifling every vestige of criticism.

The colors ran over the aging face of Utopia and the Victory symphony was rearranged into a reggaeton of survival.  The songs of Pablo Milanés came to be like the hymns of old when we were more innocent and more gullible.  “Many people are afraid to speak,” he tells us now and with trembling knees I confirm that yes, the cost of an opinion is still too high.  Beyond the chords and taut strings of his guitar he modulated his best tune yesterday, the one that raises dissent and the finger of the citizen pointed at power.  It’s the same tune hummed by thousands of Cubans, but one that he has the capacity to modulate with his warm voice that once made us believe the opposite.

Apesar de ter sido em Abril de 2007 que a Yoani iniciou o seu blog Generacíon Y, o momento em que o seu nome passou do anonimato à popularidade foi o ano de 2008.  Talvez tudo tenha começado um bocadinho antes, quando, em Outubro de 2007, o correspondente da agência Reuters enviou um artigo que foi imediatamente publicado em vários jornais do mundo. Isto chamou a atenção do The Wall Street Journal que, no dia 22 de Dezembro dedicou uma página completa, com chamada de primeira página, a esta cidadã insignificante. Seguiu-se o jornal espanhol El País no dia 3 de Janeiro deste ano, com uma entrevista colocada na última página com uma frase da entrevistada a servir de título: “La vida no está en otra parte, está en otra Cuba” (“A vida não está em outro lado, está em outra Cuba”).

Durante os dias 23 e 24 de Fevereiro, quando se realizava em Cuba o processo para eleger o novo Presidente dos Conselhos de Estado e de Ministros, Havana encheu-se de repórteres dos meios de comunicação mais importantes do mundo. Como se fosse uma Meca caribenha, a maioria deles foi em peregrinação até ao 14º andar do edifício onde vive a blogger. Tiveram, literalmente, de fazer fila para conseguirem entrevistá-la. The New York Times, The Zeit, Newsweek, Washington Post, Repórteres Sem Fronteiras, a televisão alemã, a espanhola, a Al-Jazeera e muitos outros quiseram dar a conhecer aos seus diferentes públicos em que consistia este fenómeno.

No mês de Março, o portal desdecuba.com, onde estava alojado juntamente com outros o blog Generación Y, foi bloqueado pelas autoridades cubanas, e desde aí não é possível actualizar o blog. Hoje em dia, graças a outros amigos, é possível lê-lo em 12 línguas.

Em Abril, a Yoani soube que tinha ganho o prémio Ortega Y Gasset de Jornalismo Digital e, em Maio, a revista Time colocou-a entre as 100 pessoas mais influentes do mundo na categoria “Heróis e Pioneiros”. O governo cubano negou-lhe a permissão para sair do país para ir a Espanha receber o prémio que tinha ganho. Na cerimónia, a cubana brilhou pela sua ausência e outro cubano, também blogger, Ernesto Hernandéz Bustos, recebeu em seu nome o diploma. A solidariedade despoletada pela proibição foi tão gratificante como a viagem frustrada.

Um mês depois, um livro sobre a Bolívia viu a luz. O autor do prólogo era Fidel Castro e, sem mencionar directamente o seu nome, fez alusão a esta jovem que recebia “um de tantos prémios que oferece o imperialismo para mover as águas do seu moinho”. A Yoani decidiu não responder, entre outras coisas, porque desde que começou o seu trabalho elegeu a política de não responder a ataques. Então, pediu-me para ser eu a ripostar. Houve quem não entendesse a sua piada de invocar o princípio machista de que “quando um homem ofende uma mulher, deve ser o marido desta a dar a cara”; são pessoas que talvez devessem ter de passar pelo Centro Nacional del Humor para receberem terapia ou para que simplesmente lhes expliquem a piada.

Em finais de Agosto, Gorki Águila, líder de uma banda de rock, foi detido pela polícia. Sobre ele pairava uma acusação que podia valer-lhe quatro anos de prisão. Yoani, juntamente com outros amigos, foi à chamada Tribuna Anti-Imperialista José Martí – onde o famoso cantautor Pablo Milanês dava um mega concerto – para pedir, de cartazes na mão, a liberdade do rockeiro. O pequeno grupo foi despachado debaixo de pancada mas, no dia seguinte, em frente ao tribunal onde estava a ter lugar o julgamento, todos estiveram presentes e entoaram o nome de Gorki quando o viram sair livre, apenas com uma multa.

No dia 4 de Setembro a Yoani fez 33 anos, mas o presente só lhe chegaria 20 dias mais tarde quando, pela segunda vez, o governo lhe negou a autorização para sair da ilha, desta vez para ir a um festival de jornalismo em Ferrara, Itália, para o qual tinha sido convidada.

Em Novembro, a Yoani ganhou o prémio do júri no concurso Bitacoras.com e, apenas uma semana depois, soube que no concurso The BOB’s, que inclui mais de 12 mil participantes de todo o mundo, tinha recebido também o prémio na categoria de Melhor Weblog.

No início de Dezembro, um grupo de bloggers, juntamente com os colectivos da revista Convivencia e do portal Desde Cuba organizaram um encontro para a troca de conhecimentos. A polícia política, sabendo que a Yoani tinha trabalhado como ninguém no propósito de difundir a blogosfera cubana, convocou-a para lhe dizer que o encontro não se poderia realizar. Quando se recusaram a confirmar isso por escrito, ela disse-lhes que não se atreviam a fazê-lo porque eram uns cobardes.

A revista semanal do jornal El País publicou na sua edição de 30 de Novembro a selecção que esse diário fez dos 100 hispano-americanos mais notáveis do ano; a revista Foreign Policy elegeu em Dezembro os dez intelectuais mais importantes do ano e tal também o fez a prestigiosa revista mexicana Gato Pardo. Yoani Sanchéz aparece em todas essas enumerações, e é a única pessoa repetente em mais que uma lista.

Todos estes êxitos só serviram para chamar ainda mais a atenção para o blog Generación Y, que mensalmente tem uma dezena de milhões de clicks e cujos posts recebem entre três e sete mil comentários. De facto, isto converteu aquele espaço numa autêntica praça pública virtual onde milhares de pessoas vão debater os textos que a Yoani escreve e os comentários que os outros visitantes colocam.

Há uma regra não escrita que dita que a popularidade atrai inimigos. Ao longo destes meses as hostilidades têm vindo de dois extremos: o primeiro, e mais lógico, de aqueles fundamentalistas que não aceitam nem a mais pequena crítica ao governo. Chamam-lhe assalariada do império, agente da CIA ou, nos casos mais benignos, uma pessoa confusa que não sabe o mal que anda por aí fora no Mundo; no segundo extremo estão os outros fundamentalistas, aqueles que acreditam que quem pode pôr os dedos sobre um teclado de um computador tem de ser necessariamente um agente de Segurança do Estado. Entre esses fundamentalistas encontram-se alguns que conseguiram obter asilo argumentando perseguições que nunca sofreram, e que agora dizem não entender como é que é possível que a blogger não esteja presa ou não tenha ainda abandonado a ilha. Há muitos que não aceitam que lhe atribuam a ela prémios e reconhecimentos em vez de os atribuírem a outros jornalistas independentes que sofreram surras ou que cumprem longas penas. Posso assegurar que nenhum dos galardões recebidos, incluindo a menção do referido autor do prólogo, foi manipulado pela Yoani.

Felizmente, sobram os amigos. Ao contrário daqueles que a denigrem, os amigos dão a cara e dizem os seus nomes. São muitos – e disso sou uma testemunha privilegiada – os que a param na rua para lhe dizer que a lêem e a apoiam. Entre eles encontram-se algumas figuras públicas, cubanos que vivem no exterior, pessoas de aqui que a conhecem através das antenas parabólicas ou de discos que circulam gratuitamente jovens e velhos, homens e mulheres que não sabem que esta mulher é uma das pessoas mais tímidas do mundo, cegando ao extremo de se dizer, entre os seus mais íntimos, que possui o dom da invisibilidade, por evitar tanto ser o centro das atenções.

Desfruto do prazer infinito de partilhar a minha vida com a Yoani. Somos um casal desde Julho de 1993, quando ela ainda não se tinha matriculado no Instituto Pedagógico, nem sonhava em mudar de escola para acabar por ser filóloga. Temos um filho de 13 anos, um aquário com um peixinho dourado e uma cadela rafeira. Tenho o direito de dizer que ninguém a conhece como eu. Os seus piores defeitos pessoais são um segredo para os seus maiores inimigos e as suas melhores virtudes ainda não foram descobertas pelos seus mais fervorosos admiradores. Devido ao facto de ser jornalista, não faltou gente a dizer que quem realmente escreve os seus textos sou eu. Basta dar uma volta pelo meu blog (que quase ninguém visita!) para comprovar a diferença nos estilos. Mas sim, não renuncio à parte do mérito que me cabe. Porque se eu, com o meu emblemático avental de florzinhas, não lavasse a loiça, não limpasse a casa nem regasse as plantas da varanda, a Yoani não teria tempo para o seu blog. Ela é tão generosa que me deixa ler os seus trabalhos antes de os publicar para que eu tenha a ilusão que estou a revê-los.

Sem dúvida que 2008 foi o ano da Yoani. O que ninguém sabe é que o seu número da sorte é o 9.

The tedium of this end of year drove me to go see the dreary spectacle of our parliamentarians in their final meeting of 2008.  The formula of posing problems without mentioning their true causes returned to the hall of the Palace of Conventions this December.  The whole style of speaking starts with an initial reference more or less as follows: “Our Revolution has done much to improve retail trade, although problems remain…”  Without this indispensable genuflection, one could fall into an unpermitted audaciousness, or seem to be hypercritical and ungrateful.

The final speech by Raúl Castro reaffirmed the idea of ending subsidies.  Hearing that phrase, we tend to think only of the end of the quota of rationed food we Cubans receive.  But the call to do away with symbolic prices and unnecessary “free” services is a double-edge sword which could end up hurting whomever wields it.  If we were to be consistent in eliminating paternalism, we’d need to start by reducing the burden of maintaining this obese state infrastructure that we feed from our own pockets.  Workers who produce steel, nickel, rum or tobacco, or who are employed in the bar of a hotel, receive a minuscule portion of the sale of their production or of the real cost of their services.  The rest goes directly to subsidize an insatiable State.

Between the symbolic price of a pound of rationed rice, and the enormous “slice” of our salaries taken by those who govern us, we are more the givers than the receivers of subsidies.  Eradicating them should be our slogan, not theirs.

A vague completion date, and the question of whether it will bring information for all, surrounds the submarine cable linking Cuba and Venezuela.   To all of us who complain about the poor connectivity found on the Island, they have an argument to shut us up: “We have to wait until the cable is ready.”  With so much riding on it, I’m going to list what this projected umbilical cord should bring us:

• Internet access for all, not based on privilege, with the opportunity for anyone to contract for a home connection.
• In primary and secondary schools and in universities, broadband for the students and time to access the network that is less limited than today.
• A reduction in costs at the cybercafés and internet-connected computers in the hotels, which today cost one-third of a monthly salary for one hour.
• The opportunity to use social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Hi5 and more.
• Finally, that we can get our hands on services such as Skype, videoconferencing, sending large packets of information and even watching television on the internet.

If the blessed cable is not going to bring all that, please explain to me the reasons why we have to wait until 2011 for it.  I hope that at least a small fiber of its content reaches my freelance blogger hands; or will it be that the kilobytes that circulate in its interior will have, like a watermark: “Only for the trusted.”

Translator’s note:
The cost of the printer, 689.00 CUC [convertible pesos], is the equivalent of more than 3 years’ wages.
  

Today could be the 3rd of June or the 9th of September, because there are hardly any signs that it is Christmas.  Few, very few, offer holiday greetings in the street.  Compared to December 25th of last year, this is a lifeless day with fewer expectations for the future.  More than twelve months have passed since we predicted–in the privacy of family and friends–anticipated reforms that have turned out to be a mobile phone or a room in a hotel that we can’t afford.

Today the rooster will crow for a people whose actions are reduced to the deliberately complacent verb: to wait.   Meanwhile, my address book fills with the phone numbers of friends who have emigrated and our president jumps like a caged cat when they speak to him of imprisoned dissidents.  What little progress we’ve made in 2008!  What a ridiculous marching in place we’ve managed, right up to December.

Translator’s note
Cuba, like other Spanish-speaking countries, traditionally celebrates Christmas on December 24, Noche Buena [Good Night], which ends at midnight with La Misa del Gallo [The Mass of the Rooster ].  Tradition holds that the only time the rooster crowed at midnight was to announce the birth of Jesus.

If you don’t offer solutions, don’t you dare to use the weapon of criticism–that’s what some people tell me who, themselves, don’t offer a single remedy either.  Their tone reminds me of the boring Pioneer assemblies I had to attend during all my years of school.  When it came my turn to speak and my observations boiled over from personal things to criticisms of systemic things, someone would stop me and brusquely point out that a true revolutionary would offer solutions: Don’t complain.  Exercising judgment must be done in a constructive way, they would warn me, and with time I understood that it wasn’t a call to a worthwhile discussion but rather to conformity.

These interrupted critiques involved those problems for which not even proponents of the “useful critique” have a solution.   My slight knowledge of economic issues doesn’t allow me, for example, to venture an amendment to the unjust economic duality in which we have lived for fifteen years.  Nor do I have the scientific background to know how to resolve the wretched issue of the marabu weed growing everywhere.  Lack of experience in politics keeps me from being able to predict how effective the words of John Paul II would be: “Let Cuba open up to the world, and the world will open up to Cuba.”

My citizen’s sense of smell, however, has led me intuitively to discover the SOLUTION.  Only freedom of opinion will allow those who can advance remedies to dare to do so.  The economist who keeps a plan to restructure the Cuban economy in his drawer needs guarantees that he will not be punished for expressing his ideas.  All the political, social and foreign projects that are hidden because of the possible reprisals that their creators could suffer demand a space for respect.

Let everyone speak, no matter whether in complaint or in support of a proposal designed to address the problems.  Announce publicly that every Cuban can say what he thinks and propose solutions from whichever political stripe and ideological orientation he believes in.  Then they will see how the balsams appear, as complaint gives way to proposal, and how bad the chronic squashers of criticism will feel.

Generation Y and the other blogs on the Portal Desdecuba.com have been inaccessible for more than twenty-four hours. The causes of the blackout have not yet been determined, but I want to thank all those who have been concerned about the loss of our connection.

I regret giving you so many headaches, but I am happy to confirm that we can continue fighting off the attacks, the trolls, and even the software problems. A hug and we are going to recoup this lost day.

Yoani

The price of fuel at gas stations was lowered and on Thursday, December 11, the daily newspaper Granma announced that we would need only half as much money to open a cell phone account.  It’s not often that there is news of prices falling so we are still of two minds about whether this is just a Christmas gift or the beginning of an extensive readjustment of prices.  I had a premonitory and naïve dream that perhaps this wave of price cuts would be extended even to basic products such as milk which, in the convertible peso market, costs the abusive price of 2.40 CUCs for one liter.

My son is already thirteen and from the age of six has not qualified for the quota of rationed milk, and the illegal merchants, with their powdered milk, haven’t knocked on my door once since the hurricanes.  To buy the ‘tetra pack’ in the foreign exchange shops is a sacrifice that only a few can afford and it has the taste of official corruption.  Thus, I would like to recommend to the Ministry of Prices and Finance that they extend these reductions to all commodities with prohibitive prices.  How much would they like to give us a real Christmas surprise so that before December 31, on the wage of a worker, we could pay for a glass of precious milk every morning.

Translator’s note

Cuba has a dual monetary system; wages are paid in Cuban pesos while tourists use convertible pesos (CUCs).  But the systems overlap because many products are available—even to Cubans—only in CUCs.  One CUC equals roughly 20-25 Cuban pesos, or $1.10 US, $1.30 Canadian, or 0.80 euros (plus exchange fees).   The average monthly wage is about 400-500 Cuban pesos, or $15-$20 U.S.   Thus, at 2.40 CUCs, the price of a liter of milk is about 2-3 days’ wages.

With the objective of encouraging the Cuban blogosphere and motivating those who use the Internet for expressing ideas, information and testimonies, the team of the magazine Convivencia and the editorial board of the site Desdecuba.com, announce the contest titled A Virtual Island.

The contest rules will be sent by email to all bloggers who write from Cuba.  In they message they will be asked to confirm if they will to participate in the contest.  Only those who respond affirmatively to our call will be considered nominees for one of the prizes described here.

Rules

1. Cuban bloggers currently living in the country are eligible to participate.
2. The blogs submitted can participate in other contests at the same time.
3. Blogs can be submitted regardless of the date they were begun.
4. Blogs on diverse themes will be considered, including personal, informative, news, computers, tourism, etc.
5. Each contestant can enter the number of blogs they desire.
6. The blogs in the competition must be signed with one’s own name.
7. This call is in effect from today, December 19, 2008, until August 30 2009, when the final deliberations of the jury will begin.
8. The results of this contest will be announced on September 9, 2009, through the digital media involved in the event.
9. The decision of the jury is final.  Any category included in the competition can be canceled if the jury decides to do so.
10. Honorable mentions may be awarded if the jury decides to do so.
11. The members of the jury are excluded from participating in the contest.
12. Participation in the contest requires conformity with these rules.

Prize categories

• Best blog, Jury Award
• Best Blog, by public vote
• Best Blog Design
• Best Blog, Informative and Newsworthy
• Prize awarded by on-line voting to best commentator who vists Cuban blogs
• Special Prize Awarded by the site 233 grados (http://233grados.com)

During the course of this contest different news institutions related to Internet journalist may offer a special prize under the criteria of their choice.

The jury is composed of:

• Enrique Del Risco, blogger de enrisco
• Reinaldo Escobar, blogger de Desde aquí
• Ernesto Hernández Busto, blogger de Penúltimos Días
• Yoani Sánchez, blogger de Generación Y 
• Virgilio Toledo, diseñador de la revista Convivencia
• Dagoberto Valdés, director de la revista Convivencia

The Jury Prize will be a Laptop that will facilitate the work of the blogger.  The prizes for the other categories will be announced on March 1, 2009, along with the final list of contestants.  Starting on that day, on-line voting will begin for readers to select which they consider to be the best blogs.

On Wednesday we took a new step on the long journey that began earlier this month.  Eleven participants, including seven authors of blogs, met in what we playfully call, “Café Blogger.”  We began with the article from Andrew Sullivan, “Why I Blog?” and the questions outnumbered the certainties learned from our brief experience on the Internet.

We discussed the call for the contest, A Virtual Island, whose grand prize will be the laptop I won in the Bitacoras.com contest.  Someone suggested that idea of inviting all the bloggers of the world who would like to drop by the weekly meeting we’ll be holding throughout the year.  We invite them, also, to collaborate with manuals, books and programs for this exchange of information.

The presentations made so far and the related articles can be read here* temporarily, until we have the new website ready where everything relating to the Blogger Journey will be posted.  Those who want to submit their own articles can send them to my email—use the one through the portal Desdecuba.com—or to the email address of the journal Convivencia (Coexistence).

Translator’s note:
The articles for this project will be translated as time and resources allow (resources being volunteer translators… if you want to help… speak up!  There’s an email address in the sidebar.).  In the meantime, the links will be to the Spanish language articles.