With regards to the post, “The benefit of the doubt.”
Greetings. Feelings are polarized as often happens with public figures. I knew Yoani from before Generation Y. She continues to be the same person as always. She obtained the technical knowledge to start a blog, and had the conviction to say what she wanted about things, now that she had a space, albeit a virtual one.
She began building her blog in HTML, not knowing if anyone was reading it, and was the first to be surprised by the media attention. Before receiving the famous awards she had accumulated a lot of patient work. The success came from being a pioneer in offering a different and well-written view of Cuba reality. For the first time in a personal voice, from the everyday, a young woman and a mother offering up a Cuban far from the Revolutionary aura.
The authorities did not look kindly on this independent voice, increasingly heard, and greatly harassed this “made up” person that had become a reference point for public opinion about Cuba. They are very concerned that the image presented in the official media has been undermined and discredited. Recently they showed an image of Yoani entering the U.S. Interest Section on television, with the intention of discrediting her to people as a pro-imperialist. These images were taken from when she visited the USIS to obtain a visa. The visa was granted, but not the exit permits.
Yoani worries the government, they are worried about the sympathy she inspires, worried about the sector of the society that identifies with the Cuba narrated from Generation Y. There is nothing more common, nor uglier, that to take an attitude or a phrase out of context.
March 31 2011
Translator’s note: La Joven Cuba is a website of students at the University of Matanzas and Regina has begun to engage them in conversation through their forum. She also posts her comments there, here.
