07 Feb 12 | Index Index, minipost
Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez has been denied permission to leave the island to visit Brazil. Last month, Sanchez formally appealed to the Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to enter the country so that she could attend the screening of a documentary about press freedom in Cuba and Honduras in which she features. The blogger tweeted that this was the 19th time she has been denied the right to enter and leave the country. Migration rules that require Cubans to receive government permission to travel have prevented Sánchez from leaving the country since 2004.
31 Jan 12 | Americas, Index Index, minipost
A Cuban journalist is facing more than ten years in prison for alleged corruption offences. José Antonio Torres, a correspondent for Granma, the party newspaper, in Santiago de Cuba, was detained on 11 March, 2011 after writing two articles criticising a major government infrastructure project. In the articles, Torres said experts undertaking the rebuilding of a key aqueduct intended to supply water to the city’s inhabitants, had claimed that “ineptitude” and “poor workmanship” had caused parts of the aqueduct wall’s veneer to fall off. The journalist also wrote that the project should have been “better planned.” Torres was initially charged with being an “agent of the CIA” and leaking confidential information abroad.
20 Jan 12 | Americas, Index Index, minipost
Dissident Wilmar Villar Mendoza, has died in a hospital in eastern Cuba following a 56-day hunger strike. Villar launched his strike shortly after his November arrest, after which he was put on trial and sentenced to four years in prison for crimes including disobedience, resistance and crimes against the state. Fellow opposition activists have claimed mistreatment by the Cuban government contributed to Villar’s death.
06 Jan 12 | Americas, Index Index, minipost
Dissident Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez has appealed to Brazil’s president to help her leave the Caribbean island. A strong critic of the country’s Communist regime, Sánchez has been accused by authorities of conducting a “cyberwar” against the government. Sánchez’s video appeal to Dilma Rousseff follows her invitation to Brazil to attend the screening of a documentary about press freedom in Cuba and Honduras in which she features. The blogger said she did not expect to be able to leave Cuba without “high-level intervention”. Migration rules that require Cubans to receive government permission to travel have prevented Sánchez from leaving the country since 2004.
