Cuban Officials Are "Intimidation Professionals"

The Associated Press has reported on Cuban police accusing blogger Yoani Sanchez of illegal activity.

I swear I haven't run a green light, nor have I bought cheese on the black market for more than two months, and I have not walked out of any store without paying. I don't recall having violated the laws-too much-these last days, not even by passing myself off as a foreigner to use the Internet in some hotel.

I have, however, a citation, along with [my husband] Reinaldo, for tomorrow at the police station at 21st and C in Vedado. I wonder if I should bring a toothbrush or if I will get only a brief box on the ears.

Below is the official document I received from a sweaty official who ascended the fourteen flights of stairs, since I haven't had an elevator for a month.

At nine in the morning I'll know what it's about; wait for my news after two.

UPDATE:

At nine in the morning an official looks, with boredom, at the citation we have presented at the door of the 21st and C station. We are left waiting on one of the benches for about 40 minutes, while Reinaldo and I take the opportunity to discuss all those things the dizziness of daily life always keeps us from talking about. At 9:45 they take my husband, asking first if he has a cell phone. Ten minutes later they return and take me to the second floor.

The meeting is brief and the tone energetic. There are three of us in the office and the one who raises his voice in song has been introduced as Agent Roque. To my side another, younger one, watches me and says his name is Camilo. Both tell me they are from the Interior Ministry. They are not interested in listening, there is a written script on the table, and nothing I do will distract them. They are intimidation professionals.

The topic was as I expected: We are close to the date for the blogger meeting that, with neither secrecy nor publicity, we have been organizing for half a year; they announce we must cancel it. Half an hour later, now far from the uniforms and the photos of leaders on the walls, we reconstructed an approximation of their words:

We want to warn you that you have transgressed all the limits of tolerance with your rapprochement and contacts with counter-revolutionary elements. This totally disqualifies you for dialog with Cuban authorities.

The activities planned for the coming days cannot carried out.

We, for our part, will take all measures, make the relevant denuciations and take the necessary actions. This activity, in this moment in the life of the Nation, recuperating from two hurricanes, will not be allowed.

Roque stopped talking-nearly shouting-and I asked if he would give me all this in writing. Being a blogger who displays her name and her face has made me believe that everyone is willing to attach their identity to what they say. The man lost the rhythm of the script-he didn't expect my librarian's mania to keep papers. He stopped reading what had been written and shouted at me even louder that, "They are not obliged to give me anything."

Before they send me off with a "get out of here, citizen" I manage to tell him that he won't sign what he told me because he doesn't have the courage to do it. The word "Cowards" comes out almost in a guffaw. At the bottom of the stairs I hear the noise of the chairs pushed back into place. Wednesday has ended early.

This was cross-posted on Yoani's blog here.

Comments

[Brillig]

"the US spends tens of millions each year to bring regime change to Cuba."

Tens of millions they could spend helping people in rural West Virginia etc.

USA wastes money to mash up other people's countries for what? Where is the great COMMUNIST threat from CUBA?

[steamboat]

Good luck, Yoani..................Of course, all these 'lefty's on this blog think Cuba is paradise.....BTW, av2ts, you say Yoani pushed the envelope. Are you saying she shouldn't say whats on her mind? Is that what you are saying? ....Someday read the 1st Amendment of our constitution. Before you defend paradise.

[av2ts]

No, I believe in freedom of expression, but I also understand this is never a 100% guarantee. In America, you can't say things that the Government considers secrets or take money or work with groups and countries that the US Government calls "terrorist." That means you and I can not take any money from Cuba or Hamas to express things. Nevermind there is ZERO proof that Cuba has anything to do with terrorism.

In Cuba, which has been under attack by the Superpower 90 miles away from day one, they had to put in place laws to prevent its citizens from working with elements of the US Government or those groups in Miami that devote themselves to overthrowing the government. They passed these laws after the US Government passed a law vowing millions for regime change in Cuba. If Yoani broke those laws she will be tried in an independent court based on the evidence. If not, she has no reason to worry. That is what I meant by "pushing the envelope." The fact that she has been writing without problem for this long - winning awards and being recognized by Time Magazine - tells you that this is not about speech or expression. It appears to be about her associations, just as she was told. Even if Yoani is a paradigm of ethics, there are countless people out there who are not and who will attempt to use her fame for their own purposes.

[steamboat]

Oh, gimme a break........If I want to leave the country, all I have to do is get a passport and buy my ticket.......So tell me, how come Cuban citizens have to sneak out at night in rafts, intertubes, boats, etc. and risk their lives in shark-infested waters?

[nyboomer]

Cuba is as much a paradise as GW Bush's MBA was earned by him alone by the sweat of his brow. What Cuba does have is national health care that will never bankrupt any citizens. I know that is not much and that Americans should be proud as punch of the ability of Insurance companies and HMO's to cost Americans their homes and peace of mind. Americans should be more than willing to sacrifice lifelong accumulated assets to insure that medicine pays as well as it does. Let no one say that Americans are not willing to lose eveything in favor of keeping insurance companies profitable and insurance CEOs multimillionaires. That is precisely the way life should be lived. The rich should get richer, the poor poorer and the middle class should be exploited as much as possible to insure the ever growing wealth of the top 1%. Hip hip hooray for the American way!

[av2ts]

For those who don't know, Yoani has become a web-celebrity with her withering criticisms of the Government. We learned her name in April when she told us her blog had been censored. Turns out it was a technical problem. Months later, she was back in the news when she reported from the "artistic freedom" trial of Cuban punk rocker Gorki. Turns out the trial was about loud music and he was let go for a small fine.

Now we are told a partial account of what transpired at a Havana police station yesterday. We are told the issue raised was her association with "counter-revolutionaries". While this may sound absurd, the US spends tens of millions each year to bring regime change to Cuba. Bush has often employed "dissidents" in the cause to return US-domination (on top of the illegal, immoral embargo). In Miami, there are dozens of groups who will use anyone to achieve their goals of retaking control.

If Yoani has really not been providing working with those foreign enemies of Cuba, then I will be the first to condemn the Cuban Government. But I have been watching Cuba too long to know that Cuba usually acts on solid information. Yoani blogged without problem for a long time. I have a bad feeling she decided to push the envelope.