Yoaní Sánchez Is Denied Visa

Yoani Sanchez, whose blog from Cuba, "Generación Y" earned her the "Ortega y Gassett Award" and 15,000 euros (123,000 dollars) was denied authorization to travel to Spain to receive the award. Zoe Valdes, a Cuban novelist in exile in Paris, and freed political prisoner Raul Rivero, poet and journalist in exile in Spain, spoke out about the softer side of Raul Castro being meaningless when he denies something like this. Rivero is no stranger to being punished for writing. Once a writer for the state controlled media, he later founded Cuba Press, for independent journalists. He and his wife were harrassed by authorities and Raul was arrested in the Black Spring Crackdown in 2003 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was freed in 2004 for frail health and now lives in exile in Spain. There he can carry all the propaganda about the regime that he wants, because the Cuban people won't hear it there. More on this later.