[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 38 (Friday, March 15, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E313]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   INTRODUCING A RESOLUTION IN HONOR OF YOANI SANCHEZ, A COURAGEOUS 
                BLOGGER AND ACTIVIST FOR FREEDOM IN CUBA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 15, 2013

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce a 
resolution honoring Yoani Sanchez, a courageous blogger and activist 
for freedom in Cuba, for her ongoing efforts to challenge political, 
economic, and social oppression. She has become a prominent voice 
through social media for millions of Cubans who reject the oppression 
of the Castro regime, having said, ``We Cubans don't deserve what we 
are living through. I think Cubans deserve to be citizens of the 21st 
century, in all senses, to test the challenges of modernity.''
  Yoani Maria Sanchez Cordero was born in Havana, Cuba on September 4, 
1975, and went on to major in Spanish Literature at the Pedagogical 
Institute before completing a degree in Hispanic Philology at the 
University of Havana in 2000. While working at Editorial Gente Nueva, 
Sanchez came to the realization that, like many Cubans, the wages she 
earned legally were not enough to support her family and highly 
qualified individuals were unable to find sufficient work. Disenchanted 
and seeking greater economic opportunities, she moved to Switzerland in 
2002 but returned to Cuba in the summer of 2004, discovering her 
passion for computer science.
  In 2004, Sanchez and a group of like-minded compatriots founded 
Consenso, a magazine of reflection and debate, and three years later 
she worked as a web master, columnist, and editor for the website Desde 
Cuba. In April 2007, Sanchez created the blog known as ``Generation 
Y,'' which started as an outlet for self-expression but has since found 
an audience with half a million people around the world. Through her 
weekly blog posts, tweets, and Facebook updates, made possible thanks 
to the donations of online supporters and Sanchez's unwavering 
persistence, she has provided an unfiltered glimpse into the realities 
of day-to-day life in Cuba.
  The Castro regime branded Sanchez as a dissident and, since March 
2008, blocked access to her blog from within Cuba, where mobile phones, 
flash drives, and used laptop computers have become lifelines of 
communication given economic and government barriers to the internet. 
Sanchez refused to be silenced and continued to write with the help of 
friends and volunteer collaborators abroad, who post her entries in 
solidarity and have translated Generation Y into 20 languages.
  Sanchez attempted to travel outside of Cuba on 20 occasions, but was 
repeatedly denied the required exit visa. In January 2013, the Cuban 
government lifted travel restrictions for citizens and issued Sanchez a 
passport, allowing her to embark on an 80-day international tour, 
including Brazil, the Czech Republic, Spain, Mexico, and the United 
States, to share her experiences living under the Castro regime 
firsthand. On her first U.S. visit, she will meet with Members of 
Congress in Washington, D.C. Following her tour, Sanchez intends to 
return to Havana, where she lives with her husband Reinaldo and their 
20-year-old son Teo, and dreams of starting an independent news outlet, 
saying, ``Life has taught me that the wall comes tumbling down only 
when you push it.''
  Sanchez is the recipient of numerous honors and awards for her 
activism. In 2009, she became the first blogger to ever interview U.S. 
President Barack Obama, who applauded her efforts to ``empower fellow 
Cubans to express themselves through the use of technology.'' She has 
also received the Ortega y Gasset Award for Digital Journalism in 2008, 
was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the 
World in the ``Heroes and Pioneers'' category for 2008, been awarded 
the Maria Moore Cabot Prize from Columbia University in 2009 for 
coverage of Latin America, and received the International Woman of 
Courage Award from then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2011.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, which 
honors Yoani Sanchez and commends individuals like her who have 
dedicated their lives to protecting and strengthening civil rights in 
the face of adversity. Despite violent attacks and protests from Castro 
supporters and leftists, she has vowed to never stop writing until the 
people of Cuba are able to express their views freely. I join Yoani 
Sanchez and her fellow activists in looking forward to the day when all 
Cubans can freely express themselves in public without fear of 
reprisal.

                          ____________________