Cuba blogger among Time magazine 100
Ray Sanchez | Direct from Havana
7:26 AM EDT, May 5, 2008
Havana
Yoani Sanchez, whose slice-of-life blog about Cuba has earned her
international acclaim, has been selected by Time as one of the world's
100 most influential people.
"What makes me happy is that I made the list not by being a famous
singer or breaking athletic records but simply by being a citizen,"
Sanchez said Monday.
Cuban American writer Oscar Hijuelos cited the "charming but pugnacious
slice-of-life ****traits she has been sending out through cyperspace
since April 2007 as the Generacion Y blogger."
Hijuelos said the blogs of the 32-year-old philologist were "funny,
elegantly written and poignant."
Sanchez said she was surprised by the "sepulchral silence" in the Cuban
press about her making Time magazine's annual list. "They announced that
Bolivian President Evo Morales made the list in the Cuban press but made
no mention that a Cuban also made it," she said.
Sanchez planned to leave Havana for Madrid Saturday to accept the Ortega
y Gasset Award for online commentary from El Pais newspaper but Cuban
authorities said her exit permit was being held up. She switched her
flight to Tuesday, her last chance to make it to Wednesday's ceremony.
"They're not telling me, 'No, you can't travel,'" she said. "They're
just telling me my travel permit is being held up."
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/cuba/sfl-0505havanadaily,0,1604178.column
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