Orlando Luís Pardo Lazo

Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo has been blogging since 2008. He was born in Havana, Cuba on December 10, 1971. With a degree in biochemistry obtained in 1994 from the Department of Biology from the City of Havana, he left the sciences for literature. In this field, he received many prizes from official publications such as the Short Story Prize from the magazines La Gaceta 2005 and Cauce 2007 and many other awards. His unofficial publications can be seen as the editor of the e-zine the Revolution Evening Post.

Now he has been publishing in many blogs and digital magazines such as Revistas Cacharro(s) [es], 33 y 1/3 [es], Desliz [es], and The Revolution Evening Post [es], Fogonero Emergente [es], Penúltimos Días [es], Pia McHabana [es] , and Lunes de Post-Revolución [es].

On November 6th, 2009, Claudia Cadelo, Orlando Luís Pardo Lazo and Yoani Sanchez were corralled by Cuban authorities while en route to a street demonstration against violence. Claudia and a friend were detained while Yoani and Orlando Luis were violently beaten.

Cuban authorities demanded that Yoani enter their police vehicle. When she vehemently requested that they show identification or a warrant for her arrest the officers grew frustrated and placed a phone call to their superiors. Yoani started to yell: "Help! These men want to kidnap us." The officers then warned concerned bystanders not get involved because Yoani and Orlando were "counter-revolutionaries." As soon as the telephone conversation ended the beatings began. Yoani was carried and forcibly shoved amid blows into the vehicle but not before she grabbed a note from the pocket of one of the officers and put it in her mouth.

Orlando was already in the vehicle at this point. He was in a headlock and rendered immobile with his head to the floor. While one officer had his knee to Yoani's chest another punched her in the kidneys in an attempt to retrieve the document she had taken from them. "This is it for you Yoani; your shenanigans are over," said an officer as he pulled her hair. In an act of pure desperation, Yoani grabbed the man's groin and plunged her nails in as she screamed, "Kill me already!" He removed his knee from her chest but she could still hear Orlando's grunts as the pounding blows continued. Once the officers were through, they left the bruised and exhausted pair on the street.