{"items":[{"item":{"name":"\u00c1ngel Santiesteban","portrait":"http:\/\/threatened.globalvoicesonline.org\/sites\/default\/files\/angel-santiesteban_medium.jpg","status":"Threatened","date_from":"2009-05-17","date_to":"2009-05-17","blog_url":"http:\/\/www.cubaencuentro.com\/angel-santiesteban\/blogs\/los-hijos-que-nadie-quiso","background":"

\u00c1ngel Santiesteban [es]<\/a> is a writer and blogger, who has been published around the world. He has also been honored with various literary prizes, including the Alejo Carpentier Award organized by the Cuban Book Institute in 2001 and the Casa de las Am\u00e9ricas Award in 2006.  In March 2009, he started his blog Los Hijos que Nadie Quiso [es]<\/em> (The Children that Nobody Wanted).  He currently resides in Cuba.<\/p>\n

On May 17, 2009, Santiesteban was threatened and hit in Vedado neighborhood of Havana, Cuba. The man who attacked Santiesteban told him that it was not worth \"becoming the counter-revolutionary,\" and he later pulled a knife on the writer.  Soon after, another man emerged from a car and attacked Santiesteban with a tube fracturing his arm, and he also ended up with various cuts and bruises. He was later treated at the Naval Hospital, where the fracture was confirmed.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the year, he was summoned by the Cuban Ministry of the Interior for questioning.<\/p>","permalink":"http:\/\/threatened.globalvoicesonline.org\/blogger\/%C3%A1ngel-santiesteban","city":"Havana","country":"Cuba","lat":"23.108880","lon":"-82.428829"}},{"item":{"name":"Claudia Cadelo","portrait":"http:\/\/threatened.globalvoicesonline.org\/sites\/default\/files\/Claudia_Cadelo.jpg","status":"Released","date_from":"2009-11-06","date_to":"2009-11-06","blog_url":"http:\/\/www.octavocerco.blogspot.com\/","campaign_url":"http:\/\/threatened.globalvoicesonline.org\/","background":"

Blogger Claudia Cadelo<\/a> is born in Havana, Cuba in 1983. Claudia is an accountant, French teacher and Global Voices contributor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On November 6th, 2009, Claudia Cadelo, Orlando Lu\u00eds Pardo Lazo<\/a> and Yoani Sanchez<\/a> were corralled by Cuban authorities<\/a> while en route to a street demonstration against violence. Claudia and a friend were detained while Yoani and Orlando Luis were violently beaten.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Claudia tweeted about the incident<\/a>, apparently while it was happening. Also, she also quickly entered her version of the incident on her blog<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"We refused to get in the car, there were three of them and they threatened us:<\/p>\n

\u2018Get in the car, now.'\n\u2018Let us see your documents, or bring a policeman.'<\/p>\n

Orlando had his cell phone in his hand. \u2018Pardo, don\u2019t record,' said the one in the orange shirt, and I got my cell out. Nobody noticed me, I sent the first Tweet\u2026 In less than three minutes a patrol car came up with a couple of cops\u2014a woman and a man\u2014completely dumbstruck by the scene. The carried out their orders almost in slow motion, the woman told me:<\/p>\n

\u2018Don\u2019t resist.'<\/p>\n

\u2018They are undocumented,' it occurred to me to enlighten her.<\/p>\n

Yoani was clinging to a bush, I was clinging to her waist, and the woman was pulling me by the leg. They had already dragged Orlando off, outside my field of vision. A man at the bus-stop looked on with an expression of terror, people didn\u2019t say a single word. The officer, very young, got me in an armlock that immobilized me. I could have kicked a little but I was too astonished at seeing Yoani\u2019s legs sticking out the rear window of the State Security car.\"<\/p>\n

This information is based on Yoani's blog post. To read her full account please visit: Desde Cuba<\/a>.<\/p>","permalink":"http:\/\/threatened.globalvoicesonline.org\/blogger\/claudia-cadelo","city":"Havana","country":"Cuba","lat":"23.133333","lon":"-82.366667"}},{"item":{"name":"Dania Virgen Garc\u00eda","portrait":"http:\/\/threatened.globalvoicesonline.org\/sites\/default\/files\/Dania_Virgen_Garcia.JPG_.jpeg","status":"Under Arrest","date_from":"2010-04-22","date_to":"2010-04-22","blog_url":"http:\/\/daniavirgengarcia.blogspot.com\/","background":"

The Index On Censorship<\/a> reports that the independent journalist and blogger, Dania Virgen Garc\u00eda, has been sentenced to 20 months in prison on charges that had not yet been made known. Dania Virgen Garc\u00eda was sentenced<\/a> just one day after her arrest by police on 22 April, 2010. Virgen Garc\u00eda\u2019s blog El blog de Dania<\/a>, launched in January, reports on the violence and repression independent reporters<\/a> face on the island. She is also a well known supporter of the \u201cDamas de blanco\u201d movement (Ladies in White<\/a>).<\/p>","permalink":"http:\/\/threatened.globalvoicesonline.org\/blogger\/dania-virgen-garc%C3%AD","city":"Havana","country":"Cuba","lat":"23.133333","lon":"-82.383333"}},{"item":{"name":"Juan Carlos Gonzalez Marco","portrait":"http:\/\/threatened.globalvoicesonline.org\/sites\/default\/files\/Panfilo.jpeg","status":"Released","date_from":"2009-08-04","date_to":"2009-09-17","blog_url":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tLLAh2yTqu0","campaign_url":"http:\/\/www.jamaylibertad.com\/2009\/08\/lleva-carta.html","background":"

On August 4, 2009, Juan Carlos Gonzalez Marco, known as \"Panfilo, was detained<\/a> by police  for denouncing food shortages in a widely viewed YouTube<\/a> video. Panfilo wastried a week later in a Havana court and sentenced to jail for two years for \"dangerousness\", a crime listed in Cuba's penal code. An appeals court upheld the sentence in a September 10 hearing. On September 17th, 2009, Panfilo was freed and sent instead to a psychiatric hospital for three weeks.<\/p>","permalink":"http:\/\/threatened.globalvoicesonline.org\/blogger\/juan-carlos-gonzalez-marco","city":"Havana","country":"Cuba","lat":"23.133333","lon":"-82.366667"}},{"item":{"name":"Luis Felipe Rojas","portrait":"http:\/\/threatened.globalvoicesonline.org\/sites\/default\/files\/Luis_Felipe_Rojas.jpg","status":"Threatened","date_from":"2010-08-23","date_to":"2010-08-23","blog_url":"http:\/\/cruzarlasalambradaseng.wordpress.com","background":"

Luiz, a Cuban blogger reported<\/a> the following after his arrest by the police for posting Human Rights reports on his personal blog: \"On Monday the 23rd, I hadn\u2019t even gotten up from bed when I once again heard some loud banging on my door.  I had to live through the same police story, only with the difference that now they told me about reports denouncing human rights violations, about my blog, and about the independent journalism which I do.  They reminded me that to write, like I do, many others spent much time in prison since 2003.  They told me about the Gag Law which mentions something about 25 years behind bars.\"<\/p>","permalink":"http:\/\/threatened.globalvoicesonline.org\/blogger\/luis-felipe-rojas","city":"San German","country":"Cuba","lat":"20.599730","lon":"-76.132317"}},{"item":{"name":"Orlando Lu\u00eds Pardo Lazo","portrait":"http:\/\/threatened.globalvoicesonline.org\/sites\/default\/files\/orlando_luis_pardo_lazo.jpg","status":"Released","date_from":"2009-11-06","date_to":"2009-11-06","blog_url":"http:\/\/orlandoluispardolazo.blogspot.com\/","background":"

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.<\/p>\n

Now he has been publishing in many blogs and digital magazines such as Revistas Cacharro(s) [es]<\/em><\/a>, 33 y 1\/3 [es]<\/em><\/a>, Desliz [es]<\/em><\/a>, and The Revolution Evening Post [es]<\/em><\/a>, Fogonero Emergente [es]<\/em><\/a>, Pen\u00faltimos D\u00edas [es]<\/em><\/a>, Pia McHabana [es]<\/em> <\/a>, and Lunes de Post-Revoluci\u00f3n [es]<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

On November 6th, 2009, Claudia Cadelo, Orlando Lu\u00eds Pardo Lazo<\/a> and Yoani Sanchez<\/a> were corralled by Cuban authorities<\/a> while en route to a street demonstration against violence. Claudia and a friend were detained while Yoani and Orlando Luis were violently beaten.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>","permalink":"http:\/\/threatened.globalvoicesonline.org\/blogger\/orlando-lu%C3%ADs-pardo-lazo","city":"havana","country":"Cuba","lat":"23.133333","lon":"-82.366667"}},{"item":{"name":"Yoani Sanchez","portrait":"http:\/\/threatened.globalvoicesonline.org\/sites\/default\/files\/yoani_sanchez.jpg","status":"Threatened","date_from":"2009-10-12","date_to":"2009-10-12","blog_url":"http:\/\/www.desdecuba.com\/generationy\/","campaign_url":"http:\/\/www.petitiononline.com\/yoani_br\/petition.html","background":"

On October 12, 2009, internationally recognized Cuban blogger, Yoani Sanchez, was denied<\/a> permission to travel by Cuban authorities. She sought permission travel to New York to receive Maria Moors Cabot 71st annual Prize, the oldest international award in journalism given by Columbia University for journalism that advances inter-American understanding.<\/p>\n

\"Immigration just confirmed that I remain prohibited from leaving the country,\" Yoani wrote on her personal blog Generaci\u00f3n Y<\/a>. \"We Cubans are like small children who must ask for Father's permission to leave the house. And, in the case of the little girl Yoani S\u00e1nchez, well, the personal and social price I've had to pay for posting my views of my reality on a web page has been, simply, to be condemned to immobility, to have become an immobile pilgrim on this island.'' Sanchez also uploaded a video of herself verbally confronting the authorities<\/a> that denied her travel permission.<\/p>\n

On November 6th, 2009, Cuban Bloggers Claudia Cadelo<\/a>, Orlando Lu\u00eds 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.<\/p>","permalink":"http:\/\/threatened.globalvoicesonline.org\/blogger\/yoani-sanchez","city":"Havana","country":"Cuba","lat":"23.133333","lon":"-82.366667"}}]}