Yoani Sanchez, other Cuban bloggers arrested

Cuban bloggers Yoani Sanchez, Claudia Cadelo and others were arrested and assaulted late Friday afternoon, apparently to block them from participating in a street demonstration in Havana, according to Penultimos Dias. (You can read an English translation of the report here.)

Subsequent reports are that they have been released. One report since Sanchez suffered an injury to her eye, but she was at home.

Sanchez, Cadelo and the others have attracted so much international attention and acclaim, that complacency might set in.

Not in the bloggers - no one knows better than them the risks they are taking with their safety and relative freedom - but in those of us overseas who presume that because Yoani, Claudia and the others are so well known, the Castro dictatorship would never dare arrest them.

Of course, we should never be surprised at what the regime does when it comes to trying to silence its opposition on the island. The secret police would rather operate under the cover of ignorance and indifference, but sometimes the daring and the obstinancy of brave souls like Yoani Sanchez, Claudia Cadelo and the others, becomes too much to bear, so like it did today, it strikes back.

The lesson of today's events are twofold: We should never overestimate the tolerance of the dictatorship for Cuban freedom fighters, including those who fight their battle for liberty in cyberspace. There is always the risk of arrest, and worse.

And we should never underestimate the importance of the protection we provide every time we read one of their blogs. Obviously, it doesn't provide them absolute immunity, but it is conceivable that someone like Yoani Sanchez would have a long ago been locked away in the Castro gulag were it not for the fact that she is so well known.

What you provide them with each click is the moral support vital for their continuing struggle for freedom.

Jorge Ferrer has more.

(You can find links to several Cuba-related blogs and news sites on the left sidebar, under "Blogs from Cuba," and "News from Cuba.")