Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez, a thorn in the side of the Castro dictatorship, writes in a recent post that she fears she may soon be arrested for what she has written, and the methods she has had to use to share her observations of Cuban life with the world.
StJacques has a translation:
They are warning me that "my case" is lying on the table in some office. A full dossier of evidence of offenses committed, a bulky dossier of illegalities that I have accumulated in these years. Neighbors insinuate that I disguise myself with sunglasses and disconnect the phone when I wish to speak of something in private. Little, very little -- they are making clear to me -- can now be done so that they do not knock on my door very early one morning.
In expectation of this, I want to point out that I do not keep weapons under the bed. Nevertheless, I have committed a systematic and heinous crime: I thought myself free. Nor do I have a concrete plan to change things, but in me complaining has replaced triumphalism and -- definitely -- that is punishable. I could never slap anyone, but I refused to accept my systematic smacking "I am civil." This last thing is reprehensible to an extreme degree. On top of that, and despite not having pilfered anything belonging to others, I have wanted to "steal" -- on repeated occasions -- what I believed belonged to me: an island, its dreams, its legacies.
They do not trust me anymore; I am not entirely innocent. I have brought a mountain of misdeeds upon myself: I systematically purchased on the black market, I commented in a low voice -- and in critical terms -- about those who govern us, I have given nicknames to politicians and I have shared in pessimism. Above all, I committed the heinous offense of believing in a future without "them" and in a version of history different from what I was taught. I repeated the slogans without conviction, I washed the dirty rags in sight of all and -- a huge transgression -- I joined together words and phrases without permission. (emphasis added by Uncommon Sense)
I declare -- and I assume the punishment that comes to me -- I was not able to survive and comply with all applicable laws at the same time.
Yoani Sanchez
Please pray for this brave woman, and for her continued safety.
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