From the offices of Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL):
Journalists should stand with repressed Cuban blogger, highlight regime’s repression
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) today issued the following statement condemning the Cuban regime’s blockade of Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez’s news website, pointing to the act as the latest example of blatant repression by the Castro regime:
“Yoani Sánchez has long been one of Cuba’s most courageous pro-democracy and human rights voices, giving the world insights on life inside Cuba through her blog. She is now an aspiring Cuban media entrepreneur who the Castro regime shut down yesterday by hacking into her news website, 14ymedio.com, on the day of its launch.
“Imagine for a moment, if the U.S. government had shut down Politico the day it launched in 2007 – or any conservative, liberal or mainstream online news outlet for that matter. As Americans, we would be outraged.
“Press freedom is a universal human right, and we should be outraged that yet another blatant instance of repression has taken place in Cuba.
“I recognize it’s not the role of government officials to tell the press how to do their jobs, but I do believe it’s the responsibility of Yoani’s fellow journalists everywhere to stand in solidarity with her as the Castro government blocks her from doing her job and help her shine a light on the regime’s repression, its failures and the Cuban people’s aspirations for freedom.
“This is also a reminder about the dangers of potentially turning over governance of the Internet to any entity that gives any influence whatsoever to regimes and governments that view the Internet as a threat to their power.”