April 28, 2006
Oops...
I forgot to mention that I was interviewed the other day for an article on Blogs in this week's Miami Sun Post by Tiffany Rainey:
The ‘Cubiche’Blogs first came to the attention of Valentin Prieto, editor of Babalú, when he heard an MSNBC report on the trend almost three years ago. But, according to Prieto, he could find no blog about Cuba anywhere on the Internet. So he borrowed a term made famous by Cuban, I Love Lucy character Ricky Ricardo, and started his own.
“Cubans in Miami have been voicing the crimes of Castro for years in Spanish,” Prieto, who only blogs in English, said, “but if you don’t do it in English then you don’t reach the people that can help.”
Babalú, which runs a mixture of culture and politics from a strictly Cuban perspective, draws readers from throughout the world, including the occasional coveted Cuban reader, and gets around 200 to 300 e-mails a day, Prieto said. Luckily the blog has a loyal following of readers who send links daily and is one of the few Miami blogs that has several staff writers, all with nicknames. Prieto is “El Bárbaro”.
“I’ve gotten a lot of support from fellow Americans,” he said. “They thank me for giving a different perspective that they don’t get from mainstream media.”
But, while Americans may applaud Prieto’s efforts, the Cuban government isn’t so happy. According to the blogger, the government in Havana monitors his and other political Cuban sites, many of which he refers to as his “blog kids,” on a daily basis.
“They can’t afford not to,” Prieto said. “The one thing Fidel can’t lose is control of information. I don’t know how big of a dent we’re making but we are getting it out there.”
Babalú can be found at www.babalublog.com. See also: http://the26thparallel.blogspot.com and http://cubanamericanpundits.blogspot.com.
Posted by Val Prieto at April 28, 2006 09:58 AM
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Comments
Congratulations, Val! That is a splendid article! I think it was well done!
Posted by: A.M. Mora y Leon ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.babalublog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at April 28, 2006 10:15 AM
I saw that report (very early) this morning, as I made my "usual rounds" through some ole favorite blogs that I peruse regularly.
Guess this means that you MUST be one of the top 25 most influential "Latin" blogs. Can Newsweek and Time coverage be far behind? No wonder the Miami Herald gives you so much coverage!
Ha!
Seriously, well done, Val. Your parents should feel extremely proud. By the way, give them a call... today... I think they have something to deliver to you. Important stuff. Enough said.
Julio
Posted by: Jzangroniz at April 28, 2006 10:35 AM
Congratulations, Val from your most recently adopted blog kid.
Posted by: Lou at April 28, 2006 10:38 AM
And I thought Alisa was the most influential Cuban-American blogger around. Go figure...
Posted by: George L. Moneo at April 28, 2006 10:46 AM
Val great article!
Believe me, when you said: "I don’t know how big of a dent we’re making but we are getting it out there."
Please, have no doubt that you and your contributing writers are making a dent so huge that it has become too noticeable to ignore! Through Babalu, you are making sure that the "ripple" of truth about Cuba and castro does not go unheard. I wish you well,
Thanks!
Melek
Posted by: Melek at April 28, 2006 11:29 AM
Nice interview, and a good piece overall by the Sun Times.
Posted by: Robert at April 28, 2006 06:31 PM
Hey nice article. I got a plug too. Cool.
Posted by: conductor at April 29, 2006 07:46 PM
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