The brave Cuban dissident Yoani Sanchez, who blogs beautifully at Generation Y, will speak by phone today to the Global Summit Against Discrimination and Persecution in New York.
Her speech is scheduled for 2 pm New York time (7 pm London time) and you can listen here.
Update: Ben Cohen provides a summary of Yoani’s remarks:
“I send a message of gretings. I know you are all people who have suffered in different countries from the abuse of human rights. My absence is further evidence of how Cubans have no rights of entry or exit from our own country.
“Technology enables us to reach those places where our government does not enable us to travel. But the path to end the state monopoly on information is still a long one for us.
“We are a nation detained in the 20th century. to navigate on cyberspace we need to pass through an ideological filter or pay a high price that we can’t afford on our salaries. only foreigners or the official communicators can access internet from home, rest of Cuban citizens are condemned to information blockade.
“I want to denounce the crimes against connectivity which the Cubans are suffering. we are not permitted to access information not sponsored by the regime. this is a violation of our rights to know what happened inside and outside Cuba.
“Dissidents are still finding the power to express themselves. blogs are a substitute for the free press we do not have. even from places where no-one has even seen a computer, Cubans are now able to tell their story. Messages going through twitter are like an sos – a call for help that can leap over the wall of control.
“The international community, please – we want to join this millenium, to interact with each citizen of the world is what we want. Information today is democracy tomorrow!”
Moderator ends by saying we look forward to meeting Yoani in a free Cuba. Yoani replies she hopes she will be here in person next time. Hear Hear.