Generacion Y - Blogs from Cuba

The Cuban government only recently allowed its citizens to own computers and cellphones and so on (They were used illegally though how one could use a mobile illegally beats me) after Papa Fidel handed over charge to his brother Raul who is slowly trying to open up the system. Generacion Y is one of the many blogs that have been functioning for some time (which means only since September 2007). The 'Y' is simply the initial of the blogger Yoani Sánchez (1975). As she says on her blog Generatión Y is a Blog inspired by people like me, with names that start or contain a "Y". Born in the Cuba of the 70s and the 80s, marked by the "schools to the countryside", the Russian cartoons, the illegal exits and the frustration. So, an invitation goes especially to Yanisleidi, Yoandri, Yusimí, Yuniesky and others that drag their Ys, to read me and write back. Its fascinating to see the first tentative steps that ordinary (and in most cases young) citizens are taking to explore the limits of their freedom and how far they can go in expressing their anger and frustration. The urge to speak out, the urge to have a say in how your country and your world functions, is such a basic human urge and need, something that we Indians have always taken to granted, can be seen clearly in some of the almost wistful entries in the blog. In Nehru's words --A moment comes ...(when) an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance . Suppression has not stopped, and an age has not ended, but at least some thoughts find utterance. In particular check out the January 2008 entry. Incidentally the blogs are in Spanish, English and German. The English one is about a month behind the Spanish where the latest is dated 28th April 2008, whereas the last English one is dated early March 2008. So if you know Spanish, all the better. Full disclosure: I found out about this from the Times of India, Chennai edition. Just shows that if you dig deep enough you can find useful nuggets even in the TOI. You ain't ever gonna see this in the Hindu!)