Yesterday, Mary Speck reviewed Havana Real: One Woman Fights to Tell the Truth About Cuba Today for the Washington Post and said this about it:

“With her vivid portraits of family and friends, including Cuba’s determined dissidents, Yoani Sánchez dissolves the abstractions used to fuse individuals into generic masses. Little wonder that state media have labeled her and her friends ‘cyber commandos.'”

So what is a “cyber commando” like? Well, we had hoped that we would get to find out in person and that Sánchez would be able, somehow, to come to the US to promote Havana Real, which was just published by Melville House. Sadly, she has yet to be allowed to leave the island.

Recently she was invited by the Americas Society to participate in a panel about new media in Cuban literature for the ¡Sí Cuba! Festival. Since she was not allowed to leave for this either, Yoani recorded a lovely and powerful speech addressing the festival which included her reading excerpts from the book. In the video, Sánchez talks about how the friends she’s made through the internet and the readers she engages daily acts as a “powerful shield” that protects her from the Cuban government. “I have the great gift of having proof, in my own skin, in my own life, how this protection, this umbrella provided by my friends, the people who offer me their friendship and read me, all over the world can be very effective against a totalitarian system,” she says.

The video is now online so we wanted to share it since it offers a glimpse into why we’re so honored to be publishing Yoani and her book. Hopefully next time around the presentation will be in person. Enjoy.