Cuba: Yoani Sanchez at the White House

HAVANA TIMES — Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez was received today by senior White House officials as part of a visit to Washington. Her trip also allowed her to meet with legislators, members of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and academics, reported dpa news.

“After many years of being prohibited from traveling outside of Cuba, Yoani Sanchez, a respected advocate of the freedom of information (…) is visiting the United States. Today we salute her at the White House,” said the spokesperson of the National Security Council, in a statement.

The author of the blog Generation Y was received by President Barack Obama’s adviser on Latin American issues, Ricardo Zuniga, who discussed “efforts to promote a growing respect for freedom of expression in Cuba.”

“The United States looks forward to the day when all Cubans will have the opportunity to express themselves in public without fear, and we continue to support policies that encourage the free flow of information to, from and inside Cuba,” said Hayden.

The blogger herself Tweeted about her visit to the White House and the State Department — which has also awarded her — and the Senate, after speaking with Cuban-American congressional representatives.

“I’ve finished in the Senate and am now going to the State Department and the White House. What a day,” said the blogger on the social network.

Sanchez began an international junket in February that took her to several countries in Latin America and Europe. In the United States, the blogger and dissident visited New York in recent days, and after her stay in Washington she will travel to Miami, where most anti-Castro Cuban exiles are concentrated.