US Criticizes “Assault on Bloggers”

By Circles Robinson

HAVANA TIMES, Nov. 10 – The government of the United States criticized “the assault on bloggers Yoani Sanchez, Orlando Luis Pardo and Claudia Cadelo” in a statement by the Department of State, which urged the island’s authorities “to ensure the full respect of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all its citizens,” reported IPS.

Sanchez, who publishes the blog Generation Y, is frequently cited by the US press as a leading dissident of the Cuban government and an expert on the difficulties of life on the island.

She wrote on her blog that last Friday her, Pardo and Cadelo were briefly detained and warned against continuing their “counterrevolutionary” writing.

Meanwhile, Cuba maintains its rejection of any interference of the US government in its internal affairs.  It also condemns the nearly half century US economic blockade on the island.

Cuban President Raul Castro has offered dialogue with the US government, but only on equal terms based on mutual respect and without any pre-conditions or pressuring.

To date, the Obama administration has not accepted Castro’s offer, preferring to condition any improvement of relations on changes in Cuba that Havana considers unacceptable.