Nick Miroff

Nick Miroff covers Cuba for GlobalPost. He is also a contributor to National Public Radio, and has written for the Washington Post, Mother Jones, Sporting News, the San Francisco Chronicle,...

Read Full Bio >

Nick Miroff's Notebook:

November 20, 2009 20:26 ET

Yoani Sanchez's husband faces "act of repudiation" in Havana streets

A day after Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez published an online interview with President Barack Obama, her husband and fellow blogger Reinaldo Escobar was accosted by a pro-government mob Friday evening in the streets of Havana, marking an escalation of the Cuban government's response to Sanchez and the island's small blogger movement.

Escobar, 62, had announced last week that he wanted to hold a "verbal duel" with the alleged Cuban state security agents who briefly detained and roughed up his wife on Nov. 6, an incident that drew condemnation from the Obama administration and international human rights groups. At 5 p.m. Friday, Escobar and a few supporters stood at the corner of a major Havana intersection as television cameras rolled and curious onlookers gathered around. Sanchez was not present.

Within second of Escobar saying that he wanted to engage in a "dialogue," busloads of pro-government students and men that appeared to be state security forces surrounded him and began shouting pro-Castro slogans. A marching band veered away from a nearby cultural performance and joined in, their beating drums urging the crowd on. It looked as if Escobar would be lynched.

"Long live Fidel" and "Go Away Worms," the crowd of 150 or so chanted at Escobar, using a traditional epithet for those who oppose the Castro government. When Escobar tried to walk away, a chaotic scene ensued, as the shouting mob chased him down the street, screaming insults and pro-government slogans in his face. The scene repeated itself several times as the mob prevented Escobar from leaving, at one point pinning he and his supporters against a metal fence. An NBC cameraman filming the incident was attacked at one point, as several men tried to grab his camera before plainclothes officers intervened to escort the man away to safety.

The whole incident lasted 15 minutes or so and appeared to be captured by several foreign television crews. Bloggers supportive of Escobar reported that he was briefly detained by police and dropped off at a location far from his home, but unhurt.

Such incidents in Cuba are known as "acts of repudiation" and have been used to target government opponents in the past. The Castro government considers Sanchez and other bloggers critical of Cuba's one-party state to be "mercenaries" at the service of the U.S. government and other foreign enemies abroad.

November 19, 2009 20:25 ET

Cuban blogger gets big interview

Landing an interview with President Barack Obama would be a big deal for any journalist. For Cuba's Yoani Sanchez — who doesn't have travel permission to leave the island, let alone regular internet access — it appears to be just the latest step in her rapid ascension from blogger to international political figure.

The AP has the story. This comes less than two weeks after Sanchez said she was roughed up by undercover Cuban security agents.

November 7, 2009 18:05 ET

Blogger's virtual confrontation with Cuban government gets physical

Cuba's most famous blogger and anti-government activist, Yoani Sanchez, said she and several friends were detained and roughed up last night en route to a march in Havana. Links here and here.

Sanchez was not seriously injured, but the incident seems to mark an escalation in the Castro government's approach to dealing with her.

Her Generation Y blog has attracted a huge following worldwide with its grim depiction of life on the communist-run island, where it remains blocked by the government. Sanchez has been accused of being a counter-revolutionary and provocateur working on behalf of the Castro government's enemies abroad, but until now the confrontation hasn't been physical.

U.S.-Cuba relations have been gradually thawing over the past several months under President Obama. But they could quickly ice over again if this type of thing continues, or if Sanchez is arrested and placed on trial.
 

October 28, 2009 13:14 ET | Updated: October 28, 2009 16:20 ET

Cuba beats the US 187-3 ... and we're not talking baseball

It's tough to get the United Nations to agree on much of anything these days, but not when it comes to U.S. trade sanctions against Cuba.

For the 18th year in a row, the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to condemn the trade embargo that Washington first leveled against Cuba's communist government in 1962. This year's margin was 187 to three, with only the U.S., Israel and the tiny island nation of Palau opposing Cuba's resolution, which condemned the policy and demanded its removal.

The vote is a pretty toothless referendum in that it doesn't carry any real consequences, but it's still a reminder that certain hallmark elements of U.S. foreign policy remain extremely unpopular abroad, despite the new occupant at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
 

October 16, 2009 14:45 ET

New Orleans delegation in Cuba

Mayor Ray Nagin and a big entourage of Louisiana state and local officials are en route to Cuba Friday for a six-day trip to study the communist island's tightly run hurricane preparedness system, according to the mayor's office.

The trip comes less than 24 hours after President Obama's visit to New Orleans, and whether or not he's carrying a message from the White House, it does not appear that U.S.-Cuba diplomacy is the purpose of the visit.

Nagin's team, which includes the city's top fire, police, airport, and health officials, will reportedly meet with counterparts from Cuban emergency management programs, as well as Cuba's Foreign Ministry and Culture Ministry.

There's been a lot of U.S. interest in Cuba's emergency management programs since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005. While the island is frequently slammed by hurricanes, its official death tolls tend to be far below those of neighboring countries, mostly thanks to a highly-disciplined evacuation system that will go block-by-block to account for every resident. That success was held up in stark contrast to the humanitarian and logistical disaster of Katrina.

Cuba's approach probably would have saved a lot of lives in New Orleans if it had been in place when Katrina struck the city in 2005. But it's questionable whether the no-nonsense model would work in a major U.S. city, where stubborn homeowners might not be so willing to accept of the kind of stern mandatory evacuation policies that minimize loss of life here.