A Voice Behind Bars

Photo from Payo Libre

Iván García called me at home two weeks ago and was trying to materialize an idea: to open a blog by Pablo Pacheco, an independent journalist and prisoner of conscience since the Black Spring of 2003, sentenced to 20 years imprisonment (to publish what he’s thinking, obviously).

It seemed like a great idea to us, Yoani Sánchez (master of achieving the impossible with 25 kb) was responsible for creating the blog in Voces Cubanas, organizing the categories, and designing the blog; Ciro, a little unsure of his capabilities, made the header (which we haven’t managed to load yet); with a voice recorder I recorded the voice of Pacheco who called me from Canaleta en Ciego de Ávila prison and read me his post; then I downloaded the audio files to the computer and gave them on a flash drive to Iván, who was democratically chosen as “Chief of Composition.”

Despite having everything ready, two long weeks passed between the typical obstacles and the new regulations on the Internet and it took us a little longer than we expected. But now, finally, we can happily say that Pablo Pacheco’s blog—Voice Behind Bars—is on the air.

Here is the unedited recording Pablo gave me for Octavo Cerco, so you can see how a blogger works from a Cuban prison.