QUESTIONS FROM YOANI SANCHEZ TO POTUS

C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 000527

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DEPT FOR WHA/CCA, DRL
PASS TO NSC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/26/2029
TAGS: PREL PHUM CU
SUBJECT: QUESTIONS FROM YOANI SANCHEZ TO POTUS

Classified By: COM Jonathan Farrar for reasons 1.4 (d)


1. (C) Internationally renowned blogger Yoani Sanchez (see
profile below) passed us seven questions for POTUS as well as
seven questions she would like to ask Cuban president Raul
Castro, if given the chance. Post believes a response to
these questions would provide significant support to not just
the growing blogger community in Cuba, but to all who fight
for the human right of freedom of expression in oppressive
environments around the world. Post issued Yoani Sanchez a
non-immigrant visa on August 25 to travel to the United
States to receive her most recent award, a special citation
for journalistic excellence as part of the 2009 Maria Moors
Cabot Prize to be presented by the Columbia University
Graduate School of Journalism on October 14. The U.S.
government and the Spanish government have both issued Yoani
Sanchez non-immigrant visas before, but the Cuban government
has refused to grant her the exit permit required for all
Cubans to leave the country. A response to Yoani's questions
on or before October 14 would highlight the Cuban
government's extensive control over what its citizens say and
where they are allowed to go.



2. (C) We provide an unofficial translation of the questions
and Post's draft responses below (the original, Spanish
version of the questions were sent to WHA/CCA via email).

-------------- --------------
Questions for U.S. President Barack Obama from Yoani Sanchez
(with Draft Responses)
-------------- --------------


(INTRO TO DRAFT RESPONSE FROM POTUS)
Let me start by congratulating you on receiving a special
citation as part of the prestigious Maria Moors Cabot Prize
from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
I admire your brave and creative efforts to share your unique
voice with the world, as well as to empower your fellow
Cubans to express themselves, in particular through the use
of technology. I know you are not alone in this effort. I
also want to recognize the many other Cubans who may not have
received the same level of international recognition, but who
are just as bold in expressing their own thoughts, beliefs,
and dreams. The U.S. Government and the people of the United
States join all of you in looking forward to the day in which
all Cubans can freely express themselves, in public, without
reason to fear.

Now, I would like to take some time to respond to your
specific questions.

QUESTION #1: FOR YEARS, CUBA HAS BEEN A U.S. FOREIGN
POLICY ISSUE AS WELL AS A DOMESTIC ONE, IN PARTICULAR BECAUSE
OF THE LARGE CUBAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY. FROM YOUR
PERSPECTIVE, IN WHICH OF THE TWO CATEGORIES SHOULD THE CUBAN
ISSUE FIT?

All foreign policy issues involve domestic components to one
degree or another, especially issues concerning countries
like Cuba from which the United States has a large immigrant
population. The overlap of foreign and domestic concerns
regarding Cuba in particular is enhanced by geographic
proximity and hundreds of years of shared history. Many of
the challenges our two countries share in common, such as
migration, drug trafficking, and economic issues, are both
domestic and foreign policy concerns. Furthermore, the
United States aims to protect and support ideals such as free
speech, human rights, and democratic reform within our
borders and around the world. Thus, U.S. relations with Cuba
are rightly seen in both a foreign and domestic policy
context. Our past, present, and future are too
interconnected for them to be otherwise.

QUESTION 2: SHOULD YOUR ADMINISTRATION BE WILLING TO PUT AN
END TO THIS DISPUTE, WOULD IT RECOGNIZE THE LEGITIMACY OF THE
RAUL CASTRO GOVERNMENT AS THE ONLY VALID INTERLOCUTOR IN THE
EVENTUAL TALKS?

Over the past two years, I've indicated that I'm prepared to
have my administration engage with the current Cuban
government on a wide range of issues. That being said, we
recognize that the current regime is not the only voice on
the island, much like my administration is not the only voice
in the United States. While engaging with the Cuban
government, we will also seek a dialogue with Cubans outside
of government in the same way that we try to engage with
citizens inside and outside of government in every other
country around the world.

QUESTION 3: HAS THE U.S. GOVERNMENT RENOUNCED THE USE OF
MILITARY FORCE AS THE WAY TO END THE DISPUTE?

The U.S. government has no plans to use military force on
Cuba.

QUESTION 4: RAUL CASTRO HAS SAID PUBLICLY THAT HE IS OPEN TO
DISCUSS ANY TOPIC WITH THE U.S. PROVIDED THERE IS MUTUAL
RESPECT AND A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD. IS RAUL ASKING TOO MUCH?

I have said that it is time to pursue direct diplomacy,
without preconditions, with friend and foe alike. Such
diplomacy should create opportunities to advance the
interests of the United States, and to advance the cause of
freedom for the Cuban people. In other words, we do not want
to talk just for the sake of talking. We have already
started a dialogue on one area of mutual concern: safe,
legal, and orderly migration. We have also agreed to talks
on reestablishing direct mail service. These are small
steps, but an important part of a process to move U.S.-Cuban
relations in a new direction.

QUESTION 5: IN A HYPOTHETICAL U.S.-CUBA DIALOGUE, WOULD YOU
ENTERTAIN PARTICIPATION FROM THE CUBAN EXILE COMMUNITY, THE
CUBA-BASED OPPOSITION GROUPS AND NASCENT CUBAN CIVIL SOCIETY
GROUPS?

When considering any policy decision, I think it's critical
to listen to as many voices as possible. Discussions between
and amongst governments are only significant to the extent
that they affect the lives of citizens. So, it is only right
and just that citizens, and not just governments, are
consulted. The U.S. government regularly dialogues with
groups and individuals on and off the island that have an
interest in U.S.-Cuba relations. Many of those groups do not
always agree with the current Cuban government; many of those
groups do not always agree with the United States government.
Most importantly, we need to listen to Cubans living on the
island, which is why everything you are doing to project your
voice and help others do the same is so essential - not just
for the advancement of freedom of expression itself, but also
for people outside of Cuba to gain a better understanding of
your life, your struggles, your joys, and your dreams.

QUESTION 6: YOU STRONGLY SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW
COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES. BUT, CUBANS
CONTINUE TO HAVE LIMITED ACCESS TO THE INTERNET. HOW MUCH OF
THIS IS DUE TO THE U.S. EMBARGO AND HOW MUCH OF IT IS THE
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT?

I believe some previous policies of the U.S. government have
not advanced liberty or opportunity for the Cuban people.
That is why I announced on April 13 a change to U.S. policy
to promote the freer flow of information. We know the Cuban
government allows access to the Internet at tourist
facilities on the island. The government claims they can not
provide similar access to Cuban citizens due to restrictions
in place under the embargo. For our part, this policy change
will authorize greater telecommunications links with Cuba to
advance people-to-people interaction. This will increase the
means through which Cubans on the island can communicate with
each other and with persons outside of Cuba. Now, this will
not happen overnight. Nor will it have its full effect
without the cooperation of the Cuban government. Let's see
how the Cuban government responds. In addition, we welcome
your ideas regarding areas in which we can further support
the free flow of information within, from, and to Cuba.

QUESTION 7: WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO TRAVEL TO OUR COUNTRY?

Similar to the issue of direct dialogue, I would never rule
out a course of action that could advance the interests of
the United States and advance the cause of freedom for the
Cuban people. I think it's important to keep all diplomatic
tools on the table. At the same time, all of those tools
should be used only after careful preparation and as part of
a clear strategy.

--------------
Questions for Cuban president Raul Castro
--------------

QUESTION 1: HOW WOULD AN IMPROVEMENT IN RELATIONS WITH THE
UNITED STATES UNDERMINE THE IDEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF THE
CUBAN REVOLUTION?

QUESTION 2: ON SEVERAL OPPORTUNITIES YOU HAVE STATED THAT
YOU ARE WILLING TO HOLD A DIALOGUE WITH THE UNITED STATES.
ARE YOU ALONE? HAVE YOU DISCUSSED THIS WITH THE REST OF THE
MEMBERS OF THE POLITICAL BUREAU TO TRY TO CONVINCE THEM THAT
A DIALOGUE IS NECESSARY? DOES YOUR BROTHER FIDEL AGREE TO
END THE CONFLICT BETWEEN THE TWO GOVERNMENTS?

QUESTION 3: IF YOU WERE MEETING FACE TO FACE WITH OBAMA,
WHAT THREE THINGS WOULD YOU HOPE TO GAIN FROM YOUR MEETING?
WHAT THREE THINGS COULD THE U.S. SIDE GAIN?

QUESTION 4: SHOULD THIS LONG BILATERAL DISPUTE COME TO AN
END, WHAT WOULD BE SOME CONCRETE BENEFITS FOR THE CUBAN
PEOPLE IN THE IMMEDIATE AND MID-TERM FUTURE?

QUESTION 5: IF THE U.S. ASKED THAT MEMBERS OF THE CUBAN
EXILE COMMUNITY, OPPOSITION PARTIES ON THE ISLAND AND CIVIL
SOCIETY REPRESENTATIVES BE INCLUDED IN A NEGOTIATING SESSION,
WOULD YOU ACCEPT?

QUESTION 6: DO YOU THINK THAT THERE IS A REAL POSSIBILITY
THAT THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION IN THE U.S. WOULD USE
MILITARY FORCE AGAINST CUBA?

QUESTION 7: WOULD YOU INVITE OBAMA TO VISIT CUBA AS A
GESTURE OF GOODWILL?



3. (SBU) Below is Yoani Sanchez's profile as provided in her
blog Generation Y (www.desdecuba.com/generationy).

"Yoani Sanchez, born in Havana, 1975.

I studied for two terms at the Pedagogical Institute,
majoring in Spanish Literature. In 1995, I moved to the
Faculty of Arts of Letters, and after five years finished a
degree in Hispanic Philology. I majored in contemporary
Latin American Literature, presenting an incendiary thesis
entitled, 'Words Under Pressure: A Study of the Literature
of the Dictatorships in Latin America.' On finishing
University, I realized two things: first, the world of the
intellectual and high culture is repugnant to me, and, most
painfully, that I no longer wanted to be a philologist.

In September 2000, I went to work in a dark office at Gente
Nueva publisher, meanwhile arriving at the conviction -
shared by most Cubans - that with the wages I earned legally
I could not support my family. So, without concluding my
social service, I asked to be let go and dedicated myself to
the better-paid labor of freelance Spanish teacher for German
tourists visiting Havana. It was a time (which continues
today) when engineers preferred to drive a taxi, teachers
would do almost anything to get a job at the desk of a hotel,
and at store counters you could find a neurosurgeon or
nuclear physicist. In 2002, disenchantment and economic
suffocation led me to emigrate to Switzerland, from where I
returned - for family reasons and against the advice of
friends and acquaintances - in the summer of 2004.

In those years, I discovered the profession I continue to
practice today: computer science. I discovered that binary
code is more transparent than affected intellectualism, and
that if I'd never really come to terms with Latin, at least I
could work with the long chains of HTML language. In 2004, I
founded, with a group of Cubans all based on the Island,
Consenso, a magazine of reflection and debate. Three years
later, I work as a web master, columnist, and editor of the
site Desde Cuba (From Cuba).

In April 2007, I entangled myself in the adventure of having
a blog called Generation Y that I have defined as "an
exercise in cowardice" which lets me say, in this space, what
is forbidden to me in my civic action.

To my surprise, this personal therapy earned me, in a short
time, the attention of thousands of people around the world.
Thanks to the virtual citizens' network that has woven itself
around GY, I have been able to update this blog every week.
Since March 2008, the Cuban government has enforced a
computer filter that prevents seeing my blog from public
Internet sites in Cuba. So I need the solidarity of friends
off the Island to post my texts on the web. Thanks also to
other volunteer collaborators, Generation Y is translated
into fifteen languages.

In May 2008, my personal exorcism also won me the Ortega y
Gasset Journalism Award in the digital category. I was
chosen by Time Magazine as one of the 200 Most Influential
People in the World in the "Heroes and Pioneers" category,
and my blog was included on the list of the 25 Best Blogs in
the World issued by Time Magazine/CNN. I won the Jury Prize
on the Spanish blog contest, Bitacoras.com, and top honors in
the well known blog contest, The BOBs Awards, with more than
12,000 participants from around the world. The weekly
magazine of the Spanish newspaper El Pais named the 100 Most
Notable Hispanic Americans of 2008 in November of that year;
Foreign Policy listed its 10 Most Influential IberoAmerican
Intellectuals of 2008 in December; as did the Mexican
magazine Gato Pardo. Your humble servant is included in each
of these lists. Much more than I could have dreamed of, when
I started to combine sentences to upload my first post!

I live in Havana, I opted to stay and every day I am more a
computer scientist and less philologist."
FARRAR