Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez, recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her work defending freedom of expression, was denied permission to leave the island to visit Brazil, according to the website Terra. The blogger tweeted that this was the 19th time she has been denied the right to enter and leave the country.
Sánchez formally requested to enter the country in a letter to Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff so she could participate in an exhibition of a documentary for which she was interviewed, according to El Comercio. Last week, Sánchez received her visa to travel to Brazil, reported the newspaper El País. Cuban authorities denied Sánchez's travel despite the assumption that an understanding had been reached to allow her to leave the island, reported the magazine Época.
Yoani Sánchez is well known for overcoming the government's restrictions on Internet access to blog about freedom of expression and democracy in Cuba.
