Yoani Sanchez, 32, has gained a worldwide following for the independent blog she writes from Havana. Wednesday evening she was supposed to be in Madrid receiving the Ortega y Gasset prize for digital journalism. But her request to travel to Spain to accept the award was not approved by the Cuban authorities; they are clearly annoyed by the attention her critical writing has received.

Here is the URL of Sanchez' blog: http://www.desdecuba.com/generationy/