Universal

Universal / Yoani Sanchez
Posted on May 23, 2013

sif2013Someone sitting at the table behind spoke in French, while in
chairs at the side two Brazilians exchanged ideas. Two steps further on
some activists from Belarus were talking with some Spaniards who had
also come to the Stockholm Internet Forum. An event that began on May 21
in the Swedish capital bringing together people interested in digital
tools, social networks and cyberspace. A real Tower of Babel where we
communicate in the lengua franca of technology. The global and virtual
village is now contained in an old factory on the edge of the sea. And
in the midst of this back and forth of analysis and anecdotes, are six
Cubans, also willing to contribute their labor as cyber activists.

This is without a doubt the most enjoyable stage of my long journey and
not because other places haven't been filled with beautiful impressions
and lots of hugs, but because here I have met up with several colleagues
from the Island. Some of the people who, in our country have grabbed
hold of new technologies to narrate and to try to change our reality,
today are gathered here. The young attorney Laritza Diversent, the
director of Estado de SATS, Antonio Rodiles, the keen blogger Miriam
Celaya, the information engineer Eliecer Avila, and joining us for one
day as well, the independent reporter Roberto Guerra. Here in Stockholm
it has felt rather like Cuba, though certainly not because of the weather.

The Internet Forum has allowed us to feel like citizens of the world, to
share experiences with those who live in different situations but, in
essence, surprisingly similar ones. It's enough to chat with another
attendee for a little while, or to listen to a talk, to realize that in
every word spoken here is the eternal human quest for knowledge,
information… freedom. Expressed on this occasion through circuits,
screens and kilobytes. This meeting has left us with the sensation that
we are universal and that technologies have made us into people capable
of transcending our geography and our time.

23 May 2013

http://translatingcuba.com/universal-yoani-sanchez/