If it wasn't Raúl's greater tolerance of debate that was paving the way for freedom of expression via blogs, then maybe it was a simple case of old-fashioned technophobia: of an ageing leadership (Fidel and Raúl are 83 and 78 respectively) failing to understand the new technology and the way it allows people to express themselves without government regulation. As Sánchez herself said: "This breath of fresh air has dishevelled the hair of bureaucrats and censors. Anyone with a bit of computer skills knows how to get around them." 

So when the Cuban leadership decided to block access to Generación Y in March 2008, Sánchez was able to continue by using an indirect route. "There is no censorship that can stop people who are determined to access the internet," she said. 

Unfortunately governments, no matter how out of touch or threatened they are by new ways to oppose their rule, can always resort to a final form of censorship: violence. Last November, Sánchez was forced into an unmarked car, beaten, threatened and dumped on the street. A Human Rights Watch report published in the same month claimed that Cuban repression, far from ceasing under Raúl, had actually increased. He has become creative with the criminal code, among other things, extending a law which allows the state to punish people before they commit a crime if they seem likely to do so. 

Sánchez, who continues to blog, found herself again in the limelight recently when President Obama responded to a list of questions submitted by her, saying that he would not rule out a visit to Cuba but was not interested "in talking for the sake of talking". 

Brave dissidents like Sánchez will continue to blog until they are physically forced to stop. They may have a greater audience now that the US has lifted a block on the Cubans having an underwater fibre-optic cable from the United States, which should allow more Cubans to get online (fewer than two per cent have internet access at the moment). But a Twitter revolution still seems like a distant prospect.