Brazilians heckle 'mercenary' Cuban dissident for 'CIA ties'

Groups of protesters met Ms Sanchez when she arrived at two airports in Brazil's north-east.

Demonstrators called her a "mercenary" who was being financed by the CIA and tossed photocopied US dollar bills her way.

Ms Sanchez had taken advantage of Cuba's newly relaxed travel rules to embark on a whirlwind tour of a dozen countries.

Local university students shouted "sell-out" and "CIA agent" as she arrived in Recife.

Other protesters met Ms Sanchez at the Salvador airport in Bahia state and police were called in to protect her when demonstrators interrupted a debate in the nearby municipality of Feira de Santana.

And at the evening screening of a documentary about her about 50 protesters surrounded her the moment she walked through the door, shouting "Cuba yes, Yankees no" and forcing security guards to evacuate her to a nearby room.

Ms Sanchez has incurred cesure from Cuba's government for constantly criticising the island's communist system in her Generation Y blog.

She was starting an 80-day tour after being granted a passport two weeks ago under Cuba's sweeping immigration reforms.

In an interview with Brazilian television, Ms Sanchez claimed that recent reforms undertaken by President Raul Castro have been positive but minimal.

She plans to travel to Argentina, Peru, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic and the United States.