CUBA
Cuban seems to urge freer press
A Cuban official called for more aggressive reporting of 'the truth of
Cuba' from its state-controlled press.
BY NANCY SAN MARTIN
nsanmartin@MiamiHerald.com
Cuba's chief ideologue is encouraging the state-controlled media to
produce more stories that reflect problems faced by the population,
according to reports from a journalism gathering in Havana.
Rolando Alfonso Borges, head of the Ideology Department of the Communist
Party's Central Committee, also called for greater access to the
Internet and the ''dissemination of the truth of Cuba,'' according to
the reports.
But he also classified journalism as ''a weapon against imperialist
humbugs'' and said that the news media must act ''with and for the
Revolution,'' a long-standing criterion that prevents state-controlled
press from being too critical.
Still, the apparent sanctioning of more freedom within Cuba's tightly
controlled official media led some analysts to speculate that
provisional leader Raúl Castro was opening space for debate, criticism
and reform.
''It seems that they are trying to bring newspapers to reflect the
debate that is going on within society,'' said Uva de Aragón, associate
director at Florida International University's Cuban Research Institute.
``There is some kind of change going on that is not easily perceived
from the outside. These are some of the signs.''
The call for more aggressive journalism follows a speech at the
University of Havana last month in which Raúl Castro told students they
should ''fearlessly'' engage in public debate and analysis of the
island's problems.
In October, the Juventud Rebelde newspaper published an unusual probe
that highlighted widespread corruption among public employees and a lack
of supplies within the state's business sector.
Opponents of the Cuban government were not impressed with Alfonso
Borges' call for openness, made at the eighth annual national Festival
of the Written Press.
''That's pure rhetoric,'' said Héctor Palacios, a top Cuban dissident
jailed in an island-wide crackdown in 2003 who was released last month
for health reasons.
''We still have 26 journalists imprisoned,'' Palacios said by phone from
Havana, referring to independent journalists usually critical of the
government. ``Those speeches are intended to create expectations, but
nobody believes it. Nothing changes.''
Cuban leader Fidel Castro, 80, ceded power to his younger brother Raúl,
75, after undergoing emergency intestinal surgery in July for a still
undisclosed ailment.
In an article Sunday, the Communist Party daily Granma said that Cuba's
journalists must be ``up to the great transformations and needs of the
Revolution. The people must see its problems reflected in our media with
greater frequency.''
''To this end,'' Granma added, ``we demand investigation, richness of
language and creativity, with the concomitant professional and political
responsibility.''
Miami Herald translator Renato Pérez contributed to this report.
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