March 18 2003 to March 18 2006 Three years after black spring the independent press refuses to remain in the dark

16 March 2006

March 18, 2003 to March 18, 2006 : Three years after "black spring" the
independent press refuses to remain in the dark

On March 18, 2003, an unprecedented wave of repression broke over Cuban
dissidents. For three days, ninety opponents of the regime were arrested
on grounds that they were "agents of the American enemy." Among them
were twenty-seven journalists. Nearly all of them were tried under the
"88 Law" of February 1999, which protects the "national independence and
economy of Cuba," and were given prison sentences ranging from 14 to 27
years.

This "black spring" dealt a heavy blow to Cuba’s independent press,
which had started to emerge on the island in the early 1990s with the
creation of small news agencies. Since the latter’s founders and
directors who had been thrown in jail, many journalists preferred to
give up their profession or opt for a life of exile. Did independent
journalism die out in Cuba that day ?

Three years after the crackdown, Reporters Without Borders wanted to
take stock of the situation. Unable to send representatives to Cuba, the
organization contacted journalists who were still living on the island,
or in exile, members of an agency or freelancers, families of jailed
dissidents and media outlets - such as Internet websites, radio
stations, and publications - most of whom are based in Miami (the second
largest Cuban city in the world, with close to 3 million nationals),
Puerto Rico, and Madrid. Although it is difficult at present to estimate
the exact number of working journalists in Cuba, and their working
conditions are even more precarious in the wake of a new wave of
repression that has begun to spread across the country, the unofficial
Cuban press has not given up. In fact, it constitutes the top news
source on the status of human rights on the island. However, its
clandestine situation has forced it to be a press "from the inside for
the outside", one nearly inaccessible to those whom it covers on a daily
basis.

Cuba Report:
http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/cuba-en-hd.pdf

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=16771