by Frances Robles
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)
24 February 2007
MIAMI - In the harshest crackdown in years on foreign correspondents
based in Havana, the Cuban government has ordered at least three of them
- including the Chicago Tribune's - to stop writing because of their
"negative" reporting.
The government last week ordered veteran Chicago Tribune foreign
correspondent Gary Marx to stop covering Cuba immediately and gave him
90 days to leave the island, said Tribune managing editor for news
George de Lama.
Mexico City's El Universal reported that its correspondent in Havana,
Cesar Gonzalez-Calero, and an unidentified correspondent for the British
Broadcasting Corp. got the same orders. More are expected to follow.
The sanctions come at a tense time for foreign journalists in Cuba.
Although Cuba has always restricted news coverage of its affairs,
reporters on the island say the pressures against filing negative
reports intensified after leader Fidel Castro became sick in July and
was replaced by his brother, Raul.
Raul had been widely expected to be more pragmatic and open to reforms
than his brother, but journalists in Havana have said several have been
called in for extended questioning about their stories since Raul took over.
Former Associated Press reporter Vanessa Arrington said when she arrived
in Havana in 2004 she initially didn't feel any direct censorship - just
difficulty getting information. But after writing two articles the
government disapproved of late last year, Arrington was barred from
high-level government events and news conferences, including the
weeklong celebrations in December to honor Castro's 80th birthday.
"Since Fidel Castro got sick, the pressure has increased, and my
punishment for writing stories the government disliked was, in my
opinion, clearly an attempt to silence other reporters by way of
warning," she told The Miami Herald.
"Foreign correspondents walk a very fine line in Havana. . . . An
ethical journalist must portray all sides of the story, which will
almost inevitably lead to some conflict with the government," she added.
Arrington left Cuba last month after almost three years and now lives in
Arizona.
A 2003 survey by the France-based Reporters Without Borders slammed the
Cuban government's control of the foreign news media, saying the
government regularly exerted pressure through warnings, rebukes and
surveillance.
The report said the government also controlled coverage by restricting
journalists' visas. Any journalist who wants to report from Cuba legally
must obtain a special visa. But the application process often takes
months and involves a background check on the reporters, including
whether they are involved in labor union activity, the report said.
"If you are known for stories that are critical of Castro, you don't get
the visa," organization spokeswoman Lucie Morillon said. "The government
controls all the media. The only thing they don't control is the foreign
correspondents. The reporters have to play a game of cat and mouse with
parameters changing all the time."
In the past, the government has expelled several correspondents, and in
other cases did not renew their journalists' visas or accreditations, in
effect forcing them to stop writing. Recently, the government changed
its annual visa system from an annual renewal to monthly to increase its
controls.
The Tribune is one of a handful of U.S.-based news organizations, such
as CNN and other TV networks, with official permission to work in Cuba.
At a time when waves of journalists are expected to descend upon Cuba
upon Fidel Castro's death, Marx's departure makes the South Florida
Sun-Sentinel - also owned by the Tribune Co. - the only U.S. newspaper
with a Cuba bureau.
The Miami Herald has historically been denied both permission to open a
bureau in Havana and visas to visit and report on the island.
Signs of the government's hardening line on foreign correspondents have
been evident since December, when the Cuban government issued an 11-page
edict that updated regulations on their work.
The document said the International Press Center in Havana may
temporarily suspend or withdraw a reporter's accreditation "when (the
reporter) carries out improper actions or actions not within his profile
and work content."
"This is a sensitive time there," the Tribune's de Lama said.
He said the government said it would be flexible on the 90-day order to
leave, allowing Marx's children to finish the school year this summer.
During that time, Marx will continue to fly in and out of Cuba to
Venezuela and Colombia, the other countries he covers.
A Tribune story on the sanction said the Cubans had said they would
accept an application from another Tribune reporter. "We're obviously
disappointed," de Lama said. "Gary is an excellent, experienced
correspondent who had reported fairly and accurately from Cuba."
In the past month, Marx filed reports about young people's waning
interest in communism, a debate among intellectuals who feared a
government crackdown and a Catholic church activist. Marx also wrote
about a string of Cuban doctors who defected.
Based there since 2002, Marx had been set to leave this summer. "They
said I've been here long enough, and they felt my work was negative,"
Marx told The Tribune. "They did not cite any examples."
El Universal reported its reporter was told his coverage was "not
convenient for the Cuban government."
"At no time did they refute one bit of my information about Cuba in
terms of errors or facts," Gonzalez-Calero told the paper.
BBC Americas editor Emilio San Pedro said the company declined to
comment on the report about its correspondent.
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/news/article/11802/more-reporters-ordered-to-leave-cuba/
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