Independent Journalists Struggle to Survive in Cuba
Staff Writer
Washington -- Five years after Cuba's communist regime arrested and
sentenced 27 journalists to prison, a small, brave force of independent
journalists continues to work in the Caribbean nation.
The global press advocacy group, Reporters Without Borders, says in a
new report that the "sad" fifth anniversary of what was dubbed Black
Spring brings "some good news: independent journalists, who are more
numerous, braver and better organized, have not given up the struggle."
The Paris-based group adds, however, that Cuban prisons "still hold 23
journalists among the some 240 jailed prisoners of conscience" in the
country.
The group said in a March 14 press release that the report stresses that
those journalists not in prison face "extreme difficulties" in working
in a country "in which the state has a monopoly on news, printing and
broadcasting." Reporters Without Borders calls Cuba the world's
second-largest prison for journalists, after China.
The press release stated that the Cuban regime of Raúl Castro is taking
a "first step" toward allowing more freedom for independent journalists
following Cuba's February 15 release of an independent journalist and
three other dissidents. Reporters Without Borders said that Cuba's March
13 announcement of the lifting of restrictions on individual acquisition
of computer equipment "also represents a very positive step."
Several Cuba experts contacted by America.gov had varying reactions to
these developments.
Jaime Suchlicki, director of the University of Miami's Institute for
Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, is decidedly negative on the
possibility of press freedom in Cuba.
"I would see any openings" for press freedom if the Cuban regime allowed
independent newspapers or independent radio stations to function, and if
the Catholic Church was allowed to have an independent newspaper, said
Suchlicki.
Suchlicki said the Cuban regime maintains a cynical policy of arresting
one independent journalist while allowing three others to be freed from
jail, or vice versa -- arresting three journalists and freeing one from
jail. The release of a few journalists "doesn't mean anything" for press
freedom, he said.
The Cuban regime is releasing journalists, he said, to improve its image
abroad. Sometimes journalists are released after they become very ill in
prison or have completed a long prison sentence, Suchlicki said.
Vicki Huddleston
Vicki Huddleston, former head of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana,
thinks an alternative press could develop in Cuba. (© AP Images)
Such limited steps in releasing a few dissidents are "just to keep the
masses quiet," Suchlicki said. Terming the report by Reporters Without
Borders "premature," he added that he saw no evidence press freedom is
improving in Cuba.
Suchlicki said the Cuban government's allowing its citizens to have
access to computers, but no access to the Internet or to short-wave
radios, has little significance. An individual working on a computer
without access to the Internet is like "working on an electric
typewriter," he said.
Cubans are allowed to access an internal Cuban online network called the
"intranet," which is tightly controlled by the Cuban government,
Suchlicki said. "Not only is it expensive to get on the Internet," even
if the Cuban regime allowed such connections, but very few Cubans can
even afford to buy computers, said Suchlicki.
FORMER U.S. OFFICIAL DISCUSES CHANCE FOR ALTERNATIVE PRESS
Vicki Huddleston, a visiting fellow on foreign policy for the
Washington-based Brookings Institution, said Cuba now is a one-party
state opposed to democracy but that "it will evolve." Huddleston said it
is unclear to what extent the Castro regime will permit an alternative
press to operate in Cuba.
Huddleston, principal officer of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana
from 1999 until 2002, also said the Cuban government's recent comments
and actions "seem to indicate that the regime may take the risk and
allow a more open Internet" in the country because that action could
generate revenue.
Huddleston said Spain has admitted into its country a number of
dissidents, after they were released from Cuba's prisons. She expressed
hope that more Cuban dissidents would be released if the European Union
(EU) and other groups open talks with Cuba.
A group called Project Syndicate, led by Vaclav Havel, the former
president of the Czech Republic, wrote a newspaper article published
March 11 calling on the EU to "denounce human rights violations in Cuba"
and to demand "immediate release of all prisoners of conscience."
Benoît Hervieu, head of the Americas section of Reporters Without
Borders and author of the report, says dissidents face the problem of
Internet access because there are few Internet cafes in Cuba. Another
obstacle is the very high price of an Internet connection there, he said.
Hervieu said he based his report on the findings of a special
correspondent that Reporters Without Borders sent to Cuba. The Castro
regime bars the press group from entering the country.
The press release and full text of Cuba, No surrender by independent
journalists, five years on from black spring are available on the
Reporters Without Borders Web site.
Project Syndicate's article "Our Stand Against Castro's Cuba" is
available on the New York Sun Web site.
On March 18, the United States called for an unconditional release of
prisoners of conscience in Cuba. For details see the full text of the
U.S. statement on the anniversary of Cuba's Black Spring.
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