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Threatened
January 19
Luis Solar Hernandez, Bureau of Independent Journalists of Cuba (BPIC), THREATENED, HARASSED
Roxana Valdivia, BPIC, THREATENED, HARASSED
Solar, who covers religion for BPIC, was detained in the town of Ciego de Avila by Cuban state security agents while waiting for a train to Havana. Solar was threatened, and his address book and other personal belongings were confiscated. He was released the next day. State security agents also threatened Valdivia, a BPIC colleague Solar was visiting in Ciego de Avila, and summoned her to appear at the state security offices for violating orders not to receive dissidents in her house. In a press release, CPJ condemned the government's campaign of harassment against independent Cuban journalists.
March
Roxana Valdivia, Bureau of Independent Press of Cuba (BPIC), THREATENED, HARASSED, EXPELLED
Valdivia, a BPIC reporter, was given a verbal ultimatum by Cuban authorities at the beginning of March warning that if she did not secure a visa to emigrate by the end of the month she would be incarcerated on charges of refusing to obey orders to stop her work as an independent journalist. On March 20, she was granted a visa by the U.S. government. During the three weeks Valdivia was seeking a visa, her phone lines were frequently cut, at one point for as long as a week. In October 1995, she was detained for one day by state security in Havana and then was forced to return to her home in Ciego de Avila. She remained under police surveillance and was not allowed to leave her province without securing official permission. In a March 12 letter to Cuban President Fidel Castro, CPJ condemned the harassment of Valdivia and urged Castro to allow independent journalists to operate freely without the threat of harassment and imprisonment. On June 4, Valdivia arrived in Miami with her family after being forced to emigrate. CPJ sent a letter to Cuban President Fidel Castro, protesting what it considers to be the defacto expulsion of independent journalists from Cuba.
May 24
Lázaro Lazo, Bureau of Independent Press of Cuba (BPIC), IMPRISONED, THREATENED
BPIC reporter Lazo was arrested in Havana by two agents of Cuban state security. He was detained for four days in Villa Marista, the main prison of the state security agency, then released. Agents warned Lazo to stop working for BPIC and to leave Cuba.
May 31
Joaquín Torres, Havana Press, THREATENED, HARASSED
Torres, president of the independent news agency Havana Press, was threatened in his home by two members of the state security police, who told him that he would be incarcerated if he continued to write for the agency. Initially, the police informed him that he had received authorization to emigrate and should prepare to leave the country. Torres told authorities, however, that he never sought to emigrate and had no intention of leaving Cuba.
June 9
José Rivero García, Cuba Press, THREATENED
Rivero, a reporter for the independent news agency Cuba Press, was threatened by State Security officials with imprisonment or exile because of his activities as an independent journalist. The security officials, who came to Rivero's home and confiscated a file of press clippings, reportedly were angry about some of his coverage for Cuba Press. They also threatened to cut off his telephone if he continued to file reports to Radio Martí, a U.S.-based radio station funded by the U.S. government.
July 15
Nestor Baguer, Cuban Association of Independent Journalists (APIC), THREATENED, HARASSED
Baguer, head of the Cuban Association of Independent Journalists (APIC,) was summoned by the state security police at Villa Marista, where he was charged with distributing false information and enemy propaganda. Baguer was interrogated for several hours about his work with APIC and about a recent visit to Cuba by CPJ staff expert Suzanne Bilello. On July 16, Baguer reported back to Villa Marista as ordered. He was detained briefly. He told CPJ that security police threatened to bring him before a criminal tribunal if he continued to write articles that they considered “enemy propaganda.” CPJ protested his detention and the harassment of several other independent journalists in a letter to Cuba's president, Fidel Castro.
July 15
Mercedes Moreno, Bureau of Independent Press of Cuba (BPIC), THREATENED, HARASSED
Moreno, a BPIC reporter, was summoned to the state security agency at Villa Marista in Havana and charged with distributing false information and enemy propaganda. She was questioned about CPJ staff member Suzanne Bilello's visit to Cuba, though she never met with Bilello. Moreno was also threatened with criminal prosecution. In a letter to Cuban President Fidel Castro, CPJ expressed its deep concern about the charges against Moreno and the wave of harassment against independent journalists in Cuba.
July 30
Juan Antonio Sanchez, Cuba Press, THREATENED, HARASSED
Sanchez, a photojournalist with the independent news agency Cuba Press, was apprehended by Cuban Security Agents as he left a currency exchange booth at the Havana Libre Hotel, where he had changed US$700 from large denominations into smaller bills. The money had been sent to Cuba Press by the French press freedom advocacy group Reporters Sans Frontières, to support news-gathering efforts. The officials drove Sanchez to the sixth police unit, in the Mariano section of Havana, where he was detained for six hours. They confiscated the money and told Sanchez he had to sign a written statement that he had “received money from the American government in order to finance domestic counterrevolutionary activities.” Sanchez refused to sign the statement. The officials threatened him, saying, “This is nothing compared to what could happen to you.” He was then released.
August 1
Ramon Alberto Cruz Lima, Patria, THREATENED, HARASSED
Cruz, a reporter for the independent news agency Patria, was arrested in Ciego de Avila at the home of Hector Valdivia. Valdivia is the father of Roxana Valdivia, a Patria journalist who was forced into exile with her family in June. Hector Valdivia was also arrested but released soon after. Cruz told CPJ that he was detained and interrogated at the headquarters of the State Security Department for four hours. During the interrogation, Cruz was questioned about CPJ staff member Suzanne Bilello's visit to Cuba in June. At the time of his arrest, police confiscated articles that Cruz had written and threatened to use them as evidence in a criminal prosecution, but Cruz was not formally charged with anything. On Aug. 7, Cruz was summoned to the State Security headquarters and interrogated again, this time for six hours. The police threatened Cruz with charges of enemy propaganda, conspiracy, and practicing journalism illegally. In a letter to President Fidel Castro, CPJ urged the Cuban government to halt the harassment of Cruz and other independent journalists, which appeared to be part of an ongoing campaign against Patria.
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