President Fidel Castro Ruz's government did its best to stamp out
independent journalism in Cuba this year, promulgating a bill that virtually
outlaws free expression and perfecting preemptive repression.
The Cuban constitution grants the Communist Party the right to control
the press; it recognizes "freedom of speech and the press in accordance
with the goals of the socialist society." Official news is disseminated
through television, radio, or the Communist Party newspaper, Granma.
Since 1995, when the first independent press agencies appeared, a small
number of independent journalists have functioned on the margins of Cuban
society. There are currently about 20 independent agencies operating in
Cuba. Journalists dictate stories over the phone to colleagues outside
the country, who are often Cubans in exile. The stories are circulated
on the Internet, published in newspapers in Miami and in Europe, and broadcast
into Cuba by Radio Martí, the controversial station set up by the
U.S. government in 1983. In the past two years, the Cuban government has
stepped up efforts to jam these broadcasts.
The Castro regime makes life as difficult as possible for independent
journalists. State security agents do not allow them to own a fax machine,
let alone a computer. They habitually detain and interrogate them. They
harass them with threats of eviction. And they monitor their telephone
conversations, regularly interrupting their service.
This year, with social tensions rising and political dissent becoming
more widespread and visible, the government redoubled its efforts to dam
the flow of information from Cuba. One particularly effective legal weapon
is Article 72 of the penal code, which states, "Any person shall be deemed
dangerous if he or she has shown a proclivity to commit crimes demonstrated
by conduct that is in manifest contradiction with the norms of socialist
morality." "Dangerousness" carries a penalty of up to four years in prison.
While Article 72 has been on the books for some years, CPJ had not documented
any cases of journalists being prosecuted under this law since 1995. But
in January, Jesús Joel Díaz Hernández, executive
director of the Cooperativa Avileña de Periodistas Independientes
(CAPI), was convicted of "dangerousness" and sentenced to four years in
prison. On November 23, CPJ awarded Díaz Hernández its 1999
International Press Freedom Award in absentia. (Read
more about this award.) At year's end, three other Cuban journalists
were in prison for another offense: "disrespect" for president Castro.
On February 16, Parliament passed the Law for the Protection of Cuba's
National Independence and Economy (also known as Law 88). The new law
establishes prison terms of up to 20 years for anyone deemed guilty of
"supporting, facilitating, or collaborating with the objectives of the
Helms-Burton law, the embargo, and the economic war against our people,
with the goal of ruining internal order, destabilizing the country and
liquidating the socialist state and Cuba's independence." The law sanctions
those who, directly or indirectly, pass on information to the U.S. government;
collaborate with foreign media; or possess, reproduce, or spread "subversive"
documents. (Foreign reporters are specifically exempted from the law's
provisions.)
Raúl Rivero, Cuba's leading independent journalist, described the
law as marking an attempt by Castro to "put a fence around Cuban reality."
At year's end the law had not yet been applied, although state security
agents used it routinely to threaten independent journalists with long
prison terms. Despite the threats, the independent press was tenacious
in covering trials of dissidents, public protests, and religious activities.
In response, the government continued to shift its media-control tactics
from punishment to prevention.
For example, telephone communications with Cuba were exceedingly difficult.
In February, the state telephone company limited its service to the United
States after Cuban exiles in Miami went to court in an attempt to garnish
the company's foreign earnings. While CPJ's telephone conversations with
sources in Cuba were frequently cut off in past years, this year the majority
of CPJ's calls to Cuba did not go through. One Cuban journalist who tried
to make a collect call to CPJ was told that the number was restricted.
State security agents routinely harassed independent journalists by putting
them under house arrest or by prohibiting provincial journalists from
traveling to Havana to cover stories. Many independent Cuban reporters
reported that their movements were severely restricted in the weeks preceding
the Ninth Ibero-American Summit, which took place in Havana on November
15 and 16.
In the end, this annual gathering of heads of state from throughout the
Ibero-American world proved a turning point for Cuba's independent press.
On November 1, President Castro launched a televised attack on dissidents
and independent journalists that lasted into the early hours of November
2. In his speech, Castro mocked independent journalists and accused them
of trying to destabilize the summit. But Spanish prime minister José
María Aznar and other foreign dignitaries gave several dissidents
and independent journalists international recognition by meeting with
them before the summit started.
Having lost face at the summit, the Castro regime again clamped down on
the independent press at the end of the year. Most of the repression was
nonviolent, with some notable exceptions. On December 10, for example,
CubaPress journalist María Margarita Miranda Cordova was beaten
by a prison guard while in detention to prevent her from covering a political
rally.
Constant harassment forced around 10 journalists into exile during 1999,
bringing the total of exiled journalists to around 40. But despite the
government's best efforts, there were more than a hundred independent
journalists working in Cuba at year's end. Their growing numbers raised
concerns about the quality of local reporting, and members of the old
guard, such as Rivero, proposed the formation of an independent press
association charged with upholding professional standards.
January 6
Lázaro Rodríguez Torres, Habana Press HARASSED
María del Carmen Carro Gómez Habana Press HARASSED
Jorge Olivera, Habana Press HARASSED
Sate security officers detained Habana Press correspondents Rodríguez
Torres and Carro Gómez, and Habana Press director Olivera. All
three were threatened with beatings.
The officers gave their names as Kevin, Arturo, and Vladimir (like many
Cuban security officials, they identified themselves only by their first
names). They raided the Havana home of Estrella García Rodríguez,
which serves as the headquarters of Habana Press, and detained the three
journalists along with García, local writer Jesús Díaz
Loyola, and political dissident Javier Troncoso. The detainees were taken
to the Second Unit of the Revolutionary National Police in central Havana.
The officers told the journalists that they were being detained to prevent
them from covering the appellate hearing of Lázaro Constantín
Durán, a political dissident who was convicted of "dangerousness"
in December 1998 and sentenced to four years in prison. Constantín
appealed his conviction; the hearing was set for January 7, 1999.
Olivera and Carro Gómez were released after several hours, along
with García and Troncoso. After their release, state security officers
prevented all four from leaving their homes until Constantín's
hearing was over.
Rodríguez Torres and Díaz Loyola were transferred to the
headquarters of the Technical Department of Investigations. They were
put in cells with common criminals and were interrogated separately in
the middle of the night. Both Rodríguez and Díaz Loyola
were released in the afternoon of January 7.
January 13
Odalys Ivette Curbelo Sánchez, CubaPress HARASSED
At 6 p.m., two state security officers who identified themselves as Capt.
Oscar and Capt. Alfredo arrested Curbelo Sánchez, a reporter with
the independent news agency CubaPress, at her home in the Rancho Boyeros
neighborhood of Havana. The two officers took Curbelo Sánchez to
the Tenth Unit of the Revolutionary National Police and threatened to
send her back to the provinces if she continued to cover public demonstrations.
They released her at 7:45 p.m.
Formerly a mathematics professor, Curbelo Sánchez began her work
for CubaPress as the Pinar del Río provincial correspondent on
June 16, 1997. She moved to Havana to replace CubaPress's Ana Luisa López
Baeza, who went into exile in October 1998.
In a February 3 letter to President Fidel Castro Ruz, CPJ protested the
Cuban government's ban on journalists covering street protests.
January 15
Pedro ArgŸelles Morán, CubaPress HARASSED
ArgŸelles Morán, Ciego de Avila correspondent for the independent
news agency CubaPress, was summoned to appear before the local chief of
the Revolutionary National Police. He received a warning for "dangerousness"
because he did not work for a state company and lacked a steady income.
Under Article 72 of Cuba's penal code, anyone can be sentenced to four
years in prison for "dangerousness" if he or she shows a "special proclivity
for committing a crime."
In a February 3 letter to President Fidel Castro Ruz, CPJ condemned Article
72 as a flagrant violation of international law.
January 18
Hirán González González, CubaPress HARASSED
González González, CubaPress correspondent in Cienfuegos
Province, was ordered to appear at the headquarters of the Revolutionary
National Police in the town of Aguada de Pasajeros. State security officer
Vladimir Castillo told González González, "I'm going to
put you in prison if you keep on reporting news to Radio Martí."
Castillo also threatened to prosecute the journalist for "dangerousness."
In a February 3 letter to President Fidel Castro Ruz, CPJ condemned the
law against "dangerousness" as a flagrant violation of international law.
January 18
Jesús Joel Díaz Hernández, Cooperativa Avileña
de Periodistas Independientes IMPRISONED
Officers of the Revolutionary National Police arrested Díaz Hernández,
executive director of the independent news service Cooperativa Avileña
de Periodistas Independientes (CAPI), at his home in the town of Morón,
in Ciego de Avila Province. Díaz Hernández started a hunger
strike shortly after he was detained. On January 19, the Morón
Municipal Court convicted Díaz Hernández of "dangerousness"
and sentenced him to four years in prison.
Díaz Hernández appealed the conviction. In a summary session
on January 22, a court in Ciego de Avila confirmed Díaz Hernández's
sentence. His attorney was not allowed to attend the session (Díaz
Hernández was represented by a state-appointed lawyer). On January
28, Díaz Hernández ended his hunger strike.
At year's end Díaz Hernández was being held in the Ciego
de Avila provincial prison, known as "Canaleta," in Morón. His
colleagues report that state security officials routinely confiscate his
writing materials, preventing him from working in prison. He is allowed
to receive only a limited number of visitors.
Díaz Hernández's conviction was based on the fact that he
had previously received six warnings for "dangerousness" under Article
72 of the penal code, which states that a person is considered "dangerous"
if he or she is likely to commit crimes, a propensity demonstrated by
conduct that is in "clear contradiction with the norms of socialist morality."
According to Article 75-1, the police authorities may issue a warning
for "dangerousness."
In 1996, Díaz Hernández was fired from his government job
after the Vigilance and Protection System, a vigilante group tied to the
Communist Party, organized a public rally against him. Such rallies are
known as "acts of repudiation" (actos de repudio). He then started
working for the independent news agency Patria and subsequently founded
CAPI.
In a February 3 letter to President Fidel Castro Ruz, CPJ condemned the
incarceration of Díaz Hernández and demanded his unconditional
release.
In July, Díaz Hernández started another hunger strike, this
one lasting 17 days. He continued to report on prison life, causing state
security officers to threaten him with prosecution under the Law for the
Protection of Cuba's National Independence and Economy, which imposes
jail terms of up to 20 years. Relatives who visited him were frisked and
interrogated. In September, after spending eight months in solitary confinement,
Díaz Hernández was transferred to a section of the prison
where other inmates convicted of "dangerousness" are also held.
In November, CPJ honored Díaz Hernández with an International
Press Freedom Award. Guests at the November 23 awards ceremony in New
York City signed 312 postcards urging President Castro to release the
journalist immediately. And in a January 13, 2000, letter to President
Castro, CPJ requested information about the legal status of Díaz
Hernández and the three other journalists who were then imprisoned
in Cuba.
January 24
Nancy Sotolongo León, Unión de Periodistas y Escritores
Cubanos Independientes
IMPRISONED
Santiago Martínez Trujillo, Unión de Periodistas
y Escritores Cubanos Independientes IMPRISONED
María de los Angeles González Amaro, Unión
de Periodistas y Escritores Cubanos Independientes IMPRISONED
As part of a wide-ranging state crackdown on the independent Cuban press,
three independent journalists were detained over a three-day period to
prevent them from covering a protest march commemorating the one-year
anniversary of the visit of Pope John Paul II to Cuba on January 25, 1998.
Sotolongo León, a correspondent for the press agency Unión
de Periodistas y Escritores Cubanos Independientes (UPECI), was detained
on January 24 and brought to the Department of Technical Investigations
(DTI).
On January 25, plainclothes state security officers detained Martínez
Trujillo, a UPECI photographer, along with dissident Milagro Cruz Cano,
as the two were leaving the headquarters of the independent news agency
Habana Press. They were also taken to DTI headquarters.
That same day, two state security officers who identified themselves as
Oscar and Jesús visited the home of González Amaro, UPECI's
director, and threatened to detain her if she took part in the protest
march.
At 1 p.m. on January 26, three plainclothes state security agents in a
Revolutionary National Police patrol car arrived at González Amaro's
home in the Havana district of Santa Amalia, accompanied by the president
of the local Committee for the Defense of the Revolution, a Communist
Party block association. The officers searched González Amaro's
home and confiscat-ed a tape recorder, cassette tapes, and documents.
They detained her and took her to the DTI.
Sotolongo León, Martínez Trujillo, and González Amaro
were all released on January 29. In a February 3 letter to President Fidel
Castro Ruz, CPJ condemned the harassment, arrest, and detention of independent
journalists in Cuba.
January 28
Ramón Alberto Cruz Lima, Patria HARASSED
State security officers put Cruz Lima, director of the independent news
agency Patria, under house arrest to prevent him from covering a public
event celebrating the 146th anniversary of the birth of Cuban national
hero José Martí. Cruz Lima was not allowed to leave his
Ciego de Avila home until 11 p.m.
In a February 3 letter to President Fidel Castro Ruz, CPJ protested the
government's efforts to prevent Cuban journalists from covering street
protests.
February 4
Marvin Hernández Monzón, CubaPress HARASSED
Three state security officers, who gave their names, respectively, as
Capt. Oscar, Aramís, and Luis Mariano, detained Hernández
Monzón, deputy director of the independent news service CubaPress.
Hernández Monzón was waiting for the bus in Buena Vista,
in Playa Municipality, when the three agents pulled up in a private car
and detained her. They drove her to a state security facility on the outskirts
of Havana.
Hernández Monzón said the officers interrogated her for
more than two hours. They argued that independent journalists are easily
manipulated and never provide positive coverage of the government. They
also asked how CubaPress was financed. After the interrogation, the agents
dropped her off in downtown Havana.
February 16
María del Carmen Carro Gómez, Habana Press HARASSED
Lázaro Rodríguez Torres, Habana Press HARASSED
A state security officer detained Habana Press agency reporters Carro
Gómez and Rodríguez Torres to prevent them from covering
a press conference organized by the Episcopal Latin American Council (CELAM).
As Carro Gómez and Rodríguez Torres were leaving the Habana
Press headquarters at 9 a.m. to attend the CELAM press conference in Playa
Municipality, a state security officer who gave his name as Oscar detained
them and took them to a car, where a state security major was waiting.
The two officers drove the journalists to the Second Unit of the Revolutionary
National Police in central Havana, where they interrogated them about
their education and their journalistic work. The officers confiscated
a draft article by Carro Gómez, as well as her professional credentials
and a membership card from the Christian Democrat Party (PDC). The officers
also confiscated both journalists' tape recorders, along with Rodríguez
Torres' camera.
The officers returned the two tape recorders after listening to Carro
Gómez's recordings. The journalists were freed at 2 p.m., two hours
after the CELAM press conference began.
February 26
Efrén Martínez Pulgarón, CubaPress IMPRISONED
Martínez Pulgarón, a Havana-based reporter for the independent
news agency CubaPress, was detained on February 26 to prevent him from
covering the March 1 sedition trial of Vladimiro Roca Antúnez,
Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello, Félix Antonio Bonne Carcassés,
and René Gómez Manzano.
Two state security officers intercepted Martínez Pulgarón
in Vedado, Havana, and took him to the Technical Department of Investigations.
He was released on March 2.
February 27
Marvin Hernández Monzón, CubaPress IMPRISONED
State security officers and members of the Revolutionary National Police
(PNR) detained Hernández Monzón, deputy director of the
independent news agency CubaPress, from February 27 until March 2, to
prevent her from covering the sedition trial of Vladimiro Roca Antúnez,
Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello, Félix Antonio Bonne Carcassés,
and René Gómez Manzano. The trial took place in Havana on
March 1.
At around 5 p.m. on February 27, a PNR officer arrived at Hernández
Monzón's home in Palmira Municipality, in Cienfuegos Province,
and ordered her to accompany him to a police station. The journalist refused
to go unless he produced an arrest warrant.
Twenty minutes later, four state security agents and the local police
chief arrived at Hernández Monzón's home. She again asked
to see an arrest warrant, but the officers replied that they only wanted
to talk to her. They took her to the police station in the town of Cienfuegos,
10 miles from Palmira. Once there, they filed a case against her for "illicit
enrichment," based on supposed irregularities in the construction of her
house, which actually belongs to her brother.
Subsequently, Hernández Monzón was put in solitary confinement
in a windowless cell. She refused to eat until the next day, February
28. That night, she was placed in a cell with windows. On March 1, a police
captain accused Hernández Monzón of "economic crimes" relating
to the construction of her house. She was told she would be informed within
20 days if the police decided to press charges, but she received no further
notice. Hernández Monzón was released on March 2.
March 1
All journalists HARASSED
Uniformed officers of the Revolutionary National Police and plainclothes
state security agents ordered reporters to leave the area in front of
the Municipal Court in the Marianao district of Havana, where Vladimiro
Roca Antúnez, Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello, Félix Antonio
Bonne Carcassés, and René Gómez Manzano were on trial
for sedition.
March 1
Tania Quintero, CubaPress HARASSED
Raúl Rivero, CubaPress HARASSED
Odalys Ivette Curbelo Sánchez, CubaPress HARASSED
Juan Antonio Sánchez, CubaPress HARASSED
Orlando Bordón Gálvez, CubaPress HARASSED
Héctor González Cruz, CubaPress HARASSED
State security officers detained CubaPress director Rivero and CubaPress
reporters Quintero, Curbelo Sánchez, Sánchez, Bordón
Gálvez, and González Cruz to prevent them from covering
the March 1 sedition trial of Vladimiro Roca Antúnez, Martha Beatriz
Roque Cabello, Félix Antonio Bonne Carcassés, and René
Gómez Manzano.
All six journalists were released on March 2. They all signed certificates
acknowledging that they had been charged with "association to commit a
crime." The journalists said that if covering the March 1 trial constituted
such an association, then they were guilty as charged.
March 3
Raúl Rivero, CubaPress THREATENED
Two state security officers threatened Rivero, director of the independent
news agency CubaPress, with imprisonment.
The officers, who identified themselves as Luis Mariano and Oscar, telephoned
Rivero at the home of CubaPress reporter Ricardo González Alfonso
and told him they wanted to talk with him. They picked him up and drove
him to a house just outside Havana. In the course of a three-hour interrogation,
the officers said that CubaPress reporters would be prosecuted under the
Law for the Protection of Cuba's National Independence and Economy, which
was to take effect on March 15. Passed on February 16, the law imposes
jail terms of up to 20 years for people convicted of advancing U.S. policy
interests. The officers then warned Rivero that they would not tolerate
independent journalism in Cuba.
One of Cuba's most prominent independent journalists, Rivero has endured
sustained government harassment since he left the state-controlled press
in 1988. His movements have been restricted, and he has been repeatedly
threatened, interrogated, and detained.
March 9
Raúl Rivero, CubaPress HARASSED
Two state security officers abducted Rivero, director of the independent
news agency CubaPress, from his Havana home and took him to a local hotel,
where he was interrogated for two hours.
Rivero told CPJ that state security officers, who gave their names as
Luis Mariano and Oscar, began trying to locate him at around 3 p.m. At
4 p.m., they found Rivero at his home and asked him to present himself
at the police station for a "dialogue." Rivero replied that if the officers
wanted to talk to him, they would have to place him under arrest.
At 4:45 p.m., Luis Mariano and Oscar detained Rivero at his home in central
Havana. They drove Rivero to the Hotel Riviera, where they took him to
a conference room. Luis Mariano, Oscar, and a state security officer who
identified himself as Aramís then threatened to jail Rivero under
the Law for the Protection of Cuba's National Interest and Economy, which
had been passed on February 16 and was due to take effect on March 15.
Aramís added that Rivero would receive a 20-year prison term, the
maximum sentence allowable under the law. They told Rivero to give up
journalism and accused him of communicating with U.S. citizens. He was
released three hours later.
May 7
Lorenzo Páez Núñez, Agencia Nueva Prensa THREATENED
District Attorney Iris Leydis summoned Páez, Artemisa correspondent
for the independent news service Agencia Nueva Prensa, to appear before
her on May 7. She warned him that he risked imprisonment if he continued
to work as an independent journalist. Páez reportedly replied that
he was determined to keep working as a journalist.
Páez formerly worked for the independent news service Buró
de Prensa Independiente de Cuba. On January 4, he completed an 18-month
prison sentence for defamation, based on charges that he had published
false information about the national police.
June 15
Luis López Prendes, Buró de Prensa Independiente
de Cuba HARASSED, THREATENED
State security agents accosted López, a correspondent with the
independent news service Buró de Prensa Independiente de Cuba,
at Havana International Airport. The journalist was on his way to Miami
via Cancún, Mexico, for a visit.
The two agents interrogated López, threatened to impede his travel
plans, and demanded bribes. After López reached Miami, authorities
placed three threatening calls to his home in Cuba, warning that he would
be subject to other coercive measures if he continued to work as an independent
journalist.
June 17
Juan Francisco Monzón Oviedo, Lux Info-Press HARASSED, THREATENED
Three men, who identified themselves as Col. Santurio, Capt. Marcos, and
Lt. Liván of the Mariel state security department, threatened Monzón,
a correspondent for the Pinar del Río-based independent news agency
Lux Info-Press, at his home. Colonel Santurio warned Monzón to
quit independent journalism unless he wished to face charges under the
new Law for the Protection of Cuba's National Independence and Economy,
which had taken effect on March 15.
Monzón was extensively harassed in 1999. On January 8, for example,
local officials visited Monzón's home and threatened to arrest
him. Two of them returned the next day and threatened him again. On February
27, Monzón was arrested on a charge of "illicit economic activity"
and held until March 2. Prior to the arrest, security agents had been
keeping Monzón's home under 24-hour surveillance.
August 12
Oswaldo de Céspedes, Cooperativa de Periodistas Independientes
THREATENED, HARASSED
De Céspedes, a member of the news agency Cooperativa de Periodistas
Independientes, was detained by state security agents. He was questioned
by an unidentified colonel, who warned him that he would be charged under
the new Law for the Protection of Cuba's National Independence and Economy
if he continued to work as a journalist.
De Céspedes was released after five hours in detention. He believes
that officials sought to deter him from covering a series of conferences
on civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance that were being held that
week in the town of Párraga.
August 13
Fabio Prieto Llorente, Habana Press THREATENED, HARASSED
A state security section chief summoned Habana Press agency correspondent
Prieto to the local police station in Nueva Gerona, capital of the island
of Juventud. Prieto was then interrogated by state security officers,
who identified themselves as Frank Landa, Ahmed, and Richard.
The three officers asked Prieto to read two paragraphs from the Law for
the Protection of Cuba's National Independence and Economy and told him
he would go to jail if he continued his involvement with Habana Press.
He was subsequently released.
August 23
Berta Mexidor Vázquez, Agencia de Prensa Libertad HARASSED
Government authorities forcibly evicted Mexidor, director of the independent
Agencia de Prensa Libertad news agency, from her home in the Santos neighborhood
of Buenavista, in Las Tunas Province.
Also evicted were her husband, Humberto Colás, his mother, and
the couple's two children. The family was taken to a crowded homeless
shelter approximately 40 miles away. When they arrived, Mexidor's 73-year-old
mother-in-law refused to get out of the car, whereupon the vice president
of the local legislature threatened to drag her out.
September 23
Raúl Rivero, CubaPress LEGAL ACTION
Rivero, director of the independent news agency CubaPress, told CPJ that
Cuban authorities had denied him a permit to travel to Columbia University
to receive a special citation from the Graduate School of Journalism for
"independent reporting in the face of harassment, arrests, and threats
from the government."
He was scheduled to receive the citation at a September 29 ceremony honoring
winners of the Maria Moors Cabot Prize for excellence in reporting about
Latin America. Rivero applied for an exit and reentry permit from the
Interior Ministry after he received the invitation from Columbia University
in June. In early August, the university filed a formal invitation with
the Cuba Interests Section in Washington, D.C.
On September 23, the fourth anniversary of the founding of CubaPress,
Maj. Lázaro of the Interior Ministry (who, like many Cuban security
officials, did not provide his full name) informed Rivero that his application
had been denied. On September 27, CPJ circulated a news alert protesting
the Cuban government's harassment of Rivero.
Officials have repeatedly told Rivero that he may leave Cuba if he agrees
not to return. But Rivero has always been determined to pursue his profession
at home. As a result, his exit and reentry permit applications have consistently
been denied.
October 1
Jesús Zúñiga, Cooperativa de Periodistas Independientes
IMPRISONED, THREATENED
State security officers Oscar and Jesús (identified only by their
first names, like many Cuban security officials) arrested Zúñiga,
a reporter for the independent press agency Cooperativa de Periodistas
Independientes, en route to the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.
Zúñiga was taken to two different police stations and then
to a house on the outskirts of Havana where Cuban authorities interrogate
political prisoners. He was held there for 48 hours. During the interrogation,
officials tried to link Zúñiga to the Miami-based Agenda
Cuba, an anti-Castro organization founded by Cuban exiles.
Zúñiga denied any involvement with the group, but the police
told him that one of its members had been apprehended on a recent visit
to Havana. This person apparently carried Zúñiga's name
as a potential contact. Police released Zúñiga on October
4, after warning him that he might be arrested again in the future.
October 8
Mario Viera González, Cuba Verdad HARASSED
Cuban emigration authorities blocked Viera, director of the independent
press agency Cuba Verdad, from leaving Cuba. Viera currently faces trial
on perjury charges stemming from a 1998 Cuba Verdad article in which he
criticized Foreign Minister José Pereza Chapeau.
The United States granted Viera refugee status in July. Emigration authorities
delivered his travel documents two months later. On October 4, state security
officers Jesús and Angel (who, like many Cuban security officials,
identified themselves only by their first names) visited Viera to inquire
about his travel plans. During the visit, the two officers brought up
Viera's pending trial.
On October 8, Viera was summoned to the emigration office. There, an employee
named Sofía informed him that his emigration clearance had been
withdrawn but that his wife could still travel.
November 7
Hirán González González, CubaPress HARASSED
González González, CubaPress correspondent for the province
of Cienfuegos, was expelled from Ariza, a maximum-security prison in Cienfuegos,
when he asked to meet with independent journalist Bernardo Rogelio Arévalo
Padrón, who is currently serving a six-year sentence for "disrespect"
toward President Fidel Castro Ruz and Vice President Carlos Lage.
González González was accompanied by Cuban human-rights
activist Iranso Montano González. The two men were initially admitted
to the prison. But when they asked to meet with Arévalo Padrón,
state security officers expelled them. They also warned González
González, who often reports on prison conditions for CubaPress,
not to come back.
November 8
Luis Alberto Lazo Barrego, Agencia Nueva Prensa THREATENED
State security agents detained Barrego, chief correspondent for the independent
news agency Agencia Nueva Prensa, in the town of Artemisa. He was taken
to a detention center on the outskirts of Artemisa and held there for
three hours.
The agents warned Barrego against traveling to Havana or associating with
groups of people. It is likely that they wanted to prevent him from covering
the Ninth Ibero-American Summit, a gathering of heads of state from throughout
the Ibero-American world that took place in Havana on November 15 and
16.
November 9
María del Carmen Carro Gómez, Habana Press HARASSED
Three men, who identified themselves only as Heriberto, Jesús,
and Marcos, detained Habana Press reporter Carro Gómez and took
her to a state security facility on the outskirts of Havana. There, officers
interrogated her regarding her work with Habana Press, particularly her
recent interview with opposition leaders Clara Morales and José
Aguilar Hernández.
According to Carro Gómez, the purpose of the interrogation was
to discourage her from conducting any further interviews with Morales.
Officers subsequently transferred Carro Gómez to the local police
precinct in the town of Guanabacoa, where she was held overnight. She
was released the following day, but armed guards remained stationed outside
her home until later that afternoon.
November 10
Angel Pablo Polanco, Noticuba IMPRISONED
Polanco, formerly a member of the press agency Cooperativa de Periodistas
Independientes, and now director of the newly-founded press agency Noticuba,
was arrested outside his home in Havana on his way to cover a protest
march organized by 11 Cuban human-rights organizations in anticipation
of the Ninth Ibero-American Summit conference, which Cuba hosted on November
15 and 16 in Havana.
State security officers stationed themselves outside Polanco's home before
sunrise on November 10. When the journalist left his home later that morning
and informed the guards that he intended to cover the march as a news
event, he was arrested and taken to a detention center in Havana. He was
held there "pending investigation" and confined to a dark cell.
Officials denied Polanco access to an attorney. His family was not informed
of his arrest, even though he required daily medication to treat his glaucoma.
Polanco is also physically handicapped owing to a childhood bout with
polio.
Three days after his arrest, Polanco fell ill and was taken to the Carlos
J. Finlay Municipal Hospital, where he remained under guard until his
release on November 17. He was told that he would certainly be arrested
again if he continued working as an independent journalist.
November 11
Víctor Rolando Arroyo, Unión de Periodistas y Escritores
Cubanos Independientes IMPRISONED
State security agents arrested Arroyo, a journalist, author, and member
of the Unión de Periodistas y Escritores Cubanos Independientes,
a Cuban writers' association, while he was on his way to cover a meeting
of independent farmers in the Matanzas town of Perico. Cuban independent
farmers raise crops for private sale, and it appears that the Communist
regime did not want their meeting to be covered.
According to his mother, Arroyo was held in a prison in Pinar del Río.
He was released on November 16.
November 14
Rodolfo Santiago Santana Rodríguez, Agencia de Prensa Libre
Oriental HARASSED
Police officer Armando Saboreaux and three other officers arrested Santana,
director of the independent press service Agencia de Prensa Libre Oriental,
and took him to the local police station in the José Martí
district of Santiago de Cuba. He was held there "under investigation"
until his release, shortly after the Ninth Ibero-American Summit ended
on November 16. The detention was apparently intended to prevent Santana
from covering the summit.
Cuban officials had been harassing Santana all year. In June, police arrested
the journalist at the home of his in-laws and took him to the Department
of Intelligence in Vista Alegre, where he was held briefly and then released.
On September 26, police detained Santana for three hours and confiscated
his tape recorder and camera. The police demanded that he produce ownership
papers for the equipment. Santana explained that the recorder and camera
were gifts from foreign colleagues and that he did not have proof of ownership.
On November 11, he was arrested and held overnight.
November 14
María Margarita Miranda Córdova, CubaPress HARASSED
Two state security officers detained Miranda, a correspondent for the
independent news agency CubaPress, on her way home from covering a vigil
to protest the plight of political prisoners in Cuba. The officers, who
identified themselves as Guillermo and Alberto, intercepted Miranda and
forced her into their car, where she was interrogated for two hours and
then released.
The officers confiscated an audiotape that Miranda had made of the vigil.
They also made thinly veiled threats against her children. Miranda later
told CPJ that the officers wanted her "to abandon journalism that is free
of government control."
December 16
Juan González Febles, Agencia Nueva Prensa IMPRISONED
Adela Soto Alvarez, Agencia Nueva Prensa IMPRISONED
María del Carmen Carro Gómez, Habana Press IMPRIONED
Santiago Martínez Trujillo, Unión de Periodistas
y Escritores Cubanos Independientes IMPRISONED
Meri Miranda, CubaPress HARASSED
Osvaldo de Céspedes, CubaPress HARASSED
Ricardo González Alfonso, CubaPress HARASSED
Alida Viso Bello, CubaPress HARASSED
María de los Angeles González Amaro, Unión
de Periodistas y Escritores Cubanos Independientes HARASSED
Amarylis Cortina, Cuba Verdad HARASSED
In an apparent attempt to block press coverage of an anti-government demonstration
scheduled to take place in Havana on December 17, state security officers
arrested four journalists in the afternoon of December 16 and placed six
more under house arrest the following morning.
Sources in Cuba reported that reporters González Febles and Soto
Alvarez of the independent news agency Agencia Nueva Prensa, reporter
Carro Gómez of Habana Press, and photographer Martínez Trujillo
of the Unión de Periodistas y Escritores Cubanos Independientes
(UPECI), were all taken into custody at approximately 4 p.m. Six other
journalists--Miranda, De Céspedes, González Alfonso, and
Viso of CubaPress, González Amaro of UPECI, and Cortina of the
independent news agency Cuba Verdad--were placed under house arrest on
the morning of December 17.
Cuban authorities apparently wished to block press coverage of a peaceful
protest march scheduled to coincide with the celebration of San Lázaro,
a holiday honoring a Catholic saint who is reputed to heal the sick and
answer the prayers of the desperate. In a typical Cuban government move,
journalists were rounded up ahead of time to prevent them from covering
the event.
CPJ released news alerts about the case on December 17 and when the four
detained journalists were released, on December 21. The other six journalists
were confined to their homes until after the end of the festival.
December 23
The Miami Herald LEGAL ACTION
National Conference of Editorial Writers LEGAL ACTION
The Cuban government denied representatives of The Miami Herald
visas to visit Cuba with a delegation from the National Conference of
Editorial Writers (NCEW), scheduled for the last week of January 2000.
The Herald had submitted a visa application for Susana Barciela,
a Cuban-American member of the paper's editorial board, and had offered
editorial-page editor Tom Fiedler as an alternate. But on December 23,
the NCEW informed Fiedler that both visa requests had been rejected.
A December 28 Herald editorial called the rejection "another example
of the Castro regime's determination to try to control the flow of information
from the island by selecting who can report it." Cuba has denied visas
to Herald journalists for years; the paper was also denied permission
to cover the Ninth Ibero-American Summit, which took place on November
15 and 16.
On January 6, the NCEW announced that Cuba had decided to deny visas to
all 38 members of the NCEW delegation. The Castro government gave three
reasons for this decision: the Herald's effort to join the trip;
a statement by a NCEW representative to a Herald reporter expressing
disappointment that the paper had been denied a visa; and concern that
NCEW members were making "parallel" reporting arrangements, with assistance
from the U.S. State Department, separate from the official briefings arranged
by the Cuban government.