Distributed by CubaNet
Published in the Miami Herald
Thursday, February 13, 1997,
A TELLING REPRESSION
Attacks on independent journalists by mobs show Castro's
despotism fully.
The old, twisted tyrant is showing his true colors -- again. State- directed mobs in Cuba are accosting independent journalists, hurling obscenities and threats at them and their families. Make no mistake. Such actos de repudio (acts of repudiation) only supplement official acts of repression. In an escalating campaign of terror, thugs from Castro's security police also have arrested, jailed, harassed, and harangued the independent journalists.
The journalists' ``crime'': They are targets for the wrath of Castro, a despot unable to accept his revolution's failure or his declining luster on the world stage. You see, unlike the mouthpieces of Cuba's state-controlled media, the island's independent voices have the courage to expose the totalitarian regime's warts.
That's why on Tuesday an ugly mob hunted Raul Rivero, founder
of CubaPress, an independent news agency. He was one of about
10 journalists subjected to repudiation scenes since Sunday.
That day, security officials summoned eight independent
journalists to
a meeting. Jorge Olivera, the only one to attend, was warned
that he'd be driven from his home, neighborhood, even his
country, if he dared communicate with the foreign press. Only
three weeks ago, security police arrested and interrogated
Tania Quintero and Juan Antonio Sanchez, both of CubaPress.
The anti-press campaign rests on a law billed as Cuba's
response to the Helms-Burton Act. One provision forbids
disclosure of information that could ``benefit the enemies of
the Cuban regime.''
The U.S. report supporting democratic transition in Cuba only upped the pressure. Ironically, as journalists were being arrested, Cuba was trumpeting its recent agreement with Canada, which included a provision for cooperation on ``issues of human rights.''
What human rights in Cuba? The only rights that matter are those of the dictator Castro, let no one forget it. Does anyone still believe that negotiating with a thug state can promote change? No way. Change will occur when independent voices no longer fear repression for reporting the truth.
Copyright c 1997 The Miami Herald