HAVANA, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Cuba's communist authorities, explaining the disappearance from newsstands of some glossy foreign magazines, said on Thursday only publications ``not damaging to our culture and ideology'' could be circulated.
Over the last few weeks, a number of well-known foreign lifestyle and society magazines, such as ``Hola,'' ``Cosmopolitan'' and ``Vanidades,'' which were being sold in Havana through a few state-controlled newsstands open to the general public, had suddenly ceased to be available there.
Although sold in hard-currency, thus making them inaccessible to most Cubans who earn Cuban peso salaries, these publications had a small but enthusiastic readership among Cubans with dollars.
Their disappearance raised speculation they had been withdrawn for ideological reasons by Cuba's government, which tightly controls national media and publishing and whose President Fidel Castro has frequently criticised western-style ``consumer'' societies and their habits.
Asked about this at a weekly news briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alejandro Gonzalez said ``some points (of sale of publications) have been withdrawn for reasons of organisation.'' He did not specify what these reasons were.
``Publications which are not damaging to our ideology and our culture continue to circulate and will continue to circulate,'' Gonzalez added.
Although pressed by foreign reporters, he declined to give examples of what constituted ``damaging.''
In a recent encounter with visiting U.S. news editors, Cuba's President Castro had signalled his dislike of certain kinds of foreign publications, saying he was not in the habit of reading ``pornographic and sensationalist'' magazines.
Gonzalez said foreign publications would continue to be available in hotels catering for foreign tourists and could also be obtained, by subscription through a state-controlled distributor, by diplomats and foreigners working in Cuba.
Asked if the purpose of the sales point reorganization was to restrict the access of the general Cuban public to certain kinds of publications, Gonzalez said every country had the right to defend its own culture and ideology.
``I frankly don't have time to read this kind of publication,'' he said, although he did not explain why others should be prevented from doing so.
``The state is not divorced from the people,'' he added as a form of explanation.
Gonzalez said the circulation of published material in Cuba was governed by a register operated by the Cuban Book Institute, a state entity.
15:08 11-26-98
Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited