"Dateline Havana," by Jacob Bernstein
10/30/97,John Suarez, FREE CUBA Foundation Miami
Jacob Bernstein's "Dateline Havana" (October 16) offered a point of view that one rarely has the honor of experiencing: men risking everything to get at the truth. Sadly, in Cuba today such things as honor and integrity get you thrown in prison or driven into exile.
In early October I briefly met Olance Nogueras at a conference at Florida International University. When I see a journalist such as Nogueras, it amazes me that people still question the bravery of men and women in Cuba. Even though he had no First Amendment to protect him, he kept digging and continued to do his investigative pieces.
People like Nogueras, born and reared after the revolution, have not become the "new men" Castro raved about, but rather men and women who hold on to what it is to be free and human. More than a century ago, José Martí said to honor that which is honorable. Therefore I honor the independent journalists who have fought the fight for truth inside the lie that is Castro's Cuba.