The men and their wives traveled on official exit permits from the Cuban government, they said. They came to Miami from Havana after a stopover in Cancun, Mexico.
Nogueras and his wife, Betania Abreus, will stay in Miami. Lazo and his wife, Maria Esther Saez, have no sponsors in Miami so they will live in Bismarck, N.D., by direction of U.S. immigration authorities.
Their news agency will continue to operate under their colleagues, the journalists said.
``The repression in Cuba brought us here,'' Lazo said. ``Intense pressure has been brought against Cuba's independent press in the last two years.''
The Independent Press Bureau's founder, Yndamiro Restano, was barred by the Cuban government from returning to Cuba after a trip to Norway in 1995. He has lived in Miami since July 1996.
The situation on the island is critical, the newcomers said, particularly for independent journalists who are often charged by the authorities with ``spreading enemy propaganda.''
``They want to control the independent press and get rid of the more professional and aggressive journalists,'' Nogueras said. But his and Lazo's departures won't halt the spread of independent journalism, he added.
``A seed was planted and gave fruit. Others remain,'' he said.
Nogueras was granted a permanent visa by the United States last year, but the Cuban government didn't give him an exit permit until this month.
Lazo said his colleagues in Cuba will fight to the last to secure their gains in the information battle with the Cuban government.
``We managed to break the information barrier,'' Lazo said. ``For the first time, they lost control of their lies.''
Havana is going through a period of heightened tension, in the wake of several explosions at major hotels in the past four months, the Cubans said.
The government has cracked down on dissidents and independent journalists, blaming them for the bombings and alleging that they're aided by people in the United States, they said.
As an example, they cited the arrest in mid-July of four leaders of the Domestic Dissidence Working Group, a federation representing 14 of the largest opposition groups in Cuba. The four are still in prison.
``The bombs don't scare the people. They scare the tourism industry and worry the government,'' Lazo said. ``The people wouldn't mind hearing a blast every day, if the ration cards and arbitrary sentences are eliminated, and if the chaos is brought to an end.''
Copyright © 1997 The Miami Herald