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Dear readers:
From Cuba, in Manuel David Orrio's article - THE FESTIVAL AND MR.
BORREGO,
included at the end of this message - Mr. Orrio makes the following
challenge to
Mr. Borrego of the official Cuban newspaper Granma:
"In passing, I present this proposal to the festival delegate: to
debate me, via CubaNet—that 'counterrevolutionary' undertaking that
dares
to do what no medium of mass communication belonging to the government
does;
namely, to air all different types of opinions and leanings, those of the
officious Cuban press included. Without censorship or fear, that is,
because
for CubaNet:
'Only oppression should fear the full exercise of freedom.' No CIA
agent
said that; it was Jose Marti [the father of Cuban independence] who so
indicated. Did you know this, Mr. Borrego? Or would the correspondent
and
festival delegate prefer—were he to accept my proposal—to use a
radio
station like Radio Rebelde? For my part, I would be delighted."
CUBANET ASKS THAT READERS SUPPORT THE
AUTHOR'S CHALLENGE TO MR. BORREGO BY
SENDING COPIES OF THIS ARTICLE TO THE
FOLLOWING E-MAIL ADDRESSES OF THE "GRANMA" NEWSPAPER:
PGRANMA@CENIAI.CU
GRANMAI@TINORED.CU
GRANMA@TELEDA.GET.CMA.NET
REDAC@GRANMAI.GET.CMA.NET
The CubaNet Board of Directors
From Cuba
THE FESTIVAL AND MR. BORREGO
by Manuel David Orrio; Special to CubaNet News
HAVANA, August 4 - The XIV World Festival of Youths and Students being
celebrated in Cuba will occupy for several days the attention of the
officious
national press. Meanwhile, in the prison cells of Villa Marista and
places like
it, others languish awaiting trial or serving sentences for the peaceful
defense
of ideas. Such are the contrasts in this country, so much endowed with
rhumba-loving mulatto women and Caribbean breezes.
This well-known festival would have provided an excellent opportunity
for
Cubans to compare ideas about their different world views; to initiate a
no-longer-avoidable process of mutual understanding. The occasion would
have
the advantage of providing a respectable collection of witnesses that,
nationality-wise, consist primarily of youths from the United states who
defied
their government in coming to Cuba. They did so, among other reasons, to
defend
their freedoms of expression and movement, sacred values of the
"American
way of life." What will these youths think of the well-known Cuban
censorship? But, as these were not the intentions of the event
organizers, the
opportunity was lost.
It has been made known that, in the gathering of young journalists at
the
festival, a colleague from the officious newspaper Granma attacked the
independent Cuban journalists. We thus have an obligation to respond to
him.
According to the information regarding the discussion which appeared
in the
newspaper:
"Delegate Juan Antonio Borrego, a correspondent for Granma, spoke
about the distortion and manipulation of the truth about Cuba and of the
machinery designed to transmit some 1,300 hours weekly of subversive
propaganda
from the United States. It is a matter of more than 30 frequencies that
hurl
malicious stories at 11 million inhabitants and openly call for social
unrest
and disobedience. Some 75,000 dollars are made available to pay a group
of
unscrupulous individuals who called themselves independent journalists.
Actually, they are neither professionals not much less independent, as
they
serve the interests of mafia gangsters and the enemies of our people,
Borrego
stated."
The [Granma] correspondent stated that the country is subjected to a
"subversive"
bombardment of some 1,300 hours a week of radio transmissions. According
to
information from the October issue of the magazine Envios, published by
UCLA in
Managua, radio stations belonging to the Cuban government transmit some
6,126
hours a week, 2,041 of which consist of informative programming. And this
excludes consideration of the government's control of all other means of
mass
communication in the country, the use of electronic "jamming,"
and the
existence of a law which regulates the citizenry's access to these means
of mass
communication, curtailing any true and general participation in them. Do
they
not belong to the people, as stated in the Constitution? Should they not,
therefore, serve both majority and minority groups alike? Why can't an
ordinary
Cuban have access to the Internet, a sworn enemy of all those information
monopolies that the government of Fidel Castro denounces so much?
Mr. Borrego accused my colleagues and me of this, that, and the other
thing. I shall recall only one of the "malicious stories" that
we
independent Cuban journalists make a habit of disseminating: the cover-up
by
the authorities of the hemorrhagic dengue epidemic in Santiago de Cuba,
even
though it is required that cases of this disease be reported. In my
article, "Cespedes
against the dengue," my personal homage to the independent colleague
that
revealed this major violation of the country's laws, I detailed the
complicity
of the officious press in such scandalous—and
dangerous—episodes. If
Mr. Borrego wishes to acquaint himself with other "malicious
stories,"
he can visit the [CubaNet] Internet address.
I will not dwell on the qualifications and pittances of the free
journalists, about which Mr. Borrego seemed very well informed, judging
by the
news. I recommend that he read my article, "Sperm are we,"
dedicated
to his co-worker Leon Cotayo as well as to certain residents of Miami. In
passing, I present this proposal to the festival delegate: to debate me,
via
CubaNet—that "counterrevolutionary" undertaking that dares
to do
what no medium of mass communication belonging to the government does;
namely,
to air all different types of opinions and leanings, those of the
officious
Cuban press included. Without censorship or fear, that is, because for
CubaNet:
"Only oppression should fear the full exercise of freedom."
No
CIA agent said that; it was Jose Marti [the father of Cuban independence]
who so
indicated. Did you know this, Mr. Borrego? Or would the correspondent
and
festival delegate prefer—were he to accept my proposal—to use a
radio
station like Radio Rebelde? For my part, I would be delighted.
At the closing of the event, in the gathering of young journalists,
the
delegate to the festival from Havana station "Radio Ciudad"
advocated
the need for responsible journalism that considers diverse viewpoints. To
those
able to understand, nothing more needs to be said.
Readers interested in contacting Manuel David Orrio, may send their
mail
to: Requena #8 Apt. 4 (interior), entre Carlos III y Lugaren~o. Ciudad
Habana
10600, Cuba.
CubaNet News Inc. Tel. (305) 774 1887
Fax : (305) 529-2039
P.O. Box 557091
Miami, FL 33255
USA
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