Cuba / Americas

Five years after the Castro government cracked down on the independent press, more than 20 journalists remain behind bars for the crime of free expression.

Interviews by Borja Bergareche

CPJ asked Manuel Vázquez Portal, a Cuban writer, poet, and journalist swept up in the 2003 crackdown, to describe the year he spent in prison before being freed in 2004. He chose to describe his imprisonment in nightmare imagery. Vázquez Portal now lives and works in Miami.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights Adopted by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of December 10, 1948.

Compiled by María Salazar as of March 3, 2008

March 2008 News from the Committee to Protect Journalists

New York, February 28, 2008—The Cuban government should release 22 imprisoned independent journalists in keeping with an international accord protecting free expression that was signed today by Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. Pérez Roque signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which provides “the right to freedom…

New York, February 15, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes news of the impending release of two Cuban independent journalists. Both were imprisoned during a massive crackdown against Cuban dissidents and the independent press almost five years ago. Miguel Angel Moratinos, Spain’s foreign minister, announced today that Cuban authorities would release seven prisoners. Imprisoned journalists…

By Joel SimonIn August 2008, when the Olympic torch is lit in Beijing, more than 20,000 journalists will be on hand to cover the competition between the world’s greatest athletes. Behind the scenes, another competition will be taking place. If the Chinese government has its way, this one will remain hidden. It will be a…