Cubans: Direct Line to Readers
Since 1995, when the first independent news agencies emerged in Cuba, dozens of journalists have fled the country to escape harassment, threats, detention, or jail. Many have settled in the United States or Spain, where some continue to work as journalists. Manuel Vázquez Portal, who won CPJ’s 2003 International Press Freedom Award, settled in Miami…
The Philippines: Amid troubles, a rich press tradition
The pivotal role of the Philippine press in the nation’s history is a point of pride among journalists. The newspaper La Solidaridad, published in Spain and distributed to intellectual reformers in the Philippines, was a mouthpiece for revolutionary sentiment against the Spanish at the end of the 19th century. One of its principal contributors, the author and national hero José Rizal, was executed by the Spanish in 1896 for being the intellectual inspiration for the independence movement.
Don’t play along with Castro’s cynical game
This article originally appeared in The International Herald Tribune December 13, 2004 www.iht.com/opinion.html NEW YORK–When Raúl Rivero was released from prison and reunited with his family in Havana last week, newspapers around the world published photographs of the smiling Cuban writer embracing his wife, Blanca.