Castro Divides U.S., Independent Journalists

By: Mark Fitzgerald For years, the few Cubans who dared to practice independent journalism could count on two things -- repression from Fidel Castro's State Security agency, and support from the United States.

That support was rarely stronger or warmer than it was during the first years of the Bush administration. James Cason, the chief of the Interests Section in Havana, invited dissidents to his official residence, met with them in their own homes, provided tape recorders and writing materials to independent journalists, and allowed some to use the computers at his office. President Castro threatened to close the Interests Section that operates out of the Swiss embassy, and frequently singled out Cason for derogatory remarks.

Then in March 2003, Castro ordered mass arrests of 75 dissidents, among them private librarians, independent economists -- and 27 journalists. The journalists were run through trials that usually lasted just a day, and were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 14 to 27 years.

Castro's Stalinist show trials of the dissidents had one surprise: several of the most celebrated figures turned out to be State Security agents assigned to infiltrate the opposition. Among them was an undercover operative who was given access to U.S. computers.

Bernardo Ar?valo Padr?n was not swept up in that 2003 mass arrest because he was already in prison. The founder of the independent news agency L?nea Sur Press was nearing the end of a six-year sentence for calling Castro and Vice President Carlos Lage "liars." During his time in the Ariza Prison in Cienfuegos, Ar?valo Padr?n said he was beaten and tortured.

Last April, soon after Ar?valo Padr?n was released from jail, the U.S. Interests Section in Havana granted him a visa to travel to the U.S. as a political refugee. In a call to the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) in Miami last month, the elated journalist thanked the group for its support, and laid out his plans. He would leave Cuba on Aug. 25, stopping first in Cancun, then flying on to Miami. His final destination was to be Fort Worth, Texas, where he had scheduled surgery and other treatments for medical problems he developed while in prison.

On July 14, however, the U.S. suddenly revoked its offer of asylum. Washington had come to believe that he was a Cuban State Security agent.

Ar?valo Padr?n denied the accusation in interviews with reporters from Agence France Press (AFP) and The Associated Press (AP). "'I believe it was State Security that transmitted that information through its agents, who have infiltrated the dissident movement and the Interests Section, to try to neutralize me,'' he told AFP.

Other dissidents told the AP's Andrea Rodriguez that they had suddenly been denied visas, and barred from using computers at the U.S. Interests Section. "I am very surprised and worried about the possibility that the United States' immigration service is adopting unjust measures in the midst of a certain paranoia," the Cuban human rights activist Elizardo Sanchez told Rodriguez.

The IAPA expressed "concern and surprise" about the denial of Ar?valo Padr?n's visa in a letter to the Cuban Affairs Desk at the State Department. "Mr. Ar?valo Padr?n is the journalist who has spent the most years in prison in Cuba," wrote Rafael Molina, chairman of IAPA's Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information.

Molina said a journalist asked by the IAPA to go to the U.S. Interests Sections and inquire about the reasons for the visa denial "was treated rudely and was not provided any answers."

"We kindly request that you reconsider this decision considering that Mr. Ar?valo Padr?n has been one more victim of intolerance by the Cuban government, and as a result, is in a state of limbo that could give rise to unforeseen consequences," Molina wrote.

PAN-AM HIGHWAY

In a relatively calm couple of weeks, much attention in Latin America focused on access and criminal "insult" laws. Reported death threats to a Venezuelan reporter are a reminder, however, of the continuing tense situation there. And impunity remains a scourge of the region, as the IAPA showed again with its demand for action in the 13-year-old case of a murdered Paraguayan journalist.

ARGENTINA

A regional utilities regulatory body is stalling La Voz del Interior on its lawful request to get minutes from a board of directors' discussion last summer, according to the daily newspaper in C?rdoba province. The Buenos Aires-based Association for the Defense of Independent Journalism (PERIODISTAS) reported July 23 that the board known by its initials in Spanish ERSEP has given reporter Marcela Fern?ndez the runaround on her request ever since she began an investigation into allegations the regulator failed to take action when it became aware of nitrate contamination of the water supply in 13 neighborhoods in the city of C?rdoba. PERIODISTAS says ERSEP is stonewalling despite a law and a presidential decree that guarantee the right to access minutes of public bodies.

HAITI

Just weeks after Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF for its initials in French) issued a study saying the press in Haiti is freer since the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, another free-press group, the New York City-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), issued a report saying journalists there "continue to work in a dangerous climate." Conditions are "particularly severe" for journalists sympathetic to the former leaders, CPJ said. The reports of both groups agree that journalists in the rural north and central regions face threats and harassment from former rebels and other illegal armed groups. "At least three pro-Aristide journalists have been illegally detained, a media outlet shuttered, and another forced to suspend new broadcasts. A number of journalists have gone into hiding," the CPJ report, titled "Taking Sides," found.

PANAMA

The newly elected Legislative Assembly has taken the first step in repealing the Constitutional article that underpins its so-called "desacato" laws that make "insulting" or "disrespecting" certain public officials or institutions a criminal offense. The laws have been used to punish journalists for accurate reports that embarrass officials. CPJ said the legislators could finalize passage of the reform starting in September.

PARAGUAY

The Paraguay Journalists' Union (SPP for its initials in Spanish) criticized Vice President Luis Castiglioni for "threatening and attempting to intimidate" journalist Jorge Torres, a reporter with the newspaper Ultima Hora. Castiglioni has announced that he was planning to sue Torres for defamation over a July 12 article that reported the vice president was a shareholder in a contracting firm that won a $7.5 million contract with the state telephone company.

In its latest advertising campaign against impunity, Miami-based IAPA is asking Paraguayan Nicanor Duarte Frutos to help solve the April 1991 murder of Santiago Leguizam?n, a radio reporter believed killed because of his comments about corruption and organized crime along the Paraguay/Brazil border. The advertisements are published in more than 200 newspapers and magazines throughout the Americas under the theme, "Let Us Put an End to Impunity," and demanding those responsible for the murders of journalists are punished. Readers are invited to sign a petition posted on an IAPA Web site, http://www.impunidad.com.

VENEZUELA

The Lima, Peru-based Institute for Press and Society (IPYS for its initials in Spanish) reported Dariana Bracho, a journalist with the Maracaibo newspaper La Verdad, has received telephone death threats several times since a state military prosecutor, National Guard Captain Gherson Francisco Chac?n Paz, summoned her to a July 14 meeting to answer questions about a June 21 article that quoted a military document saying area forces had been instructed not to talk about the presence of Colombian leftist guerrillas in the region. IPYS said the military has been angry at the newspaper since its investigation of the killing of four National Guard troops by the guerrillas last December.