Against the odds, a vibrant culture of independent blogging and online journalism has emerged in Cuba. In a new report, Carlos Lauría and María Salazar examine whether a new era of media freedom is coming, or simply another government crackdown. At right, blogger Laritza Diversant.
Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez was astounded this week by
President Barack Obama’s decision to respond a written questionnaire Sánchez submitted
to the White House. Still recovering from bruises left by a recent vicious attack
by state security agents, she told CPJ from her home in
A basement in the
gray, Gothic heart of the
Last night’s scenario was breathtaking: a circular hall with high ceilings, marble columns, tables draped with heavy tablecloths and soft bouquets, and journalism personalities elegant in cocktail dresses and tuxedos. And poised behind a wood podium, a black screen silently reminding all those present of who was not there.
I share with my fellow Cuban independent journalists the
drunkenness of writing freely under a totalitarian dictatorship; of
experiencing the catharsis of denouncing the regime’s violations; of feeling
useful to my people knowing that, in the long run, what I write will contribute
to a better future.
At the end of the
1990s, Cuban dissidents sought out different media to disseminate the reality
of the island. Reports on violations by a government that proclaims itself a
human rights’ defender begin to circulate around the world, damaging the image
that the socialist state wants to project to the rest of the world. This is how
a movement of independent journalists is born on the island.
A vibrant, independent blogging culture is emerging in
Graciela González-Degard is 72 years old. She has salt-and-pepper
hair, long elegant hands, soft manners reminiscent of another era, and a bad
knee that she blames on age. Once a Catholic nun, Graciela moved to the
Dear Sirs: The Committee to Protect Journalists urges you, as the president of the European Council and President of the European Commission, to take concrete steps to ensure that Cuba complies with the 2008 EU human rights conditions by immediately releasing the 22 journalists currently jailed and by granting freedom of expression and information to all Cubans.
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