New York, March 25, 2003— As part of a continuing crackdown on the independent press and political dissent in Cuba that begun on March 18, Cuban police detained prominent journalist and poet Raúl Rivero last Thursday, March 20, bringing the total number of journalists arrested to 20.

As head of the Cuba Press news agency, Rivero is one of country's best-known dissident journalists and a recipient of numerous press freedom awards.

While Cuban authorities appear to have eased up on the wave of arrests and home searches of government opponents in the last few days, the Havana-based Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation has confirmed the arrests of 75 dissidents since March 18.