Cuba’s dissident voices
Posted: Friday, March 09, 2007 2:16 PM
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Havana, Cuba
By Mary Murray, NBC News Producer
This week, the U.S. State Department unveiled its latest report card on human rights progress in Cuba and invited a group of Havana-based journalists to review the findings.
It was not your typical news conference, nor was it staffed with your typical reporters.
Most attending refer to themselves as "independent journalists" – or in other words – dissident voices silent on the island in the face of strict government control of the media. They mostly publish for Miami audiences or Internet outlets the average person here never sees.
Most came by bus and two even hitched a ride on the back of a flatbed truck. As far as I could tell, there wasn’t a car owned among them. Some spent hours traveling to the colossal building on Havana's winding waterfront drive that houses the U.S. Interests Section here.
Most of the attendees never trained as journalists. Instead, they say, they were driven to report the news otherwise ignored here. They come from all walks of life, ranging from two guys who work in sugar cane fields, to a retired college professor of literature, to a married couple who once worked as diplomats but were eventually hounded by the government to quit their posts.
The tools of their trade were simple. No fancy laptops or electronic organizers. Most didn’t use spiral notebooks, just sheets of plain white paper. And they were glad of the free pencils the U.S. diplomats handed out at the start of the news conference.
High cost of speaking out
But the event could not have happened without the benefits of some high-tech gear. Video conference technology beamed the image of Jonathan Farrar, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, onto a large screen. For an hour he reviewed the U.S. government findings and answered questions while seated at a conference table somewhere in Washington.
Little has changed, Farrar said, since Fidel Castro temporarily stepped down eight months ago after undergoing intestinal surgery. The report charges that arbitrary arrest, detention and surveillance to harass government opponents continued. He pointed out that at least 283 political prisoners and detainees still linger behind bars and civil liberties that allow dissidents to protest remain restricted by Cuban law.
To the participants at the video conference, this wasn’t news. Most everyone listening had paid a price at one time or another for advocating a different political way.
What about action?
Perhaps not surprising, it was hard for these "independent journalists" to stay independent. Questions quickly evolved into critiques.
"I appreciate these reports but we never see any concrete action," said Juan Carlos Linares. "What comes next?"
Ahmed Rodriguez, a 22-year-old who writes for the Website "Cubanet," asked if Farrar believed the Cuban government would actually open things up as a result of this new report.
"I can't speak for the Cuban government," was the response from Farrar. "I would hope they would open things up. So far there's been no reaction from the government on the report."
Others at the video conference implied the report didn’t go far enough.
Guillermo Farinas, a frail man leaning on a cane who embarked on a seven-month hunger strike to protest government controls over the Internet, wanted more emphasis on "prisoners of conscience" – political prisoners who are jailed for their thoughts and ideas, rather than their actions.
Former political prisoner Oscar Espinosa Chepe took issue with the section that criticizes the government’s strict control over who can surf the Internet by granting users access solely through "government approved institutions."
The problems are "far more grave than the manipulation of access to the Web," said Espinosa, an economist.
"It’s not enough to say Cubans have no access to the Internet when the issue is more basic. We don’t have the right to buy a computer, even with money in our pockets, unless we buy it on the black market," said Espinosa.
Criticism not reserved for Cuba
His criticisms, though, were not restricted to the Cuban government. He blamed the Bush administration for obstructing the human rights agenda on the island by restricting the ability of Cuban Americans to travel back home. (Under current U.S. policy, Cuban Americans are limited to one visit every three years and first must apply for a government license granting permission to travel. They face heavy government-imposed fines if found to have broken the law.)
"There are Congressional proposals to loosen the travel restrictions on our compatriots living in the U.S. so as they can help their families. This is an important issue for us. It can inject considerable democracy in Cuba and spread the values inherent in U.S. society."
Pulling no punches, he asked Farrar point blank: "What are you doing about it?"
He was told that issue was beyond the scope of the State Department review — a reasonable answer but perhaps not the one this group of "independent journalists" was looking for.
