In Russia, Cuba

Published Friday, June 16, 2000, in the Miami Herald

Dictators know that to control people they must first control the portals to their minds, or more specifically, the media. Accordingly, in Russia this week a leading media critic of new President Vladimir Putin has been jailed on dubious embezzlement charges. In Cuba, where thought suppression has been honed for four decades, Spanish-language publishing firms are acquiescing to a steep entry fee for access to Havana's bookshelves -- censorship by the communist regime.

Neither development is acceptable. The United States, its allies and all friends of free expression must challenge these new assaults on a cherished freedom.

Russia's President Putin, who is traveling this week to Spain and Germany, professes ignorance about the Tuesday night arrest of media baron Vladimir Gusinsky. Officially, the charge against Mr. Gusinsky is that he embezzled $10 million from the government in a loan arrangement gone awry. But few people in Russia actually believe that. Mr. Gusinsky owns Russia's only independent television network. His stations opposed the Kremlin in the recent elections and presented unbiased accounts of Mr. Putin's brutal war in Chechnya. Mr. Gusinsky's imprisonment is reminiscent of the Kremlin's old tactics -- summary arrest without due process -- against political foes.

As a result, supporters from all sectors have rallied to Mr. Gusinsky's defense, including leading businessmen, Russian journalists, Putin supporters, President Clinton and Jewish groups who fear that Mr. Gusinsky may have been targeted because he heads the Russian Jewish Congress. Mr. Putin, saying he sincerely is worried, has promised to look into the arrest when he returns. He should do more. He should release Mr. Gusinsky and guarantee that all proceedings against him are open and honest.

Meanwhile in Cuba, Fidel Castro, the master manipulator, demands that publishing firms submit to government selection the books they're allowed to sell in Havana. Shamefully, several Mexican and Spanish publishers are considering the offer. They should reverse course before the dictator's snare is set.

Copyright 2000 Miami Herald

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