Guttenberg resident forms local information gathering medium
By: Jim Hague. Reporter staff writer August 05, 2001
When he was growing up in his native Cuba, Sergio Gatria was always
fascinated by the work of Cuban journalists.
"I knew a lot of them," said Gatria, who has resided in Guttenberg
for the last 30 years. "I knew a lot about gathering news and reporting
news."
In the 1950s, Gatria also became involved politically, backing the new
revolutionary regime of a fledgling leader named Fidel Castro and denouncing the
government headed by then-Cuban President Antonio Batista.
"I was anti-Batista at first," Gatria said. "I didn't know
better."
After seeing the atrocities that Castro inflicted upon Cuban dissenters at
the time of the overthrow, Gatria had enough and fled to the United States. He
was able to secure a job with Citibank in New York and worked his way up to a
vice-president until the time of his retirement two years ago.
However, Gatria still had the interest in news reporting. Recently, he made
the first step to combine two of his keen interests - reporting and the love of
his native land.
Gatria has formed a local organization, the Cuban Information Center (Centro
Cubano de Informacion), which will collect news from reporters inside Cuba that
is not censored by the government.
Generally, all news items released from Cuba have to be approved by the
Castro regime. They are usually edited and altered to try to give the impression
that life in Cuba isn't as bad as reported by other dissenters.
"The government doesn't want anyone to know what really happens,"
Gatria said. "Any news that comes out of Cuba is usually intercepted by the
government. But we have reporters, people inside Cuba, that are covering the
entire island. They're calling us with information and we're trying to get the
word out."
Gatria said that the organization, which began operation last month, was
established with the objective of providing an alternative, unbiased news
service to Cuba's growing independent news organizations, dissident groups and
non-governmental organizations, as well as the international media.
Secret phone calls
Gatria said that he receives phone calls from reporters throughout secret
locations in Cuba and they feed Gatria reports that he audio tapes. Then, he
transcribes the tapes and sends out the reports via fax and e-mail to several
different news organizations.
In time, Gatria hopes to establish a website where Internet visitors can
download the actual reports.
"As soon as we receive the information, we will put it on the website,"
Gatria said. "We [also] transmit it all over the world, to places like
Europe, Spain and Italy. We want to inform people of the horrible things that
the Castro government continues to do. People are getting arrested illegally."
For example, Gatria found out that there were Cuban residents who held an
impromptu memorial for 43 people who drowned in a boating accident, a boat that
was reported to had been sunk by the Cuban government.
"Of the 43 people who died, 22 were children," Gatria said. "Some
people held a memorial in honor of the people who died and the government put
the people in jail for two days."
Gatria also received reports from Maritza Lugo, who is considered a Cuban
prisoner of conscience and who has served seven years in a Cuban prison for
basically speaking out against the government. Gatria received a letter from
Lugo from the Manto Negro Women's Prison.
"We have to stop the continuous wanton detention of innocent people
whose only crime is disagreeing with the Castro regime," Lugo wrote. "
Stop taking them to inhumane prison cells where they are physically and
psychologically tortured, as are their family members. They are kept in prisons
for an arbitrary and undetermined amount of time, living among common dangerous
criminals and exposed to all kinds of risks."
Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) recently read Lugo's letter on the
floor of the U.S. Congress.
Gatria said that his organization is also examining the plight of journalist
Jose Orlando Gonzalez Bridon, who has been incarcerated for two years for
allegedly distributing "false information." Gatria has addressed the
Committee to Protect Journalists about the Bridon case.
Gatria said that two local news organizations, the Spanish-speaking WADO
Radio and All-Spanish News radio 1380 AM, are interested in broadcasting
Gatria's reports from Cuba.
"We're just happy to be able to report the real news from Cuba,"
Gatria said. "These stations are looking into the idea to put the reports
right on the air. The reporters we have are not afraid to do it and they're
willing to do it, as long as we get the news out."
Gatria said that the CCI has a news-gathering branch in Miami as well, but
it was important to have a headquarters in northern New Jersey, where there is
such a heavy Cuban population.
"This is just the beginning," Gatria said. "We're just
starting. We need people who are willing to work with us and trust us."
Of course, Gatria is also looking for funding from Cuban-Americans who would
be willing to help with his news gathering project.
"We need money if we're going to start the website," Gatria said. "That's
what we're working on right now. I think there are a lot of people who are
interested in getting news from Cuba and are happy that we're doing this."
For further information about the Cuban Information Center, call Gatria at
869-4747 or via e-mail at cubinfocen@aol.com.
©The North Bergen Reporter 2001 | 
