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Media barred from covering
gala at Cuban Interests Section
Free Society Project, Tuesday, June 21,
2005.
Last Saturday night Cuban officials prevented
a reporter and photographer from the Social
pages of a major Washington, D.C. daily
from covering a widely advertised party
at the Cuban Interests Section.
Professionals in the City, the group organizing
the black tie event, had told the Washington
Times they would be welcome. When the reporters
arrived at the door of the mansion housing
Cuba's diplomatic mission, Cuban officials
refused to let them in.
Guests with pre-paid tickets were asked
for their names and checked against a list
of political opponents as they arrived.
As partygoers savored a Cuban buffet, drank
"mojiots" and danced, a group
of ten peaceful democracy advocates who
had blended in with the crowd was expelled
within minutes of distributing cards allusive
to repression in Cuba. Three managed to
remain for over a half hour longer seemingly
undetected.
The hosts had their own photographers
taking pictures of guests as they arrived
and during the party. Selected photos were
posted on Professional in the City's website
by Sunday morning.
Journalists and news organizations such
as The Washington Times, that report human
rights abuses and cover issues deemed too
critical of the Castro regime, are commonly
denied visas to enter Cuba. Occasionally,
foreign journalists who meet with dissidents
on the island have been interrogated expelled,
and their notes and cameras confiscated.
Cuba is a Communist state where only the
official government and Communist Party
media is authorized. Books, publications,
and information are banned or heavily censored.
Local independent journalists and small
news agencies that have sprouted since the
early 1990s are refused official recognition
and submitted to a litany of abuses including
denial of work, harassment of their families,
and attacks. Dozens are serving long prison
sentences and subjected to torture. Many
have been forced into exile. See more on
Committee to Protect Journalists, http://www.cpj.org,
Reporters Without Borders, http://www.rsf.org,
and http://www.bibliocuba.org.
For more on Saturday's gala, see James
Morrison, "Cuban hustle," Embassy
Row, The Washington Times, June 21, 2005;
Jay Nordlinger, "Surprise," Impromptus,
National Review, June 21, 2005; and www.therealcuba.com.
Contact: Maria Werlau
Free Society Project
Tel. 973.701-0520
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