The Committee to Protect
Journalists, February 28, 2001.
New York, February 28, 2001-Police and state security agents yesterday
attacked Reuters journalists Alfredo Tedeschi and Andrew Cawthorne with batons
while they covered an incident in front of the Mexican embassy in Havana.
A group of Cuban citizens used a bus to crash into the gates of the embassy
in hopes of seeking asylum, according to international news reports.
Police chased, beat, and detained several onlookers who had congregated
outside the embassy. Two Reuters journalists were caught in the fray: Tedeschi,
a cameraman, was beaten to the ground by police, and his camera was taken.
Cawthorne, Reuters' Cuba correspondent, was beaten on the arm and back.
Although violent attacks against journalists in Cuba are unusual, Reuters
reported that police and state security agents aggressively moved foreign media
workers away from the scene, calling them "sons of bitches."
Plainclothes state security agents and police with dogs later cordoned off an
area of several blocks around the embassy, banning access to journalists and
passersby.
"We condemn this attack on the press and urge the Cuban government to
take action against the officials who perpetrated it," said CPJ executive
director Ann Cooper. "Violence against the media in Cuba has been rare, and
we sincerely hope it will not become another hurdle that journalists must face
in that country."
The gate-crash was prompted by rumors that Mexico had offered to grant
asylum to all Cubans who wanted to leave the country. As a result, yesterday
afternoon hundreds of Cubans gathered outside the embassy to seek information.
Mexican chargé d'affaires Andrés Ordóñez later met
with foreign journalists and denied that Mexico had changed its immigration
policy toward Cuba.
For more information about press freedom conditions in Cuba, visit
www.cpj.org . CPJ is a New York-based,
independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom
worldwide.
Sauro González Rodríguez - Researcher/investigador
The Americas Program/Programa de las Américas/Programa das Américas
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
330 Seventh Avenue, 12th Floor, New
York, NY 10001
Phone/teléfono/telefone: 212-465-9344 ext. 118
Fax: 212-465-9568 Web site/Internet: www.cpj.org | 
