The Havana regime returns only two of the five accreditations it had withdrawn from EFE journalists before the ‘Civic March’
Tension increases in Cuba. The authorities of Havana withdrew this Sunday morning the press accreditations to the journalists of the EFE agency that cover the territory, on the eve of the outlawed ‘Civic March’ on Monday to call for a political change on the island. Those responsible for the International Press Center summoned three editors, a photographer and a television cameraman to inform them that their credentials were being withdrawn without clarifying whether the measure was temporary or definitive or the exact reasons that led them to make the decision, adopted so only a month and a half after the same was done to the writing coordinator of the Spanish agency. The situation provoked a cascade of reactions at the international level, both politically and from organizations that defend the freedom of the press and the journalistic media.
The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs convened this Sunday the charge d’affaires of the Cuban embassy in Madrid, the head of the legation in the absence of an ambassador, to request explanations about this measure, of which there is no evidence that it has been adopted. another time with an international news firm. In addition, the Spanish embassy in Havana has been making arrangements with the Cuban authorities so that EFE journalists can continue their work.
The European Union requested “clarification” for the “serious violation of freedom of expression.” We have seen the information. We are investigating it and requesting clarifications from the Cuban authorities and we are in contact with EFE, “said Nabila Massrali, spokesperson for the EU’s high representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell. The International Federation of Journalists also condemned the measure and considered it an “unacceptable attack on freedom of information.”
The Federation of Associations of Journalists of Spain (FAPE) requested the mediation of the Government of Pedro Sánchez so that Cuba “reconsiders” this “clear violation of international norms on freedom of the press.”
“It is insufficient”
“It is an attack on freedom of expression and information and tries to prevent EFE journalists from continuing to report on the situation in Cuba with the professionalism, rigor and impartiality with which the Spanish agency has always worked,” said the president of the FAPE, Nemesio Rodríguez. Reporters Without Borders, for its part, warned that it will closely monitor the safety of Cuban journalists.
International pressure forced Havana to respect freedom of the press, restoring accreditations hours after taking them away, although only from two of the five journalists – the editor and the cameraman. The president of EFE, Gabriela Cañas, criticized that the decision is “insufficient” and insisted that the credentials be returned to all the journalists of the agency.
The resolution took place at a delicate moment in Cuba, with the ‘Civic March’ called for this Monday by the opposition in order to demand a political change on the island, which has been outlawed by the Government, and when the country opened this Sunday its borders to tourism. About 80 international personalities expressed solidarity in a letter headed by the Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa, former presidents, politicians, artists and journalists with the Cuban people “in their struggle for freedom and democracy.”
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