(CPJ/IFEX) – Jorge Luis Arce Cabrera told CPJ that on 30 January 1998 he and his colleague Jesus Eofcoue Castellanos were threatened with imprisonment by a state security official at Acre’s home in Cienfuegos. Lieutenant Orebis Montes de Oca reportedly told Arce, Cienfuegos-correspondent for the Buro de Prensa Independiente de Cuba (BPIC), and Eofcoue, a […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – Jorge Luis Arce Cabrera told CPJ that on 30 January 1998 he and
his colleague Jesus Eofcoue Castellanos were threatened with imprisonment by
a state security official at Acre’s home in Cienfuegos. Lieutenant Orebis
Montes de Oca reportedly told Arce, Cienfuegos-correspondent for the Buro de
Prensa Independiente de Cuba (BPIC), and Eofcoue, a correspondent for Linea
Sur 3, that they could soon be arrested and imprisoned if they wrote stories
that “tarnished the image of Cuba.” Orebis warned Arce that he would be
closely monitored because he had disseminated “false information” in
previous reports. Authorities were incensed that Arce had attended Pope John
Paul II’s mass in Havana, since Arce had only been permitted to travel to
Havana in order to arrange for a visa to leave the country.
Background Information
According to CPJ’s sources in Cuba, Arce faces imminent arrest because of
his independent reporting. Arce has been detained 23 times and beaten 3
times since he began to work as a journalist in 1994. On 23 October 1997 he
was assaulted outside of his home by a retired employee of the Ministry of
the Interior. On 29 October the same man hit Acre in the head with a stick
while the reporter was taking a walk with his wife in Cienfuegos. After the
attack, Arce was arrested by the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) and
told that he would be charged with both the 23 and 29 October assaults. On
31 October he was summoned to the state security provincial headquarters
where he was detained for three days. In January 1998 the PNR fined him 250
pesos.
