(IFLA/FAIFE/IFEX) – The following is an IFLA/FAIFE media release: IFLA calls on US to allow visits and information to and from Cuba “IFLA again urges the US government to eliminate obstacles imposed by its policies on access to information by Cubans”, says the Chair of the IFLA/FAIFE Committee, Mr Alex Byrne. The International Federation of […]
(IFLA/FAIFE/IFEX) – The following is an IFLA/FAIFE media release:
IFLA calls on US to allow visits and information to and from Cuba
“IFLA again urges the US government to eliminate obstacles imposed by its policies on access to information by Cubans”, says the Chair of the IFLA/FAIFE Committee, Mr Alex Byrne.
The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and its Committee on Free Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (IFLA/FAIFE) expressed their deepest concerns today about the effects of US policies on access to information in Cuba.
News that Marcia Medina Cruzata of the Biblioteca Nacional José Martí has been denied a visa to participate in the XIIIth General Assembly of Acuril (The Association of Caribbean University, Research and Institutional Libraries) in Puerto Rico has heightened IFLA’s concern about US policies to isolate Cuba. Previous policies allowed professional interaction but recent tightening has made that more difficult.
This adds to the longstanding embargo on trade with Cuba, which has had a marked effect on the capacity of Cuban libraries to offer the range of resources needed by the Cuban people. IFLA has previously called on the government of the United States to share information materials widely in Cuba and to address the systemic effects of the embargo. A resolution of IFLA Council, when meeting in Boston in August 2001, stated its strongly felt concerns about the effects of the US embargo and urged the US government to eliminate obstacles to access to information and professional interaction imposed by US government policies.
Obstacles include:
– bureaucratic difficulties with the export of information materials to Cuba despite their formal exclusion from the embargo
– a severe reduction in the capacity of Cuban libraries and citizens to purchase information materials and related technologies due to the economic effects of the embargo
– indirect disruption of access to information by Cubans and Cuban libraries caused by the effects on power supply, telecommunications and other aspects of life in Cuba
– inhibitions to professional interaction and exchange caused by the restrictions on travel to the US by Cuban nationals and to Cuba by US nationals.
The Chair of the IFLA/FAIFE Committee, Mr Alex Byrne, urged the US government to eliminate obstacles imposed by its policies on access to information by Cubans.
