Cuba

When detained Cuban writer and blogger Angel Santiesteban-Prats disappeared from San Miguel del Padrón prison on 21 July, the authorities said he had escaped but his daughter managed to talk briefly with him in a police station ten days later. His present whereabouts are unknown.

“Although the Castro regime gives the appearance of opening up politically, the methods used by the authorities to silence dissident journalists are clearly becoming more and more brutal,” says Reporters Without Borders.

Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez has launched an independent newspaper called 14ymedio with her partner, the journalist Reinaldo Escobar.

Reporters Without Borders condemns independent journalist Juliet Michelena Díaz’s detention since 7 April 2014, three days after she wrote a by-lined report for the Miami-based independent news platform Cubanet about a case of ordinary police violence she had witnessed in Havana.

Reporters Without Borders reiterates its call for the release of Angel Santiesteban-Prats, a writer who completes a year in detention today (28 February 2014) and who began a blog in 2008 called Los hijos que nadie quiso that was openly critical of the government.

José Peralta, the 2013-2014 Scotiabank / CJFE Journalism Fellow, interviews Cubans who, although happy with ongoing economic changes, acknowledge that freedom of expression is still an issue in Cuba, where the Castro regime has been in power since 1959.

Reporters Without Borders calls on the Cuban authorities to quickly release Ángel Santiesteban-Prats, a writer and blogger who has been held for the past two months and who has been on hunger strike since his transfer to a different prison at the start of April. He is now in an isolation cell.

Calixto Ramón Martínez Ariaswas arrested for revealing the existence of dengue and cholera epidemics, which the government confirmed a few days later. He had been facing a possible three-year sentence on a charge of insulting the president although the charge was never officially confirmed and he was never tried.

The International Press Institute reiterates its demand that Cuban authorities immediately release the independent journalist Calixto Martínez Arias, who was imprisoned last September for allegedly insulting former president Fidel Castro and his brother, current president Raúl Castro, under the country’s criminal-defamation laws.

The International Press Institute reiterates its demand that Cuban authorities immediately release the independent journalist Calixto Martínez Arias, who was imprisoned last September for allegedly insulting former president Fidel Castro and his brother, current president Raúl Castro, under the country’s criminal-defamation laws.

Digital media by no means supplant action in the physical world, but when used wisely by courageous citizen journalists such as Yoani Sánchez, they can serve as a vital tool in the push to uphold universal human rights.

Cuban dissident and blogger Yoani Sánchez is having a hard time on her visit to Brazil, facing demonstrations by pro-Castro protesters.

Cuba’s legitimate desire to participate in the process of regional integration and the desire for openness seen in certain reforms currently under way need to be accompanied by long-awaited progress in respect for fundamental freedoms.

Although a submarine internet cable touched ground in Santiago de Cuba in February 2011, it has yet to provide service to Cuban clients despite reports that it is finally functioning.

The International Press Institute (IPI) is deeply concerned for the well-being of jailed Cuban journalist Calixto Ramón Martínez, who has been on a hunger strike since Nov. 10 to protest prison conditions.

Journalist Roberto de Jesús Guerra said “the political police” have been persecuting him over his journalistic work. They warned him that they would not allow him to access the Internet ever again in order to upload reports or videos. In addition, they threatened him that every time he sought to do so he would be arrested by the security forces.