La Habana 22 de julio 2008

The United States has one of the highest levels of press freedom in the world. We know this because four different press freedom organizations say so. The fact that all four receive generous funding from the U.S. government doesn’t seem to matter.

Fidel told Frei Betto in an interview that he considered freedom of the press to be nothing more than freedom of ownership, and this is true: money is power, and the U.S. press has the power to choose our political leaders for us. Just ask Dennis Kucinich, John Edwards and Ralph Nader, and they will tell you how they were disappeared from the 2008 presidential race as quickly and definitively as any Soviet leader who fell into disfavor with Stalin.

La Habana 21 de julio 2008

On the occasion of the 19th anniversary of the triumph of the Sandinista revolution, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez warned that the world crisis would continue to grow and said that the greatest crisis is the lack of common sense on the part of those who rule the world, citing a letter written to him by Fidel Castro.

Before an estimated 450,000 people, Chávez sent a message to the next leaders of the United States, saying,

“We don’t want war, we want a peaceful change to search for deep and true peace for our people. We don’t want more destabilizations,” he said.

La Habana 19 de Julio 2008

The offices of Granma, are neither large nor elegant. They have the Spartan look one expects of the “Official Organ of the Communist Party of Cuba.” Granma is the least pretentious national daily in a world full of pretentious newspapers. On Friday it devoted one of its sixteen pages to Fidel’s reflection and another to the text of decree No. 259, signed by President Raúl Castro, dealing with the distribution of unused land for agricultural production. This may not seem like big news, but with the new prioritization of food security and incentives offered, many ordinary people are interested in taking up farming.

La Habana 18 de julio 2008

The José Martí National Library is located in the Plaza de la Revolución, across from the José Martí monument and museum. This is the famous plaza where huge public spectacles take place, dominated by the image of Ché which takes up the side of a tall building.

La Habana 17 de Julio 2008

Today we met with Armando Briñis of the International Press Center. This was a little awkward, given that I’m an independent (not employed) journalist, and the CPI is there for real working journalists, who come to Cuba from all over the world to denigrate the country. Cuba puts up with 150 resident foreign correspondents (probably including technical workers) and for big events, like the pope’s visit, may receive up to 4,000. However, Briñis, like everyone else who deals with foreigners, was respectful towards the journalists, laying the blame for their lousy reporting on owners and editors. On the positive side, they bring in money, so at least they are contributing something to Cuba.

La Habana 15 July 2008

The Cuban Journalists’ Union (UPEC) is a voluntary association that brings together media workers from all over the country. It has 3.680 members. This year, UPEC held its first congress in nine years. We arrived too late to attend, but information about the proceedings can be found at the Web site, http://www.cubaperiodistas.cu/

Inter Press Service, www.IPS.org, is a news wire service based in Rome. It has the following claim on its opening page:

IPS, civil society's leading news agency, is an independent voice from the South and for development, delving into globalisation for the stories underneath. Another communication is possible.

IPS publishes some good articles, including ones by Dahr Jamail. Unfortunately, for the past five years, it's Haiti correspondent has been Jane Regan, an open admirer of Guy Phillipe and the Cannibal Army.