MIAMI, Florida (Feb. 25) -The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) announced today that it has appointed independent Cuban journalist Raúl Rivero as resident regional vice-chairman for Cuba of its Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, in his capacity as a director of the IAPA member publication Carta de Cuba (Letter from Cuba). Carta de Cuba, based in Puerto Rico, was admitted to membership of the hemisphere free press organization at its General Assembly last October. Rivero, a pioneer of dissident journalism in communist-ruled Cuba, is also editor of the independent news agency Cuba Press. A graduate of the journalism school at the University of Havana, he co-founded the cultural journal Caimán Barbudo (Bearded Sly Old Fox), was for a while Moscow correspondent of the official news agency Prensa Latina, and later was a signatory to the Carta de los Diez (Letter from the 10), a petition seeking the release of prisoners of conscience from Cuban jails – an action that marked his final break with the Havana government. He is also the author of works of poetry. With Rivero’s appointment, Cuba, because of its special situation, becomes the only country in the Western Hemisphere to have two regional vice-chairmen – one resident in the country itself and the other abroad. The IAPA Executive Committee unanimously decided at its meeting on Miami on January 23 to name Rivero to work with Roberto Fabricio, of El Nuevo Herald, Miami, Florida, in reporting to the IAPA on developments affecting the press in Cuba. IAPA President Oliver Clarke, chairman of The Gleaner Company, Kingston, Jamaica, and Press and Information Freedom Committee Chairman Danilo Arbilla, editor of the Montevideo, Uruguay, news magazine Búsqueda, said in a brief message to Rivero that "in light of the current special circumstances of Cuba, the IAPA is convinced that it is now possible to have a dual regional vice-chairmanship, with you as resident in Cuba and journalist Roberto Fabricio resident abroad, with the aim of providing an even greater defense and promotion of freedom of the press, essential to achieve a true participatory and democratic system." "As you know, the message to Rivero continued, "the IAPA has constantly repudiated, protested and fought against violations of free speech and press freedom in your country, from its very beginnings more than 50 years ago to today, a time when renewed independent journalism has emerged despite pressure, reprisals and harassment." In accepting the vice-chairmanship of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Rivero said in a telephone call from Havana that "this appointment will favor the entire independent press movement and in general the situation of press freedom in Cuba." This, he added, "will help the new generation of journalists on the island who do not know what is journalism that is not under the control of the state." Both Clarke and Arbilla stressed that Rivero’s merits as an independent, truly professional journalist, coupled with Fabricio’s support from abroad, "give us the confidence we need to continue our efforts on behalf of press freedom in Cuba." Information gathered by the IAPA show that between October 1996 and October 1997 restrictions on independent news agencies and journalists increased, 71 such incidents being recorded – ranging from stake-outs, raids, harassment and seizure of reporting material to arrests.
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