Speech #1050108741

Some were released in a government amnesty earlier this month. Nonetheless. the State Departments 1998 report on human rights lists Cuba as one of the worlds most egregious violators of human rights." "Why then with some 3.000 American reporters credentialed to cover the Popes visit to Cuba was there so little news from those opposed to Castros Communist paradise?" "One theory on the medias silence is that the Cuban regime has cowed the U.S. press in much the same way it has subdued much of its 11 million people. with fear. For years. getting permission to report in Cuba has been coveted like a brass ring. visas awarded only to reporters deemed reliable by the Cuban government and some reporters hoping to make return trips purposely tailor their coverage so as to not offend anyone in government." "On my first visit to Cuba 6 years ago. a well respected reporter who is still reporting from Cuba schooled me on what the authorities would permit and what was out of bounds: It was permitted to interview governmentapproved dissidents. most notably Elizardo Sanchez. a former Marxist professor who has spent 8 years in jail. The head of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and Reconciliation has suffered enormously and has jackboot prints on his front door to prove it. and reporters have beat a well worn path to his house. Perhaps coincidentally. Mr. Sanchez is by his own count one of the minority of opposition figures who. like the Cuban government. also opposes the U.S. embargo on Cuba." "Other opposition figures I asked about were considered sensitive and way off limits. only to be interviewed on the way to the airport and only if a return visa was unimportant." "Despite the socalled openness of the Cuban government for the Popes visit. it refused visas to at least 60 reporters from the Miami Herald. the St. Petersburg Times and several European and Latin American newspapers. Many denied entry were old Cuba hands who had written unflattering reports about the deterioration of the revolution in recent years." "So many who received the coveted tickets to Havana were Cuban novices. firsttime visitors to the island with no time to peer behind the public mask of the revolution.