From a Cuban jail
When it comes to reporting on the plight of political prisoners in Fidel Castro's island paradise, the Western media have by and large preferred to look the other way.
So, credit where credit is due.
Jeremy Gerard, an editor at Bloomberg News, has just written a must-read plea for the release of Normando Hernandez Gonzalez, a 37-year-old independent journalist who was one of the 75 dissidents sent to prison by the Castro regime during the Black Spring of 2003.
Hernandez is serving a 25-year sentence (read that again - 25 years!) for "crimes against the State".
His crimes? Writing a series of articles exposing some of the shortcomings in the regime's much-vaunted health and education systems - you know, the kind of articles that would probably win prizes for investigative journalism in the West.
According to Bloomberg, Hernandez he is suffering from tuberculosis and a chronic parasitic infection, both contracted in prison. His family fear he will die in prison. Soon.
Read the full story here.
So, credit where credit is due.
Jeremy Gerard, an editor at Bloomberg News, has just written a must-read plea for the release of Normando Hernandez Gonzalez, a 37-year-old independent journalist who was one of the 75 dissidents sent to prison by the Castro regime during the Black Spring of 2003.
Hernandez is serving a 25-year sentence (read that again - 25 years!) for "crimes against the State".
His crimes? Writing a series of articles exposing some of the shortcomings in the regime's much-vaunted health and education systems - you know, the kind of articles that would probably win prizes for investigative journalism in the West.
According to Bloomberg, Hernandez he is suffering from tuberculosis and a chronic parasitic infection, both contracted in prison. His family fear he will die in prison. Soon.
Read the full story here.
posted by Luis M Garcia at 8:37 am
1 Comments:
Actually, the 75 people arrested and jailed in 2003 were NOT charged or convicted for their writings, but for receiving financial payments and political directions from the U.S. government which maintains a massive funding program to promote de-stabilization within Cuba under the guise of promoting "democracy".
Here in the U.S. where I live, anyone who serves as an unregistered foreign agent can be subjected to serious criminal penalties. Cuba has the same kinds of laws which the U.S. has.
To read about the U.S. program to de-stabilize Cuba, see the U.S. government website where it's all spelled out in great detail:
http://www.cafc.gov/
Walter Lippmann
Los Angeles, California
Post a Comment
<< Home