Cuba toughens rules for journalists

Posted on Sat, Dec. 16, 2006

CUBA
Cuba toughens rules for journalists
With Fidel Castro's health in question, Cuba updated -- and hardened --
its restrictions on foreign correspondents working in the country.
BY WILFREDO CANCIO ISLA
El Nuevo Herald

Amid swirling speculation over Fidel Castro's health, the Cuban
government has updated a regulation that limits the work of foreign
journalists and sanctions those who violate them.

The 11-page document issued by the Foreign Ministry's International
Press Center (IPC) in Havana covers the already strict controls on
foreign correspondents, news reports and journalists' ability to enter
the island.

TIDAL WAVE OF PRESS

An avalanche of foreign journalists are expected to try to enter Cuba
after Castro dies, but Cuba has strict requirements on journalists'
visas and their work on the island.

Titled ''Regulations for the Practice of Foreign Journalism in Cuba,''
the document makes the following points:

• The IPC may temporarily suspend or withdraw a reporter's IPC
accreditation ``when [the reporter] carries out improper actions or
actions not within his profile and work content; also when he is
considered to have violated journalistic ethics and/or he is not guided
by objectivity in his reports.''

• Any journalist abroad who wants to arrange temporary reporting trips
to Cuba must submit visa applications no later than 21 working days
prior to the date of the trip.

• Only one license plate for media vehicles -- a three-letter prefix
marks them as belonging to the media and some nongovernmental
organizations -- will be issued to each of the foreign correspondents
permanently based in Havana. Those accredited as part-time
''collaborators'' are not entitled to such license plates.

• Cuban journalists accredited with the IPC to work for foreign media
will have to declare their income and must pay taxes on that income.

Although the resolution is dated Oct. 28, it wasn't until last week that
the updated document was distributed to the foreign correspondents
accredited in Havana. Journalists there said the previous version was
issued a few years back.

REPORTER'S VIEW

''It is obvious that the government is preparing for an imminent event
that will involve a massive influx of international journalists, and it
wants to make it very clear what are the ground rules and limitations,''
said a European correspondent in Havana who requested anonymity. ``This
is something that can be seen in all sectors of the country.''

The regulation is based on rules first developed in 1997 for the
operations of foreign news bureaus in Cuba but goes into greater detail
regarding the restrictions, the use of temporary accreditation and the
scope of work allowed for journalists on temporary visits.

As of August, 160 journalists from 114 media outlets in more than 30
countries were accredited by the IPC. Cuban authorities refused entry to
several journalists who tried to enter without journalists' visas after
the announcement of Castro's ailment.

The Miami-based Inter-American Press Association said the updated
regulation is ''tremendously restrictive'' for the practice of
journalism and freedom of expression.

''This regulation demonstrates that there is no real desire to open
spaces in Cuba when it comes to freedom of the press,'' said Gonzalo
Marroquín, president of IAPA's Commission on Freedom of the Press.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16252905.htm