By Joseph Vavrus
At a time when independent journalists continue to fear state police harassment for publishing criticisms of the government, and others remain in prison for their work, the Communist Party’s official newspaper, Granma, appears to be increasingly willing to air critical ideas. In recent months, the paper – Cuba’s largest – has published letters to the editor critical of the country’s economic policies, Juan Tamayo writes for The Miami Herald.
Granma began publishing letters to the editor every Friday in 2008, but – responding to calls from President Raúl Castro for open debate on the economy – the letters have changed tone from more mundane topics like noisy neighbors to frank criticisms of the economic status quo, Tamayo explains. He cites examples of letters that call the current system “inefficient,” support some form of privatization, or even refer to rigid, traditionalist definitions of socialism as “lies.”
This frank discussion is rare, especially coming from the party’s main newspaper, but Tamayo notes that most writers make a point to couch their criticisms in language defending a socialist economic system.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
