In an editorial published on Oct. 16, the team at Cuban journalism site Periodismo de Barrio offered details about their detentions on Oct. 11 and 12 in the eastern province of Guantánamo where they had gone to cover the effects of Hurricane Matthew. They also addressed some criticisms of their work.
“We were detained for doing journalism in Baracoa, en Maisí, in Imías: three of the major municipalities affected by the hurricane,” the editorial read. They added that the reason given by authorities was that these places had been declared to be under “a state of emergency” and for that reason they could not carry out their journalistic activities.
However, the group of journalists emphasized, based on articles of the Constitution and of law, that the state of emergency was not officially declared. Regardless, they said, none of the laws regulate journalism during natural disasters.
According to the editorial, the group of journalists in Maisí were questioned by officials of State Security in the headquarters of the Municipal Committee of the Communist Party after requesting authorization to work in the area. Another group was detained in a house where they were staying.
In the editorial, they also said they were unaware of the need to request authorization to work in the area, and emphasized that this was not the first time that they covered this kind of natural disaster and its consequences.
“That night, in the headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior, we asked for authorization to do the reports that we had anticipated. The answer, the next day, after staying at home for 15 hours or so, as indicated, was no and all journalists were driven to the Operations Unit of the Minister of the Interior in Guantánamo, escorted by patrol 205N of the Department of State Security,” the post read.
There, they were interrogated again, and although not all of the files linked to their journalistic work were deleted, all electronic devices (computers, cell phones, USB flash drives, cameras, etc.) were reviewed “for at least 4 hours.” Three women where were part of the group were also physically reviewed by an official “to look for other technological equipment that could have been hidden on their bodies,” they said.
The editorial also states that from the day they were detained until their release “there was no charge or accusation of any crime” against the journalists. However, they say that their innocence “was not sufficient to prevent this arbitrary arrest.”
Periodismo de Barrio also responded to criticism they received, particularly about the way they financed their trip: through crowdfunding. They explained that they must work in a context where their legality as a media outlet is not recognized.
They added that by not receiving subsidies from the State, but also not being a private company – which is prohibited by Cuban law – they must find other ways to finance, like crowdfunding.
They finished their editorial condemning any arbitrary detention of journalists around the world and in Cuba, the violation of the rights of freedom of the press and expression, but also the right of the word for anyone who wants to speak with media.
“On October 11, it was not just Periodismo de Barrio that was silenced, they also silenced all the communities and people that wanted to talk with us journalists. On Oct. 11, Cuban authorities tried to define who has the right to tell the stories of this country. Because we believe that this right concerns all of Cuban society, because these stories need to be told, we will return to Baracoa, Imías and Maisí once the state of emergency is over.”
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.
