Cuba is the worst country for press freedom in Latin America

Cuba is the worst country in Latin America for the exercise of press freedom, according to the organization's most recent reportReporters Without Borders (RSF).

"Television, radio and newspapers are all closely controlled by the government. The Constitution prohibits privately owned press (...) Independent journalists, for their part, are kept under surveillance by agents who seek to diminish their ability of movement, subjecting reporters to interrogations and deleting information in their possession," the document says.

RSF identified Miguel Díaz-Canel as the person who maintains control over the country's media, a legacy he inherited from Raúl Castro after assuming the positions of president of the republic and first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba.

"The government controls access to the Internet. Althoughbloggers and citizen-journalists see a space for freedom on the web, browse at their own risk and are often imprisoned or forced into exile," the organization recalled.

Likewise, he pointed out that 2021 was a year in which the rights of free expression, information and association in the digital space were violated, preventing access to an open, free and inclusive internet.

The organization warned that United States economic sanctions and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic are pushing Cuba into its worst crisis in the last 30 years, and forcing citizens to escape by any means.

Another point that caught the attention of RSF is the similarity that exists between the Black Spring of 2003 and the repression against the San Isidro Movement and the population in general after the peaceful protests of 11J.

"Arrests, arbitrary detentions, threats of prison, persecution and harassment, illegal searches of homes, confiscation and destruction of equipment, all this is the daily lot of journalists who do not follow the party lineCastro"he asserted.

Regarding the presence of foreign journalists in Cuba, RSF regretted thatThe government controls the work of correspondents accredited in the country and selectively hands out credentials or expels those who are "too negative."

Finally, he recalled that although no journalist or media worker has been murdered, the independent reporter remains in prison.Lazarus Yuri Valley Rock, imprisoned since June 2021 while doing his job.