Architect Abel Tablada de la Torre, brother of the Deputy Director General of the United States Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba (MINREX), Johana Tablada de la Torre, made a post on his social media questioning the information treatment by the official press following the outbreak of violence that occurred last Saturday at Finca de los Monos.
“What is more worrying in a country?” Tablada asked: “That alternative media reports with false information, or that the official media - paid for by all Cubans - do not provide news on time, do not provide complete information when they decide to do so, do not show images of the events, and do not interview anyone?”
In an extensive reflection, Tablada de la Torre questioned the officialist coverage of such serious and worrying events carried out by groups of young people armed with machetes, in which at least six people were injured. His publication was shared on the blog Second Meeting of singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez.
Comparing their coverage to that of independent media, the architect painted a picture of the media landscape and the shaping of public opinion under a totalitarian regime that is beginning to crumble, largely due to the informative work of independent press.
Journalism in Cuba is shameful, and if it weren't for some independent media outlets committed to the truth, there would be no way to find out and understand the reality of the country," he concluded.
In-depth analysis of censorship in Cuba.
But Tablada de la Torre's critique delved deeply into the issue of manipulation and the use that the Cuban regime makes of information to maintain social control and protect its interests in perpetuating power.
In that sense, he accused them of publicly blaming "those who should not be blamed - always the weakest and never the State," and of not commenting or reflecting "on the direct and accumulated causes of this type of increasingly common violent phenomena in Cuban society and youth."
Outlining the spirit that underlies the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of the press, Tablada de la Torre did not attack independent media "and their clear purpose of discrediting everything related to the government, blaming it for everything."
On the contrary, tacitly recognizing that it is the mission of journalism to investigate, question, criticize, and denounce the errors, corruption, and actions of those who govern, the brother of the MINREX official acknowledged that independent media fulfill "an important and vacant mission: to inform in a timely manner."
"The official press, which is controlled and represents the Cuban government, does not inform in a timely manner, and when it does, it is to refute some incorrect information provided by the alternative press, that is, it acts defensively instead of taking the initiative," he pointed out.
In addition, he accused the state media of "not conducting worthy, responsible, and legitimate journalism when it comes to sensitive issues, as it does not fulfill its role of being the most credible source for news related to Cuba."
To make matters worse, it also manipulates, hides data, images, and does not give continuity and depth to events that deserve it... And that has been happening for decades, despite closed and open meetings, congresses with a hopeful air, emotional interventions by great or young journalists, and some promises from presidents and ideological secretaries," he added.
Fully involved in the issue, the architect criticized the official press for not having "the courage and decency to show the images of thousands of Havanan citizens in front of the Capitol demanding freedom peacefully, of hundreds of Bayamians singing our National Anthem: La Bayamesa, of hundreds of Santiago residents asking for electricity and food."
"They do not have the courage and decency to question the harsh penalties imposed on many peaceful protesters, those who, for the most part, did not overturn cars or throw stones at windows. They do not have the courage and decency to follow up on the biggest corruption cases, some of which involve high-ranking government officials," he said.
The brother of the high-ranking official from the Foreign Ministry had more criticisms for the Cuban official media outlets. "They do not have the courage and decency to analyze the causes of inflation, the stagnation of the economy, the share of responsibility of the Cuban system and government in what happens in the country," he criticized.
"They do not have the courage and decency to ask themselves why, to defend themselves from external aggressions and blockades, they must implement an internal one, they must proclaim and implement a false democracy, they must oppress the Cuban people in various ways, and not seek in every possible way that freedom for which the mambises and the revolutionaries of the 30s and the 50s fought so hard," he stated.
The Tablada de la Torre Family: Their Contrasts
It is not the first time that Johana Tablada de la Torre's younger brother uses his social media to criticize the Cuban regime, a civic attitude he shares with his mother, psychologist Carolina de la Torre Molina, who has also on several occasions expressed her critical opinion about the Cuban reality.
In September 2022, Tablada de la Torre criticized the shortage of products available at the José Martí International Airport in Havana and referred to the role of airports in shaping the image of the arriving and departing traveler, which helps form an idea of how a country operates.
Here in Havana, however, I couldn't even buy a simple guava bar, which is the only product my dear cousin asked me to bring, who will be welcoming me into her home. I bought coffee and could have bought rum and tobacco, but Cuba is not just rum and tobacco, just as it is not just the cover of a book featuring Che, Fidel, and an American car from the 50s," he emphasized.
On the other hand, their mother has also expressed harsh criticisms of the Cuban regime's past and present. In October 2020, De la Torre Molina criticized a repudiation rally organized by the Cuban State Security against members of the San Isidro Movement.
"If one day someone sees me in an act of repudiation, shouting and insulting young people who want to peacefully express themselves, don't even think about it: tie me up, repudiate me back, or take me to a mental hospital because I will be beside myself," he wrote on his Facebook wall.
In February 2021, the psychologist criticized the lack of tolerance and space in Cuba for "differing thoughts and debate."
"There is no space or tolerance for contrasting thoughts and debate, not even from those who live here with the hope of contributing to a better socialist Cuba. Even anti-imperialist," de la Torre wrote on Facebook.
The professor questioned the fact that Cuba has only one party (the PCC) that "organizations must follow," and stressed that the state had ended "the tradition of civil societies and even of education and recreation," as well as free press. "Nobody can open a blog of opposition, nor register a critical magazine," she said.
In addition to her distinguished professional career as a university professor, researcher, and essayist, De la Torre Molina has dedicated herself to seeking testimonies and studying the life and work of her brother Benjamín, who committed suicide in 1968 after being marked by the sad homophobic experiences of the Military Units to Aid Production (UMAP). Her story is documented in the book Benjamin: When dying is more sensible than waiting, published by Verbum editorial in 2018.
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