Last Updated: April 10, 2003
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NEW ORLEANS — The American
Society of Newspaper Editors sent a letter to Cuban president Fidel Castro today,
protesting a recent crackdown on independent journalists in the country, which
has resulted in show trials and harsh prison sentences.
In the letter, ASNE officers
said, “these latest actions represent a crushing setback” to the new levels
of openness and tolerance of dissent seen in Cuba since the end of the Cold
War.
“We urge you to issue an
immediate amnesty for the more than 28 independent journalists who have suffered
arrest, detention and prosecution,” the letter states.
“We also urge you to discard
the politics of intolerance and accept the Cuban people’s desire for a free
and independent press that allows the gathering and dissemination of news outside
the state-controlled media.”
The letter was signed by
Diane H. McFarlin, ASNE president; Peter K. Bhatia, ASNE vice president; Karla
Garrett Harshaw, ASNE secretary; Rick Rodriguez, ASNE treasurer; Robert Rivard,
chair of the ASNE International Committee; and Edward L. Seaton, president of
the ASNE Foundation.
For the complete text of
the letter, go to http://www.asne.org/index.cfm?id=4545
The American Society of
Newspaper Editors, with about 800 members, was founded in 1922. It is the largest
organization of the main editors of daily newspapers in the Americas.
