SAN LUIS POTOSÍ, Mexico.- The Cuban journalist Annarella Grimal was worthy of an honorable mention this Friday at the Javier Valdez Latin American Investigative Journalism Award gala, organized by the Latin American Investigative Journalism Conference (COLPIN 2024) held in Madrid.
After having presented his research “Mission of Cuba in Angola”, at a table with Roberto Hechaverría, director of Cubanet; Norges Rodríguez, coordinator of YucaByte and Mabel Torres, Grimal was surprised to receive recognition for his work on the presence of Cuba in Angola, an investigation by theTOUCH with support from CONNECT.
“This recognition took me completely by surprise. I never expected it and really the first thing I think about is the victims of human trafficking by the Cuban government,” he told CubaNet.
Commenting on her series of reports on the subject, the journalist highlighted that Cuba’s “collaboration” in Angola demonstrates the existence of human trafficking in the country, a business from which the regime profits.
“Cuba’s mission in Angola is proof that Cuban slaves are no less slaves than others who are victims of forced labor, modern slavery,” said.
At the same time, he stated that it was an honor that a work of this type, which dismantles the image of “solidarity” that the regime has tried to offer with its missions in other countries, is recognized within the framework of the Latin American Conference of Investigative Journalism. .
“This means that Cuban journalists, Cuban journalism, have earned a space through a lot of dedication, a lot of sacrifice, and many hours of investigation,” and in this regard he mentioned the investigation broken birthsrecognized with the prestigious Roche Prize for Health Journalism 2023sponsored by the Gabo Foundation of Colombia.
“I think that independent journalism has never been better, it has never enjoyed better health than at the moment, despite the repression in Cuba, despite the repression even online against exiled journalists and despite all the obstacles and the precariousness of independent journalism,” Grimal mentioned.
Our Investigative Journalism special “Poderopedia: who operate in the shadow of the Cuban regime” has been selected by COLPIN to be presented this Friday in Madrid.
With this link you can read our investigations into the businesses hidden by the regime… pic.twitter.com/g1Zyev2lvm
— Cubanet (@CubanetNoticias) October 23, 2024
The mention received, in his opinion, makes visible the situation that “Cuban doctors, engineers, teachers and other professionals and technicians in collaboration brigades in other countries are going through,” he concluded.
In it first of the reports that make up “Mission of Cuba in Angola”, Annarella Grimal investigates and exposes the scheme of extraction of resources and benefits through a business network controlled by the military of the Island that generates millionaire income from the labor exploitation of thousands of Cuban collaborators.
He second“The business web”, reveals the power networks that the regime in Angola has cemented with the business of clinics and commercial companies.
