(EFE) .- Cuban authorities restored this Sunday the press accreditations to only two of the journalists of the EFE Agency in Havana who were withdrawn on Saturday, something that the Spanish media described as insufficient, while they continue the condemnation reactions, to which the US State Department added.
The International Press Center (CPI) of Cuba communicated the new decision to an editor and a cameraman from the Efe delegation in Cuba just a few hours after the press accreditation was withdrawn without prior notice to all the workers of this delegation. -three editors, a photographer and a TV cameraman, as well as a collaborating photographer-.
Gabriela Cañas, informed the Cuban authorities that the decision to restore only two credentials is insufficient and reiterated her demand that all of them be returned.
But the president of the Efe Agency, Gabriela Cañas, informed the Cuban authorities that the decision to restore only two credentials is insufficient and reiterated her demand that all of them be returned.
Meanwhile, efforts continue to completely reverse the Cuban authorities’ decision. The Spanish ambassador in Havana, Ángel Martín Peccis, has been trying since Saturday to have the credentials returned to the Efe journalists so that they can carry out their work, according to official sources.
The coordinator of the EFE office in Havana, Atahualpa Amerise, reported through Twitter that the two colleagues who have recovered the accreditation have joined the international press coverage and are in front of Yunior García Aguilera’s home.
The reporter has recounted the reaction of the Government, which keeps police officers besieging the house, and has made reference to the flag lowered to cover the playwright’s window . “The reaction: Audacious and fierce revolutionaries unfurl from the roof a giant flag to cover Yunior’s window … but it remains a few centimeters to the right”, wrote journalist.
The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs convened this Sunday the charge d’affaires of the Cuban embassy in Madrid to ask for explanations about this situation.
The measure, which takes place on the eve of the opposition march called for this Monday 15, has a month and a half after the accreditation of the Efe writing coordinator in Havana was withdrawn and while the press visa of the new person in charge is pending. of the delegation.
The decision of the Cuban authorities has provoked a cascade of reactions both politically and from press freedom defense organizations and journalistic media around the world to demand that the exercise of press freedom be allowed, reactions that continued on the afternoon of Sunday.
The US State Department urged the Government of Cuba to restore “all” the press accreditations to the Efe Agency team in Havana.
“Revoking the credentials of EFE journalists – hours before the planned peaceful protests – is another method by which the Cuban regime crushes freedom of information,” the undersecretary of the Department of Western Hemisphere Affairs Office said on Twitter. State, Brian A. Nichols.
The European Union requested “clarification” from the Cuban authorities about something that it believes could mean a “serious violation of freedom of expression”
“We urge the Cuban government to restore all credentials to EFE and let the Cuban people speak freely,” added the head of Latin America at the State Department.
The European Union requested “clarification” from the Cuban authorities about something that it believes could mean a “serious violation of freedom of expression.”
“We have seen the information. We are investigating it and requesting clarification from the Cuban authorities and we are in contact with Efe,” Nabila Massrali, spokesperson for the EU’s high representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, told EFE.
The Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Pedro Vaca, condemned what he described as a “capricious and arbitrary” measure.
“Based on the information that we have so far, this decision to withdraw credentials from the Efe team is between capricious and arbitrary insofar as there is no reason and it has very serious effects,” Vaca told Efe by phone.
According to Vaca, “the presence of Efe and any international correspondent should be something that is greeted, not something that is obstructed or something that is frustrated.” .
He considered that the fact is particularly serious “to withdraw credentials to a medium with as much experience as Efe. We are not talking about a new medium, we are not talking about a medium that does not have editorial processes; we are talking about an absolutely serious medium, a of the most important agencies with a presence in the region, “he said.
The International Press Institute (IPI), a global network of media owners and editors, also condemned the Cuban measure.
From its headquarters in Vienna, the International Press Institute (IPI), a global network of media owners and editors, also condemned the Cuban measure,
“Efe is one of the most reliable sources of information in the world and is the leading agency in Spanish-speaking countries. Withdrawing the accreditations of all Efe journalists is an open attempt to restrict independent coverage of current affairs in the Isla, “said IPI CEO Barbara Trionfi.
The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) condemned “the new attacks on freedom of expression and the growing repression launched in the last hours by the Cuban regime,” including the withdrawal of credentials from Efe Agency journalists in Havana.
The IAPA demanded that the Government of Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel provide guarantees for the coverage of the civic protest and asked the international community to remain alert to demand that the people be allowed to express themselves freely and that the free exercise of journalistic activity.
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