(EFE) .- The Cuban authorities have communicated to the Spanish Government the restitution of two other credentials to the journalists of the Efe team in Havana, of the five withdrawn, after having returned two accreditations last Sunday, Spanish diplomatic sources reported today.
The restitution of these credentials will be accompanied by the authorization to grant the journalist visa to the new Efe delegate in Cuba, Juan Palop, appointed by the agency at the end of last July, added the sources, who specified that the Cuban authorities will make these effective. decisions “as of November 28”.
The restitution of these credentials will be accompanied by the authorization to grant the journalist visa to the new Efe delegate in Cuba, Juan Palop, appointed by the agency at the end of July.
The opposition group Archipelago announced yesterday which maintains at least until the 27th, precisely one day before, the mobilization, although it could be prolonged “until Cuba is a State of Rights, a Republic ‘with everyone and for the good of all'”.
The president of the agency, Gabriela Cañas, considered the new measure “insufficient” and “delaying”, while demanding the return of the accreditations to the entire team and assured that the Agency will continue to insist on the need for Efe to recompose its delegation , traditionally made up of seven journalists.
“The harassment of the agency by the Cuban authorities is serious and sibylline,” said Cañas. “The decisions of recent months have left our team undermined. The withdrawal of all accreditations last Saturday and this drop-off return shows an unequivocal desire to destabilize our journalistic work,” he added.
In the escalation of tension that Efe has suffered in recent months from the Cuban authorities, they have withdrawn the accreditation of six members of their team and have delayed the visa process for the new delegate. “What happened in recent weeks is an unprecedented attack on the world’s leading agency in Spanish,” added Cañas.
Cuba withdrew the press credentials of five Efe journalists in Havana last Saturday without clarifying the reasons or whether that measure was temporary and permanent, on the eve of the protests called for last Monday the 15th by opposition groups to demand changes and not to they were authorized by the Government.
Previously, Havana had withdrawn the credential of the coordinator of the Efe team at the end of August and had not yet granted a journalist visa to the new head of the office.
“What happened in recent weeks is an unprecedented attack on the leading agency in the world in Spanish”
Cuba’s decision generated the unanimous condemnation of organizations for the defense of press freedom and of many countries and institutions, such as the European Union and the UN, and the Spanish Government called on Sunday for consultations with the charge d’affaires of the Cuban Embassy in Madrid to request explanations for that decision and demand the return of the credentials.
The Spanish Government, including its embassy in Cuba, and the president of the Efe Agency have taken steps from the outset for Havana to reimburse the accreditations to the entire Agency team.
The International Federation of Journalists (FIP) celebrated on Wednesday the restitution of two more accreditations to the Efe Agency team in Havana, but asked that “all of them” be returned to them and that the “harassment” of that media in the Island.
“The authorities return two credentials to the Efe team in Cuba. We demand that all credentials be returned and that the harassment of the Spanish news agency cease immediately. All solidarity with the affected comrades!” social network Twitter.
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