Cuban seems to urge freer press*
A Cuban official called for more aggressive reporting of 'the truth of Cuba' from its state-controlled press.

BY NANCY SAN MARTIN
nsanmartin@MiamiHerald.com

Jan. 16, 2007.- Cuba's chief ideologue is encouraging the state-controlled media to produce more stories that reflect problems faced by the population, according to reports from a journalism gathering in Havana.

Rolando Alfonso Borges, head of the Ideology Department of the Communist Party's Central Committee, also called for greater access to the Internet and the ''dissemination of the truth of Cuba,'' according to the reports.

But he also classified journalism as ''a weapon against imperialist humbugs'' and said that the news media must act ''with and for the Revolution,'' a long-standing criterion that prevents state-controlled press from being too critical.

Still, the apparent sanctioning of more freedom within Cuba's tightly controlled official media led some analysts to speculate that provisional leader Raúl Castro was opening space for debate, criticism and reform.

''It seems that they are trying to bring newspapers to reflect the debate that is going on within society,'' said Uva de Aragón, associate director at Florida International University's Cuban Research Institute. ``There is some kind of change going on that is not easily perceived from the outside. These are some of the signs.''

The call for more aggressive journalism follows a speech at the University of Havana last month in which Raúl Castro told students they should ''fearlessly'' engage in public debate and analysis of the island's problems.

In October, the Juventud Rebelde newspaper published an unusual probe that highlighted widespread corruption among public employees and a lack of supplies within the state's business sector.

Opponents of the Cuban government were not impressed with Alfonso Borges' call for openness, made at the eighth annual national Festival of the Written Press.

''That's pure rhetoric,'' said Héctor Palacios, a top Cuban dissident jailed in an island-wide crackdown in 2003 who was released last month for health reasons.

''We still have 26 journalists imprisoned,'' Palacios said by phone from Havana, referring to independent journalists usually critical of the government. ``Those speeches are intended to create expectations, but nobody believes it. Nothing changes.''

Cuban leader Fidel Castro, 80, ceded power to his younger brother Raúl, 75, after undergoing emergency intestinal surgery in July for a still undisclosed ailment.

In an article Sunday, the Communist Party daily Granma said that Cuba's journalists must be ``up to the great transformations and needs of the Revolution. The people must see its problems reflected in our media with greater frequency.''

''To this end,'' Granma added, ``we demand investigation, richness of language and creativity, with the concomitant professional and political responsibility.''

Miami Herald translator Renato Pérez contributed to this report.
Fuente: The Miami Herald, www.miami.com