Hey Matt Lauer, did you read this?

For links to more posts in the "Today" in Cuba blogburst, visit Babalú Blog.

Felipe Eduardo Sixto, chief of staff for the Center for a Free Cuba, comments on unfree press in Cuba, in a letter to the editor to the Washington Times. Via Misceláneas de Cuba:

Martin Arostegui's article on the increased media censorship and repression occurring in Latin America is disturbing ("Morales, Correa target TV foes," Page 1, Thursday). Clearly, Bolivian President Evo Morales and Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa have drawn support and inspiration from the likes of the Castro brothers and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

In Cuba, the second-largest prison for journalists in the world, the treatment of foreign and Cuban journalists is appalling. More than 23 independent Cuban journalists are imprisoned, and the regime censors or expels foreign journalist who report unfavorably on the regime. Earlier this year, a correspondent from Mexico's El Universal was told to leave, a Chicago Tribune correspondent's credentials to report from the island were not renewed, and a BBC reporter was refused an entry visa. Furthermore, foreign journalists are required to obtain a special visa, a process that often takes several months. How the international media could be able to predict months in advance when they would need to cover developments in the island remains a mystery.

However, Cuba's situation has drawn little attention — and even less outrage from America's mainstream media. Perhaps if America's media were outraged, fellow journalists in Latin America would not end up like their Cuban counterparts — censored, expelled or imprisoned.

FELIPE EDUARDO SIXTO
Chief of Staff
Center for a Free Cuba
Washington