Cuban journalist detained for 14 hours

The word must have come from up high in the Cuban dictatorship to policemen and secret agents on the street:

Harass as many journalists as you. Arrest them. Threaten them with the loss of their jobs.

And worse.

We can't let them, Fidel advised Raúl — it could happen — tell the real stories about the real Cuba.

On Friday, political police agents arrested journalist Ahmed Rodríguez, who was released two days later.

Now comes word of another arrest, that of Odelín Alfonso Torna, who was picked up in Havana about 6 a.m. Saturday.

Fourteen hours later, the police let Alfonso go.

They were respectful, Alfonso said, but they wouldn't let him go without him hearing their message:

Quit working as a journalist.

Alfonso said that won't happen.

Alfonso is no stranger to "trouble," as defined by the Cuban authorities.

Read here for information about his arrest, and subsequent release, last spring.

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