It's dangerous to be a journalist in Cuba

It's important for a Cuban reporter to master the narrative techniques of modern journalism, have on hand a book by the famous Italian journalist Oriana Fallacci, have read the chronicles of Gay Talese or Rosa Montero. But it also seems essential to have at least one computer, a recorder and digital camera.

However, it cannot be forgotten that a professional reporter on the island is trying to do journalism in an autocratic country where, according to its laws, the profession of spy and reporter without official authorization are almost synonymous.

Yes, you must learn to use the tools of the 21st century: Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, but in Cuba, it is more useful to weave a network of friends in different strata who may be able to steer first hand information your way.

Unable to confirm the information or verify it with other sources, we must rely on intuition. There will always be a missing piece of data or a specific figure that would lend credence to an article.

Without access to official statistics, it is impossible to compare the news and see other points of view to balance a story. Reporters on the the island sometimes have to throw certain established rules to the wind.

For example, if it is intend for a "jinetera," or prostitute to tell you her story, it is advisable not to show up with a microphone or a camera. Otherwise, she may not disclose the details of her life in prostitution or may give a false narrative.

Unable to record, take notes or take pictures, it is essential to have a good memory. When quoting someone who lives on the margins of the law, what matters is to take in the essence of what was said.

Independent journalism in Havana is risky . A news story can mark a drug dealer or a prostitute for a sting operation. Therefore, care must be taken to disguise identitities, places of residence or where a person may usually operate.

Last year, Diario Las Americas ran a story about prostitution involving transvestites. Every night they sat in a doorway of a local avenue, Calzade de 10 de Octubre. After the article was published, the police discreetyly evacuated the place.

These unadorned stories told in Cuba carry a risk: any person mentioned can be picked up and end up behind bars.

An old butcher told me that a common method among officers of the Technical Investigations Department (DTI ) when stopping someone for inciting a conflict, is to tell them that he was found thanks to an article by a freelance journalist.

Although sometimes, the publication of a story is helpful. In December, following the heavy rains that hit Havana, a neighbor who lives in a crumbling sunroom, said that he had asking for a decent home for his family for 20 years.

"After my case was mentioned, the authorities talked with me. I was told that if I stopped giving statements, they could work out the problem," said the neighbor.

On Friday, January 10th, freelance journalist Leon Padron Azcuy published an article in the independentally run Cubanet, regarding Starbien, a private restaurant owned by José Raúl Colome, son of Abelardo Colome Ibarra, Army Corps General and Minister of the Interior.

On Monday January 13th, Colome Jr. showed up at the journalist's home. He said he was very upset with what was written in the article and promised to handle the matter personally. On January 15th , Cubanet revealed that the restaurant was registered in the Mercantile Registry of Spain as Starbien Investments SL.

When doing independent journalism on the fringes of a communist state, you have to be well informed. You can't pretend to look for "breaking news," or compete with state-run news agencies.

According to Kapuscinski, "You cannot be a good journalist without being a good person." Journalist must do the work of informing, and in the case of Cuba, they must objectively the reality that the regime hides.

h/t: Published in Spanish in Diario Las Americas on January 21, 2014