More than 400 deputies of the National Assembly of Cuba approved unanimously and in an extraordinary session the first law that regulates the media. The norm does not contemplate the existence of independent news media, by excluding them from the legal framework, and only authorizes the press controlled by the State.
First modification:
It is the first rule for the media created in Cuba since the triumph of the revolution in 1959. President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who attended the session together with former President Raúl Castro, defended the initiative.
The law does not contemplate the existence of independent media, especially internet portals that have multiplied in recent years.
On the other hand, the norm specifies that the media can only belong to the State or to recognized associations, such as the trade union, or to be community media and that, in any case, their objective will never be to subvert the socialist order and they must be registered with a state entity.
Critics accuse lawmakers of being more interested in propaganda than balanced coverage of the facts, but their defenders say action is needed in a context of increasing information “manipulation.”
“The project does not recognize respect for political diversity,” expressed an analysis of the digital portal ‘El Toque’, one of the media outlets that have emerged in recent years outside the ruling party.
According to the reflection of this space, the norm limits the information to the governmental versions of the facts, as well as the right to reply and prevents citizens from demanding information.
And it is that the new regulations regulate the content of the media, since prohibits what it considers to be “subverting the constitutional order and destabilizing the socialist state”, as well as instigating “cyber warfare”, to which, according to the authorities, his country is subjected.
Specifications that aim at censoring information contrary to the pro-government narrative and leaves independent digital newspapers adrift, organizations defending press freedom point out.
The press and communications sector is usually a controversial area in the nation, where there are no privately owned newspapers or television channels and the most far-reaching belong to the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC).
But the new regulation further limits the existence of any source of information other than the Government.
The Cuban Parliament evaluates the difficult economic situation of the country
For his part, the Deputy Prime Minister and Head of Economy and Planning, Alejandro Gil, reported during the session on the difficult economic situation of the country, the other point on the agenda of the deputies.
Gil recognized that the sustained increase in basic prices is one of the most serious problems facing the population. The interannual inflation at the end of last April was 45.4%, while the accumulated inflation so far this year reached 11.39%.
The shortage and the increase in costs, the black market and the resale by individuals of basic goods are hitting the pockets of Cubans. The last notable shortcoming is the lack of fuel.
Gil indicated that although tourism, the engine of Cuban finances, had a tendency to recover, it is still far from the figures prior to the pandemic.
As of May 3, the country had received one million visitors, 119% more than in the same period of 2022, but it represents only 51% of the number of 2019. The authorities indicated that they expect 3.5 million tourists this year .
Although with an opening to small and medium-sized companies – some 7,900 were approved in the year and a half that they have been authorized -, Gil stressed that the island’s socialist model is based on state companies and industries and highlighted that 285 of these registered losses, 126 less than last year.
