To delve into the nature and vitality of current Cuban journalism, it would be necessary to think about it largely from its context and historical complexity, which draws from literature and story as nodal axes to be able to talk about much larger issues.
The reality in Cuba is currently going through a resurgence of the fractures of its democracy, and an inescapable symptom of this is the decline of the free exercise of its journalism, which in turn translates into explicit censorship or serious difficulties in exercising the profession with all necessary safeguards.
It is in this context that the reason for being and the guideline of the Investigative Journalism in Cuba project is inscribed, an initiative subscribed to the independent study center based in Chile, Espacio Público, which since 2017 has been installed as a vital space of training and reflection for more than 45 journalists residing in different countries (Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua), who have had to practice journalism in complex sociopolitical contexts.
This project originally contemplated that the participants visit the city of Santiago de Chile in person to participate in workshops, and also create contact networks with other journalists. However, as during the previous version, this has not been possible due to the obstacles presented by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 100th Street landfill, in the Marianao municipality, is the largest garbage dump in Cuba (Image: Meilin Puertas and Walter Frieiro)
However, for this fifth edition the project focused its efforts on the development of journalistic work remotely, although much more personalized with those groups that had more facilities for remote work, a task that was not exempt from significant difficulties derived from the limited Internet access.
The result of the project is two journalistic pieces, by a pair of authors each, which address the issue of pollution in the Cuban capital and its stories: Living off garbage, by journalists Walter Frieiro and Meilin Puertas, and Bahía of Havana: the industries that "contaminate" the postcard, by Mary Karla Ares and Claudia Montero.
Both long-winded pieces, solid in their journalistic nature, context and investigative nature, also have a well-defined style that abounds in detailed descriptions, weaving hard data with interviews and face-to-face experience, in order to tell two stories about a specific problem. of contemporary Cuba, which in turn serve as a critical mirror of their time and political reality.
Looking ahead to its sixth version, the Public Space Investigative Journalism project will seek to promote accountability towards governments from independent investigative journalism, with the aim of not losing the ties between journalists, regardless of their place of residence.