Nicaragua will not ask Cubans for visas for these reasons 3:02
(CNN Spanish) -
Cuban journalists Héctor Valdés and Esteban Rodríguez, who denounced having been forced to leave Cuba, have been admitted to El Salvador while their immigration status is being resolved, according to the Salvadoran Immigration and Foreign National Office.
Valdés and Rodríguez, both DNA Cuba reporters, had denounced that they were "forced" to leave Cuba without explanations and that after a failed attempt to reach Nicaragua they ended up stranded in El Salvador, where after several hours the Department of Migration He announced that he granted them entry and support during their stay.
Valdés said on his Facebook account that they traveled first to Panama, to catch another plane to El Salvador, and then a third flight to Nicaragua, where Cubans do not require a visa.
But he added that they were stranded in El Salvador because Nicaragua prohibited them from entering.
Hundreds of art personalities ask the government of Cuba to no longer repress artists
CNN consulted the Nicaraguan Council for Communication and Citizenship about Valdés' complaint, but so far they have not responded.
(Source: General Directorate of Migration and Foreigners of El Salvador)
On its Twitter account, the United States Embassy in Cuba considered the situation "worrying" and described it as "exile."
advertising
"This is another method of harassment of journalists, of repressing those who peacefully differ, and contempt for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They should never have been repressed and they should not have been forced (to leave) outside of Cuba" the US diplomatic representation in Havana said on the social network.
CNN asked the Cuban Foreign Ministry, via email, for information about the reports of the communicators, without obtaining a response so far.
Andy Gómez: Cuba will choose who can go to Nicaragua 1:24
Human Rights Watch senior researcher Juan Pappier stated on his Twitter account after speaking with journalists that they had been “expelled” from Cuba, denounced that Rodríguez suffered torture in prison and asked to be granted asylum.
For his part, the special rapporteur for freedom of expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Pedro Vaca, asked the 49 states that adhere to the Coalition for Press Freedom to support Valdés and Rodríguez.
This Wednesday, Valdés narrated on his Facebook account the situation they have gone through in the last hours.
He explained that Rodríguez was transferred from the Cuban prison of the Combinado del Este, where he had been for 8 months, directly to the airport.
"Yesterday, January 4 of this year, for not knowing how to tolerate a different opinion and recognizing that we all have the right to express ourselves without fear of repression; the Cuban regime forced us to make the decision to leave our country," Valdés wrote .
ADN Cuba classified the journalists' departure as a "forced exile."