ZENIT, March 3, 1999 - DAILY DISPATCH - The World Seen From Rome
Statements by Italian Daily 'La Repubblica'
VATICAN CITY, MAR 3 (ZENIT).- Yesterday and today, the Italian newspaper 'La Repubblica' has published harsh articles against the violations of human rights contemplated in the new reform of the Cuban Penal Code. In the past, 'La Repubblica,' a center-left daily, has been enthusiastic about Fidel Castro. Today, in a front page article, it denounced the lack of information from which the Cuban people suffer, for which the state-controlled media is responsible. There has been no mention of the arrest and lengthy questioning of the signatories of the document, "The Fatherland for All." In Cuba, dissidents "do not exist," 'La Repubblica' denounces.
"Over a year ago, the Pope's trip led us to believe in the possibility of creating an alternative pole where people could at least meet and debate issues. But, just a year later, everything has changed. Following Fidel Castro's address at the beginning of January, on the fortieth anniversary of the revolution, Cubans have experienced an increase in controls and street patrols."
According to 'La Repubblica,' the police's salaries have almost doubled. The ballerinas of the national theater, who receive a mere pittance for their work, are repeatedly offered positions in the police force. "The Cuba which wanted to open up to the world, so that the world would open to Cuba -- as John Paul II so very much hoped -- has returned to a police state of the communist nightmare which many thought was now only a memory of the cold war," 'La Repubblica' concluded.
ZE99030311