EFE News Agency leaving Cuba

For decades Cuban regime has blackmailed news agencies with the withdrawal of accreditation if they don't cover news at the whim of those in power. Following a campaign on social media called #EFECubreLosJuicios (EFE cover the trials) , Gabriela Cañas, the president of the EFE news agency felt the pressure and spoke out against this blackmail by the Cuban regime. She said that if the agency's journalists continue to be restricted from exercising free journalism, EFE would leave Cuba and report on the island from outside.

Democratic Spaces believes that if the EFE news agency, which is quoted by various news agencies around the world on Cuba, is going to limit itself to journalism that is hostage to a dictatorship and serve only as a propaganda tool, it would be better for the agency to leave Cuba.

The essence of journalism is to question and criticize, not to repeat and endorse what a group in power wants.