Wednesday, June 28, 2017

2007: Cuba remembers Herbert Matthews


Was this weird or what? 

Back in 2007, the Castro dictatorship remembered a journalist, the late Herbert Matthews of The NY Times:
"Cuba unveiled a marble plaque on Saturday commemorating the interview 50 years ago by New York Times reporter Herbert Matthews that helped build the legend of Fidel Castro, the state news agency Prensa Latina reported. The plaque was placed on the spot where Matthews met with Castro at his hideout in the Sierra Maestra mountains of south eastern Cuba." (Cuba honors American who made Castro a legend)
Of course, it's nice to remember journalists. However, it's a bit strange for a country that does not tolerate free journalism to celebrate the life of a journalist.

How many independent journalists will show up?  How many of the imprisoned Cuban journalists will be allowed to attend?

Anyway, they call Mr. Matthews "The man who invented Fidel Castro".  He was the first international journalist to tell us about the bearded man who would become Cuba's dictator.