Replies

Published Friday, November 8, 1996, in the Miami Herald
Cuba OKs CNN bureau in Havana
First U.S. news outlet since '69 needs Treasury approval
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS
Herald Staff Writer

WASHINGTON -- CNN has received authorization from the Cuban government to open a bureau in Havana, the Atlanta-based network announced Thursday.

If the Clinton administration approves, CNN would become the first U.S. news organization to have a permanent presence in Cuba in more than two decades.

The last American news outlet in Cuba, the Associated Press, was expelled in September 1969.

``It's something we've been trying for quite a while,'' CNN spokesman David Tally said.

In Havana, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marianela Ferriol issued a brief statement saying ``the opening of a CNN bureau in Havana has been approved and the procedures for carrying out that decision are now being analyzed.''

U.S. officials privately interpreted the move as a bid by Havana to test the waters with the administration in the aftermath of Tuesday's electoral victory.

A congressional source, speaking anonymously, said he expected Cuba to approve the opening of bureaus by CNN and a still undetermined newspaper, magazine or wire service.

The Treasury Department would have to authorize the opening of U.S. news bureaus in Cuba. Expenses for American journalists visiting Cuba are normally approved under a general license but a permanent installation there would require specific authorization, officials said.

The administration has not yet received a license request from CNN, and officials declined to speculate on the outcome.

``I'm sure we will consider it when we receive it,'' a State Department official said.

Congress has signaled its approval in principle for U.S. news bureaus operating in Cuba. The Helms-Burton law, enacted March 12, authorized them in the context of a reciprocal arrangement that envisioned a Cuban-run bureau in the United States.

So far, Cuba has not sought a U.S. bureau, officials said.

Atlanta media mogul Ted Turner, who owned CNN until Turner's merger with Time Warner, has maintained cordial relations with Cuban President Fidel Castro over the years.