Posted on 07/25/2003 1:52:43 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
SANTIAGO, Chile - Chilean author Carlos Franz is turning down a journalism award from Cuba to protest the crackdown on dissidents by the government of President Fidel Castro.
"I decided that I could not accept a journalism award purported to support freedom of expression because among 78 dissidents imprisoned in Cuba there are a number of authors and some 20 newsmen," Franz told the Chilean daily La Segunda Tuesday in an interview from his London residence.
He said "it was a hard decision" to turn down the Jose Marti Journalism Prize awarded by Cuba's government news agency, Prensa Latina.
Franz said he has sent a letter to Cuba rejecting the prize, awarded for an ironic story describing a visit to the U.S. Naval Academy.
It shouldn't have been, but it's good that he made the right choice.
Could it have been a hard choice because the guy leans to the left? Also, I note that he qualified his objection by saying that the crackdown included writers and journalists, as if it wasn't so bad just imprisoning everyday dissidents. Maybe I am reading between the lines something that isn't there.
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