c. 1999 Religion News Service
PINAR DEL RIO, Cuba _ At the cramped, musty offices of Vitral, a dense and lofty magazine run out of the Roman Catholic diocesan center in this western provincial capital, visits by irked Communist Party officials are not uncommon.
Articles on the economy or hunger or myriad other issues found objectionable by Cuban authorities almost always lead to a complaint, either to the magazine’s director, Dagoberto Valdez, or to Bishop Jose Siro Gonzalez.”They come and say, `We’re not in agreement with what you published, and you shouldn’t publish that again,'”explained Valdez, 43, a compact, energetic man whose sense of humor belies the seriousness of the topic.”And we tell them, `We respect your opinion and we’d like to offer you the opportunity to respond in our pages.'” But the authorities never respond. Nor have they taken more drastic action, like closing or suspending publication. Meanwhile, the 4-year-old Vitral, whose name refers to the multiple panes of a church’s stained glass, has continued to publish six editions and several supplements each year.
“We don’t publish what the state press publishes. That would be a waste of time,” said Valdez. “What we want to do is present an alternative, a different set of ideas.”
In Cuba, where for 40 years the state has disseminated and controlled all forms of information, the idea of allowing an independent publication to operate outside the system might seem anathema.
But in recent years, as the government has eased its hard-line political position and as the Catholic Church has gained more freedoms, religious publications have begun to push the constraints that have hamstrung free expression since Fidel Castro took power in 1959.
As many as 30 magazines and newsletters _ run out of Catholic parishes, for the most part by lay people, from Pinar del Rio in the west to Santiago de Cuba in the east _ are operating, said Enrique Lopez Oliva, a religion expert at the University of Havana. Lopez estimates just half as many existed two years ago.
Cuba observers on the island and in the United States give credit, in large part, to Pope John Paul II, whose historic visit to Cuba last January has helped forge a better relationship between church and state in a country once officially atheist.
“Five years ago, there were very few” such publications, said Father Manuel Una, an activist Havana priest and assessor for the Catholic Press Union. “Vitral didn’t exist. Palabra Nueva (or the New Word, a Havana magazine) wasn’t around. Others also didn’t exist.
“The Cuban people are cultured people who like to read, who’ll read wherever they can, and we think there’ll be more.”
Some publications focus on specific issues, such as film and spirituality. Broader publications, such as Vitral, Espacios in Havana and Enfoque in Camaguey, delve into social and economic issues, keeping religious issues to a minimum.
“The Catholic Church magazines have stopped being ecclesiastical and catechist (religious teaching) publications, or publications of just religious issues,” said Orlando Marquez, director of Palabra Nueva and spokesman for the Catholic Bishops Conference of Cuba. “They started treating other themes that interest the faithful.”
Marquez noted that from the beginning, he and others involved with Palabra Nueva vowed they’d “do a magazine that would touch on all kinds of different areas, that would give the church’s opinion on these areas.”
When the magazine started, Marquez recalled, there was only enough paper and other supplies for a year of copies. The founders thought they would print, at best, 1,000 copies for each edition.
Six years later, Palabra Nueva is among the oldest of the publications. Its 10,000 circulation is the largest. Last year it received international attention when the International Catholic Press Union in Paris awarded its Gold Medal to the publication for “defense of freedom of information.”
Vitral has also gained attention outside Cuba. The magazine has published the poetry of Cuba’s Maria Loynaz and written articles about famed 19th century Cuban priest Felix Varela. But it’s the magazine’s treatment of politically sensitive topics that has ruffled feathers and attracted interest.
“It is the boldest, although there are two others in Havana that are taking on similar issues,” said Shawn Malone, a Georgetown University expert on Cuban church-state relations, referring to Espacios and Palabra Nueva. “Vitral, of course, has developed something of a history.”
The magazine has written editorials condemning abortion, which is legally sanctioned by the state. It has called for a more open economy in a country where nearly all aspects of economic activity are state-run.
It has written about human rights, highly sensitive in a nation with more than 400 political prisoners. In one editorial, it noted that “liberty of expression is the most genuine expression of liberty.”
One especially incendiary topic has been education. Vitral called for a less dogmatic educational system; officials were incensed that one of the pillars of Cuba’s society would receive such scrutiny.
Soon after, Valdez recalled, authorities complained and called for a meeting. Valdez and several other magazine workers met in May 1997 with eight Communist Party officials, four from the central committee in Havana and four from Pinar del Rio.
The party officials included experts on such issues as education and economics, and for six hours the authorities disputed the assertions made in Vitral’s pages point by point.
Though Valdez marvels that the government would pay so much attention to a publication with a circulation of just 3,000, he was pleased and is optimistic about the give and take at the meeting. “That, for us, was very interesting. We hope it continues,” he said.
Editors of other magazines said they have not been directly confronted by authorities, though in some cases they’ve heard official grumbling second-hand.
They say they don’t consider themselves in opposition to the government. Rather, as an alternative to the state press, their publications provide readers with analysis and solutions of problems facing Cuba, the editors contend.
“What we’ve proposed doing is to be a voice, to let the people participate, with their lives, with their voice, with their personal histories,” said Eduardo Mesa, the director of Havana-based Espacios, a 2-year-old publication whose title means Spaces. “Even the government can have an opinion. … We’re not an opposition paper.”
Marquez of Palabra Nueva said that because there is no private media in Cuba, there could easily be a tendency to view the church publications as anti-government.
“That’s not true. That’s an error. We’re not allied to the government, and we’re not an opposition,” Marquez said. But he added: “If there’s something important that must be commented upon, then yes, we should have something to say.”
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The editors and directors of the magazines said they do not expect trouble from the government. The government does not tax or regulate the magazines in any way, nor does it request that articles be reviewed by Communist Party officials before publication, as is the case with state-run media.
The government, however, has not allowed any printing presses _ which would allow circulation to rise significantly _ to be imported into the country for use by the magazines.
The publications rely on photocopiers. The magazines are also plagued with other mundane problems _ the high cost of paper and ink, no effective method of circulation, apart from being passed out at churches or delivered to a minimal number of people by bicycle. The largest circulation magazine remains Palabra Nueva. Others print 1,000 or 2,000 copies, at most.
And because ordinary Cubans cannot afford to spend money on the magazines, the publications for the most part are given out free or for token change. The cost of publishing is instead funded by Catholic agencies outside Cuba.
Except for a couple of paid staffers, the magazines depend on volunteer writers, lay people and clerics who are also occupied with numerous other tasks.
“I also work in the office of the city’s official historian. We all have other professions,” said Manuel Barcia, an Espacios writer. “I’m not just working there, either. I’m also getting my master’s degree and I write academic articles.”
Despite these limitations, the magazines have been wildly successful, the editors say. Surveys have shown that a handful of people read each printed copy.
“As soon as we publish, the magazine disappears,” said Joaquin Bello, an assessor at Espacios, which has a circulation of 1,000 to 1,300.
“Everyone gets a copy and it’s passed from hand to hand.”
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