People have commented that it takes courage for a college student to bluntly state their view of the world in a newspaper column with the possibility of public backlash. However, what my colleagues and I do each week is hardly comparable to the courage displayed by oppressed journalists throughout the world, such as Cuban journalist Guillermo Farinas.
More than a third of the world's population lives in countries where there is no freedom of the press. The situation is particularly severe in Cuba, where the third anniversary of Fidel Castro's crackdown on opponents of the government\ was quietly overshadowed last week as the world focused its attention on the third anniversary of the war in Iraq.
The March 2003 jailing of 75 Cuban dissidents included several independent journalists like Farinas, as well as librarians and civil rights activists. All were accused of plotting with the United States. to overthrow the Cuban government. Farinas, along with many others, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Though time has passed since the initial imprisonment, the situation has become increasingly intense since Jan. 31 of this year, after the incarcerated Farinas began a hunger strike. At least three of his fellow inmates have gone without food since March 4 in support.
Farinas committed no outlandishly treacherous crimes generally associated with traitors; he did not attempt to assassinate any officials; he did not even lead a mass protest in a public venue. So what sort of extreme revolutionary act did Farinas commit to spark a three-year incarceration and a hunger strike?
Farinas sent an e-mail. He visited an internet café and sent an e-mail perceived by the Cuban government to hold anti-establishment sentiments. For that he was arrested, beaten and imprisoned. By his own volition, he now tenuously clings to life in a hospital, surviving only on an IV drip and his principles—all for the sake of unrestricted internet access.
As the director of the independent news agency Cubacan Press, Farinas sought to inform and enlighten Cuban citizens with a more accurate account of events, free from the communist propaganda of government-controlled news. The only way to obtain another view on the world was from sources outside Cuba. The best way to access such sources was the web.
Unfortunately Cuba has one of the top 10 worst rates of Internet availability in the world, according to Reporters Without Borders. Though the government blames the lack of bandwidth on the U.S. trade embargo, the true problem of information distribution lies in the heavy government restriction on any website that does not fit into the communist mindset.
It is difficult for privileged university students that browse Internet news websites, send e-mails laden with anti-Bush administration quips and flip through the hundreds of satellite TV channels to imagine that just 80 miles south of Florida lies a country where the government alone has complete access to these media in such capacity. What we in this country take for granted each day citizens in other countries are willing to risk their life for.
Furthermore, how many of us would have the courage to uphold the ethical codes of our craft if a regime sought to squander our efforts, even if it meant symbolically sacrificing our lives? Even the most idealistically committed and passionate UW-Madison student would hesitate, for such sacrifice without real result seems ridiculous to risk.
True, it is certain that Farinas' hunger strike will not change the policies of Castro's regime. It is also certain that without food, Farinas will perish before the infamous camouflage-clad octogenarian.
These consequences may make Farinas' hunger strike seem futile and staged. However, we students cannot properly pass judgment on his act of protest because we have not struggled through his situation. Physically endangering one's health is not condonable by any means, but Farinas' courage and virtue deserve respect.
So the next time you nonchalantly send an email ripping on the government or post a rant on your ""Cheney Sucks"" blog, be thankful; journalists in Cuba are literally dying to do the same.
Kelly Schlicht is a sophomore majoring in journalism. Her column runs every Monday. Send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
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