Cuba reinstates credentials of journalists with Spanish news agency EFE

Cuban officials have not specified why they withdrew the credentials of some of the agency's staff, but the island's state-run media has said EFE's reporting was biased and sought to fan the flames of the planned rallies by dissidents in November. Those protests fizzled under government pressure.

Cuba reinstated the credentials of several journalists with Spanish state-owned news agency EFE in Havana, the Cuban government said on Monday, after authorities revoked them ahead of planned protests on the island last November. Cuba's Center for International Press (CPI) said on social media it would grant a visa to EFE's chief correspondent on the island and authorise EFE to once again operate with a full staff in the Cuban capital.

"Both parties reaffirmed the importance that the accredited foreign press carries out its informative work with freedom and mutual respect, in accordance with the principles of truthfulness, impartiality and non-bias," the CPI said on Twitter. EFE called the decision by the Cuban government a "decisive step towards normalising reporting by the Spanish agency on the island."

Foreign journalists are allowed to work in Cuba only with the permission of the communist-run government. Most local media is operated by the state, though some independent outlets have emerged in recent years. Cuban officials have not specified why they withdrew the credentials of some of the agency's staff, but the island's state-run media has said EFE's reporting was biased and sought to fan the flames of the planned rallies by dissidents in November.

Those protests fizzled under government pressure.

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