Published Wednesday, October 9, 1996, in the Miami Herald.

             Press group honors Cuba journalists

             From Herald Wire Services

             PASADENA, Calif. -- The Inter American Press Association on
             Tuesday awarded the 1996 Grand Prize for Press Freedom to five
             groups of independent journalists reporting on events in Cuba
             despite arrests and other government harassment.

             The prize was among those handed out at the 52nd annual
             meeting of the IAPA, made up of editors and publishers of news
             media in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean.

             Sharing the prize are the Cuban Bureau of Independent
             Journalists; the agencies Habana Press, Cuba Press and Patria;
             and the Cuban Association of Independent Journalists.

             None of the Cuban journalists were present to receive the
             award, which had been announced in July and had been followed
             by a new wave of government repression against the independent
             agencies. A message was read, however, from Raul Rivero, who
             founded the Cuba Press agency last year.

             Prensa Libre newspaper of Guatemala City received honorable
             mention.

             Other awards were given out in four categories to journalists
             and media from the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia,
             Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico and Puerto Rico.