To the Militant Editorial Staff,
It seems to me the title "U.S. government arrests 10 Cuban patriots, accuses them of espionage" which was attached to the article I wrote for the last Militant is very inappropriate. The title doesn't conform to the article, which never refers to those accused by the U.S. government as patriots.
The article gives the facts about the arrests and what the Cubans are accused of. The only people who have said those arrested are supporters of Cuba are the U.S. authorities, who have said these people are dangerous spies. Up to now there have been no comments from the Cuban government or from those arrested (as far as I know) saying that these people were working for Cuba or in some way loyal fighters for Cuba. The only comments I've seen from Cuba are ones pointing to Washington as the number one spy center in the world.
Even if the arrested and accused are Cuban patriots it wouldn't be surprising that they wouldn't admit anything. The Cubans know they can't get any kind of fair hearing from a U.S. court.
One sentence in the article states: "One member of the group, Antonio Guerrero, had a civilian job at the Boca Chica Naval Air Station." I don't have my original draft but I remember deliberately referring to the "accused" or the "arrested" when talking about the 10 being held by U.S. authorities. The term "group" can give the impression that the article gives credence to the FBI's charges that these people were an organized spy ring.
I think the Militant staff should have a discussion about this soon so as to decide if something should go into the next issue.
Fraternally,
s/Ernie Mailhot
Miami, Florida
Dear Ernie,
Thank you for your letter drawing attention to the very inaccurate and politically misleading headline the Militant placed on your article, which you did not see until you received the paper. I apologize for the error, and for the delay in publishing this correction.
The headline wrongly implies that the author has knowledge beyond what has been reported in the press that the 10 individuals arrested are supporters of the Cuban revolution, though the article itself makes no such statement. But neither you nor the editors of the Militant have any information beyond what has been in the media about who these individuals are. One thing we are confident of is that Washington's version will be calculated and self-serving, not truthful.
I also agree that referring to the 10 accused as a "group" is a mistake, one that we are responsible for either introducing or not editing properly from the original. It implies the opposite of what the rest of the article does.
These fictitious points entered in the process of preparing your article for publication, if not publicly corrected, would hurt the working-class vanguard in this country and the Cuban revolution. The arrests are an attempted political frame-up by the U.S. rulers of Cuba's revolutionary government. They are part of an effort by Washington to cover up the political blows U.S. imperialism has suffered in its unrelenting "cold war" against Cuba since the Cuban air force shot down two planes in February 1996, flown from Florida by the counterrevolutionary group Brothers to the Rescue, which had repeatedly and provocatively violated Cuba's air space.
The errors we made could have been avoided by following the elementary rules and procedures of journalism that the Militant has a proud record of abiding by. This includes showing the author all editorial changes in articles and following standard procedures to check that headlines conform with the content of articles. It's an important wake-up call - these procedures are more indispensable today than ever.
Fraternally,
Naomi Craine
Editor