US publisher quits amid Cuba row

by Emilio San Pedro
The publisher of Florida's Miami Herald newspaper has resigned amid controversy over the rehiring of three journalists.

The journalists were sacked last month after accepting cash to appear for a US government broadcaster that aims to undermine Cuba's communist government.

Jesus Diaz, who had said the reporters violated the paper's sacred trust, said his position was now impossible.

The Herald blamed the decision to rehire on poor internal communication about conflict-of-interest policies.

Petition

The issue dominated the Miami Herald's front page on Tuesday.

The same was true last month when the paper announced in an equally prominent and public way that it was sacking the three journalists.

It said they had accepted in some cases tens of thousands of dollars to appear on radio and television programmes of TV Marti and Radio Marti.

In a statement on the paper's front page on Tuesday, Mr Diaz, publisher and editor, said the events of the past weeks had made it impossible for him to remain in the post.

Those events included very public pressure from prominent Cuban exiles, who led a campaign in favour of the sacked journalists, which included a petition signed by hundreds of leading exiles.

The paper makes no reference in its statement about that pressure from the Cuban community.