ARGENTINA PERSPECTIVE

Buenos Aires, June 7. The Argentine press stands out for its proximity to Cuban culture and the freedom to quote critical intellectuals without diplomatic caveats. Clarín publishes an interview with Cuban writer Leonardo Padura, who confides: "I fear a military intervention — anything can happen." It is a free, intellectual voice that appears in no other Western press this weekend. La Nación titles an indirect piece of good news for Cubans: "Buenas noticias para venezolanos y cubanos: fallo bloquea políticas del Uscis que impactan en el asilo" — an American court temporarily blocks anti-asylum policies for Cubans and Venezuelans, opening a migratory window no other press signals. MercoPress, the English-language wire based in Uruguay, publishes the most complete and internationally cited analysis: "US sanctions Cuba's president Díaz-Canel and inner circle in push for regime change." The article explains precisely Executive Order 14404, the three sanction rounds in less than a month, the rejection by Havana. It is an Argentine coverage without illusions about the Cuban regime — Padura is no defender of Castroism — but one that puts the human at the center. Argentina knows that many of its own citizens studied in Cuba in the 1970s-90s, that Argentine and Cuban cultures are intertwined. Buenos Aires covers the strangulation as one would cover that of a friend with whom one disagrees politically.