Cuba: Editor of “Granma” Daily Replaced

By Progreso Weekly

HAVANA TIMES – Lázaro Barredo, editor of the newspaper Granma, official organ of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), has been relieved of his duties.

According to wholly reliable sources, Barredo was notified Tuesday of his removal, which obviously was ordered by high officials in the PCC. Replacing him, the same sources said, is Pelayo Terry, who until now edited the newspaper Juventud Rebelde (JR), organ of the Young Communists (UJC).

The new editor of JR will be the journalist Marina Menéndez Quintero, a professional with a long trajectory in that newspaper.

In the local journalistic world, where the news has spread and is the cause of much comment, the most remarkable aspect is the suddenness of the decision and the question of whether the replacement of Granma’s editor and the rise of new executives will be followed by changes in the policy drafted for the press by the PCC.

“We cannot say if this will mean a change in names, or an opening toward journalism attune to the national reality, where the topics that appeal to and affect the population may be reflected, discussed and analyzed from different perspectives,” a media professional told Progreso Weekly.

NOTE: On Wednesday morning Granma published the following information about the change in its top management position.

Pelayo Terry Cuervo, new director of Granma Newspaper

The Politburo of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party agreed to “liberate” for the purpose of renovation, Lazaro Barredo Mediana as the director of Granma newspaper, position he has held for almost eight years.

In substitution of Barredo is comrade Pelayo Terry, who at the time of this appointment was acting as the director of Juventud Rebelde newspaper. He has a long career as a journalist, war correspondent in Ethiopia and has held different posts in the Cuban print media.

The new director of Juventud Rebelde is comrade Marina Menendez Quintero, who while working for that newspaper had gone from being a journalist to assistant director. She has served as a correspondent in Nicaragua and Venezuela.