Latin American media figures have stated their firm opposition to the US’ refusal to allow Cuban reporters to return to their jobs at the United Nations after brief vacations on the island.

Editor César Lévano, of the Peruvian daily La Primera, said Washington's decision taken against Cuban journalists Ilsa Rodríguez and Tomás Anael Granados —a married couple— confirms the Bush government's anti-democratic standards.

By the same token, Lucien Chauvin, president of the Foreign Press Association of Peru (APEP), slammed the American action and said it goes against the freedom of press promoted so widely by the US.  

The Nicaraguan Journalists Union (UPN) issued a press release on Wednesday denouncing the action taken by the US government against the Cuban journalists who had been covering the United Nations since 2005.

In Buenos Aires, Argentina's Culture and Communication Workers Federation (FETRACCOM) noted, "this persecutory maneuver should be included in the growing list of hostile actions committed by the American government against Latin American countries, particularly against our sister nation of Cuba."

Venezuelan journalists with the Necessary Journalist Movement (MPN) harshly criticized Washington's decision on the grounds that it not only violates the right to communicate and exercise their professions, but also sets a serious precedent against the neutral character that should prevail in international organizations.