How Cubans get around tight press restrictions

For decades, Cuba has had one of the worst press freedom records in the world. In its 2015 ranking, Reporters Without Borders ranked it 169th out of 180 countries in its World Press Freedom Index.

14yMedio says it wants to "create a space for debate".

The Castro government's ban of privately owned media, as well as tight control on internet access, have forced the free flow of information to underground channels. Alternatives such as El Paquete Semanal (the Weekly Package, in English) have emerged as the go-to option for Cubans interested in uncensored information.

Cafe Fuerte is another outlet which says it has no ties to the government.

El Paquete consists of a variety of content from different sources, loaded onto USB drives and CD ROMs and distributed via an underground network around the island. El Paquete includes the latest updates from 14yMedio, the first privately owned media outlet in Cuba.

Madrid-based Diario de Cuba is popular among exiles.

While the Cuban authorities have not stopped it from operating, online access to 14yMedio ("14 and a half") is blocked from within the island. It was created by prominent dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez and her partner, Reinaldo Escobar, and grew out of Ms Sanchez's blog Generacion Y. It went live in May 2014.

It avoids using loaded terms such as "dictatorship" or "regime", stating it aims to "inform, create spaces for debate and respect anyone that is different". But 14yMedio remains the only independent media outlet within Cuba itself.


Many opposition journalists have had to emigrate in order to report without censorship and to paint a broader picture on the country's reality. Miami, because of its cultural and geographical proximity to Cuba, has historically been the opposition media hub for anti-government voices.

Recently, new voices have taken to the internet to express their opinions and inform international audiences about the situation in Cuba.
Cafe Fuerte was created in 2010 by Cuban journalists Wilfredo Cancio and Ivette Leyva, who say it covers "newsworthy issues, producing content not found in other publications".

Cafe Fuerte (strong coffee), is independently funded and has no ties to any government or private institution. Similarly, Cubanet has been around since 1994 reporting on Cuban events stating that they publish "a wide range of opinions from Cuban journalists", even if they do not reflect their view.

But not only dissidents in Miami have been reporting on Cuban news. One of the main web portals that exiles use for information is Madrid-based Diario de Cuba.

It was founded by Pablo Diaz Espi in 2009 and features prominent Cuban voices such as opposition analyst Carlos Alberto Montaner. Its Twitter account has 14,000 followers and it publishes multimedia content with editorials, op-eds, and cultural items.

With the normalisation of relations with the US, and many media companies looking to invest in Cuba, the hope for a new media landscape in the island is higher than ever.

As US President Barack Obama said in interview with ABC Newson Monday, improving access to the web allows the Cuban people "more information and gives them a voice".

BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.