Herald falsely claims as its own, story on Trump and his interest in Cuban hotels disclosed by Progreso Weekly
On Sept. 9, about two weeks ago, Progreso Weekly published one of my columns titled: “Since 1998, Trump has wanted his hotels and golf courses in communist Cuba.” At the time we reported that “from 1998 to at least the year 2016, Donald Trump thought of Cuba as a potential business site for his hotels and golf courses. … Trump executives, and at least one consulting firm paid by the Trump organization, traveled to Cuba on Donald Trump’s behalf in search of business opportunities. And on Oct. 29, 2008, the Trump organization hired Cuban lawyer Leticia Laura Bermudez Benítez in Havana to register the Trump brand in the Official Bulletin of the Cuban Office of Industrial Property establishing a future foothold on the Island.”
Since 1998, Trump has wanted his hotels and golf courses in communist Cuba
On Tuesday, Sept. 22, I woke up to this headline in the Miami Herald and a similar one in El Nuevo Herald: “Trump registered his trademark in Cuba in 2008 to build hotels, casinos and golf courses.” In the Herald article they cite the Official Bulletin of the Cuban Office of Industrial Property where the Trump trademark was registered, and also happened to mention Leticia Laura Bermudez Benítez, the Cuban lawyer hired by the Trump organization to do its bidding in Havana. The Herald article was written by Nora Gámez Torres.
The Gámez Torres article uses the same (almost exact) information given by us almost two weeks prior. The Gámez Torres article cites news and information first offered by Progreso Weekly, but makes it appear as if they [the Herald] had broken the news. Her article, in fact, goes as far as to also include information gathered from the same Newsweek article of Sept. 29, 2016, mentioned in my column.
Let me state for the record. I am pleased that Nora Gámez and the Herald published this information. Many more readers will now learn of the Trump hypocrisy when it comes to Cuba. For that I thank them. I hope this information helps convince some Cubans in this town that Trump simply wants their vote by hook or by crook. As for Trump’s supposedly strong stance against communism… in my column, and later mentioned in the Herald article, I write of the Trump organization spending $68,000 in Cuba in search of hotel and golf course sites in 1998, while Fidel was still in power. Months later, Trump goes before the Cuban American National Foundation and tells them that he would “maintain the embargo and never spend his or his companies’ money in Cuba until Fidel Castro was removed from power.” CANF apparently believed him. Well, at least that’s funny.
What I am trying to say, though, and this is important, it makes me happy that the Herald took the time to report the news that we broke. But… Nora Gámez knows better. The least she could have done in her article is give Progreso Weekly the credit for most of the information she offers. She did not. And that is BAD journalism.
But for the 20 years we’ve been publishing Progreso Weekly, when it comes to the Herald(s) — especially El Nuevo Herald — that’s how they’ve treated us: unprofessionally. And although over they years I know they’ve picked up information about stories (especially from Cuba where they had NO ONE reporting for them) from us, I can only remember Progreso Weekly given credit one time in those 20 years.
One last thing. On the same day the Herald published our story as theirs, OnCuban News published a brief rewrite of what was published in The Miami Herald / El Nuevo Herald, giving the Herald credit for the information. We complained to OnCuba. I quickly received an email from OnCuba excusing themselves and stating that they had not seen my column, it is why they had used the Herald as source, they said.
Let us take their word for it. One small piece of advice, though: For information about what’s happening, or what has happened in Cuba, we’re much more reliable than the Miami Herald or El Nuevo Herald. Take a few minutes to check us out, at least once a week, especially on Thursdays.
One last thing for both the Herald and OnCuba, it’s a digital world: You can always fix the problem and give credit where it is due.
