US Embassy ´punished´ Dominican daily over ´gay´ photo

Santo Domingo.- The US Embassy refused entry to Diario Libre reporters who went to the residence of the US ambassador to cover a social activity with Dominican MLB players, Diario Libre reported today.

According to the report, Diario Libre learned of the "Baseball is with you" activity from colleagues and sent a team of reporters to cover it. "No one in the newspaper had been informed of the impediment," the report read.

Press Attaché Jeremiah Knight told the DL reporters they were not on the guest list following instructions from ambassador James Brewster, Diario Libre wrote, and added that Mr. Knight said the embassy had spoken with the newspaper’s owner about the decision.

According to the report, Diario Libre director Adriano Miguel Tejada regretted the decision of the Embassy calling it "discriminatory, intolerant and a violation of constitutional principles in the United States and the Dominican Republic, including freedom of the press and free access to the sources of information."

"The only explanation I can find to the ambassador’s attitude is the publication in Diario Libre of a photo first uploaded to Facebook by the ambassador’s spouse, which shows a group of men posing in the Embassy pool celebrating the gay pride month," Tejada said, as quoted by Diario Libre.