AP appoints Weissenstein Havana bureau chief

HAVANA – NEW YORK  18 July   Michael Weissenstein has been appointed The Associated Press chief of bureau in Havana, the third bureau chief the news cooperative has had in Cuba since it reopened an office on the island in 1999.

The AP also announced that senior producer Christopher Gillette has been named to head AP television operations in the country. The appointments were announced jointly on Thursday by John Daniszewski, senior managing editor for international news, and Sandy MacIntyre, director of global video news.
“Cuba is important for the Americas and the world. AP continues to deploy top-notch journalists to tell the story of Cuba’s people, culture and government with accuracy, fairness and insight,” said Daniszewski. “AP’s customers will be well served by this move,” MacIntyre said. “Cuba remains a nation whose story fascinates and Chris brings the knowledge, experience and diplomacy to tell it well.”
The AP office in Havana was closed for decades following the early days of Fidel Castro’s revolution. It reopened in 1999 and is one of the few American media organizations that operate permanently on the island. The 39-year-old Weissenstein has been a correspondent in Mexico City for the last two years, reporting throughout Latin America and helping coordinate coverage of Mexico and Central America.
He will report to Marjorie Miller, editor for Latin America and the Caribbean, and lead a bureau situated in the historic quarter of Old Havana with a multi-national staff producing news in English and Spanish in print, photos and video.
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