Censorship Ends In Cuba’s Oriente

Province is Rebel Center—Batista Party Names Presidential Candidate

By R. Hart Phillips

Special to The New York Times

HAVANA, Feb. 3—President Fulgencio Batista signed a decree today lifting censorship of press and radio in Oriente Province, center of revolutionary activities against the Government.

The action was announced by the Minister of Interior, Santiago Rey, at the Presidential Palace this afternoon.

The lifting of censorship in Oriente followed protests by associations of Cuban newspaper men and press against “discrimination” by the Government in retaining censorship in the province.

In addition, Government leaders planning a political campaign in all provinces of Cuba urged the President to remove censorship in Oriente so they could campaign there more freely. At the same time the Opposition has told the Government the censorship made it impossible to carry on campaigns.

Censorship was lifted in the other five provinces automatically with restoration of constitutional guarantees last Jan. 25. However, the guarantees continued in suspense in Oriente Province and Censorship remained in effect owing to conditions there.

It appears that the Presidential candidate of the four-party Government coalition will be the Premier, Dr. Andres Rivero Aguero, head of the Cabinet and a close friend of President Batista. His nomination this morning by the Progressive Action party, headed by President Batista, is considered tantamount to nomination by the entire coalition.

Within the next few days the coalition will meet to approve the candidacy and to nominate Vice-Presidential and Senatorial candidates for the coalition ticket in the election slated June 1.

Each of the four parties in the coalition will nominate its own candidates for Representatives, Provincial Governors, Mayors and municipal Councilmen.

The coalition is composed of the Liberal, Democratic, Union Radical and Progressive Action parties.

The Government Presidential candidate will be opposed by former President Ramón Grau San Martin, candidate of the Cuban revolutionary party known as the Authentic and Dr. Carlos Marquez Sterling, candidate for the Free People’s party. In addition, José Pardo Llada is expected to be nominated by his Nationalist Revolutionary party.

Both the Free People’s party and the Nationalist Revolutionary party are small factions of the once powerful Orthodox Opposition party, which is now dissolved and without legal status.

New violence flared last night when a policeman was shot and killed in Luyano, a suburb of Havana, by unidentified persons.