BY WILFREDO CANCIO ISLA
 El Nuevo Herald

 Cuban poet and independent journalist Raúl Rivero has been barred by the Cuban
 government from attending the 17th annual Miami Book Fair International,
 scheduled for Nov. 12-19 at the Wolfson campus of Miami-Dade Community
 College. The writer had been invited to discuss his book Ojo, pinta, published this
 year in the United States.

 ``I'm the writer who has un-attended the Miami fair most often. I'll probably set a
 record,'' Rivero quipped Tuesday on the phone from Havana, referring to the three
 previous invitations he has been unable to honor because of bureaucratic
 intervention.

 According to Rivero, he submitted MDCC's letter of invitation, dated Sept. 11, to
 Cuban authorities shortly after he received it but was told that his trip would have
 to be sponsored by a Cuban institution.

 ``That's a sick joke, because it's well known that nobody dares -- or is allowed --
 to sponsor dissidents or independent journalists,'' said Rivero, director of the
 unofficial news agency Cuba Press. The 55-year-old author often writes columns
 for El Nuevo Herald.

 Prevented from coming to Miami in an official capacity, Rivero applied for an exit
 permit for a family visit, but that, too, was denied.

 Book fair organizers condemned the Cuban government's attitude and voiced
 regret over Rivero's absence. The writer was scheduled to present his book at the
 end of the closing session, Nov. 19 at 5:45 p.m.

 ``This is unacceptable. It seems Rivero is doomed to be an eternal absentee at
 the fair,'' said its executive director, Alina Interián. She added she was still hopeful
 that Rivero might deliver his presentation by telephone.

 Ojo, pinta, a collection of interviews with 11 Cuban painters, illustrates the
 problems faced by young artists in terms of censorship and shortage of art
 materials.

 Its title is intentionally ambiguous, meaning either ``Warning: Wet paint'' or
 ``Watch out, this person paints.''

 Rivero said he will continue to press for the right to leave and re-enter his
 homeland freely.

 ``What I find bizarre is that some days ago, the Cuban government organized a
 mass parade through Havana defending the right of Americans to travel freely to
 Cuba, whereas that right is nonexistent here,'' he said.