Tracey Eaton

Tracey Eaton is a freelance writer and photographer based in Florida. He was the Havana bureau chief for The Dallas Morning News from 2000 to early 2005. He is one of only a few Americans who have operated news bureaus on the island since Fidel Castro took power in 1959.

Eaton was a Morning News correspondent for 12 years. He wrote stories from throughout Latin America. He was based in Mexico City from 1993 to 2000 and investigated organized crime and drug-related corruption.

Eaton went to Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks and covered the U.S. invasion and battles between the Northern Alliance and the Taliban. He also coordinated the newspaper's coverage of Pope John Paul II's visits to Cuba, Mexico and the Middle East.

Eaton has a master's degree in journalism from Temple University and is a former Fulbright scholar in Ecuador.

He began traveling to Cuba in 1994. He writes a Cuba blog called Along the Malecón and contributes to the New York Times' Cuba page.

In 2009, Eaton helped produce a documentary about a Cuban-American musician who returns to Cuba to rediscover his past.

He has been an invited speaker at conferences in Florida, Texas, Arizona, Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica and Cuba. He teaches journalism classes at Flagler College in Florida and has conducted workshops for reporters in Guatemala, Bolivia and Nicaragua.

His stories have appeared in more than 65 U.S. and Canadian newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, Los Angeles Daily News, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Past clips:

May 2010: With Internet’s help, Cuban dissidents begin exposing state security agents (PDF).

Oct. 2006: Cuba quietly waits for change in leadership.

Aug. 2005: Cuba: an island of despair; Castro regime professes hope, but basic services are abysmal.

Feb. 2005: Cuba and U.S.: Waiting for the Buy-in.

Dec. 2004: U.S. diplomat pushes democracy in Cuba.

Oct. 2004: Following in Fidel’s footsteps.