U.S. broadcasts to Cuba focus of attention again

    Radio and TV Marti are suddenly in the headlines again this week after the Government Accountability Office issued a report on the International Broadcasting Bureau’s no bid contracts. (You can Download the_gao_report_here.pdf )

   IBB oversees the work of Miami-based Office of Cuba Broadcasting which operates Radio and TV Marti.

   It was in 1983, early during the Reagan administration, that Congress approved Radio Marti – a radio broadcast service that beams commentary, entertainment and news to the island. (The photo shows the studio in Miami).

   Since 1990, TV Marti has been airing similar content on television.

   (If you want to watch TV Marti or listen to Radio Marti, both in Spanish, click on this Internet address http://www.martinoticias.com/ and then click on either Radio Marti en Vivo or TV Marti en Vivo on the left hand column of  the website).

   According to the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the mission of Radio and TV Marti is to break through the media control that the Cuban government exercises on its media. A key objective of both services is to deliver balanced commentary, entertainment and news to the island.

   From the outset Radio Marti was controversial. Critics insisted it was part of a covert operation by the Reagan administration to overthrow Fidel Castro.

   More controversy followed when TV Marti started, with critics claiming few watched the television broadcast on the island.

   Even more controversy ensued when President Clinton in 1996 gave authorization for Radio and TV Marti operations to relocate to Miami from Washington.

   The most recent controversy, prior to Tuesday’s GAO report, involved a Miami Herald story in September 2006 about how at least 10 South Florida journalists, including at least three from El Nuevo Herald, received regular payments from the U.S. government for programs on Radio and TV Marti.

-- Alfonso Chardy