Radio TV Martí: Bursting the bubble again

A report published by the anti-Cuban mafia newspaper El Nuevo Herald confirms that the United States Agency for Global Media, which supervises the Voice of America and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, informed this week that some of the Radio and TV Marti’s employees could be fired soon.

According to the anti-Cuban libel "two employees who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals said that up to 25 employees could be fired."

Presenters, producers, editors, and cameramen are among the posts to be removed, which would actually affect some of the 117 workers at the Office of Cuba Broadcasting.

Upon hearing the news, as expected, the main sponsors of this media monstrosity, the Florida Republicans in Congress, Marco Rubio and Mario Díaz-Balart, once again raised their voices.

Following the July 11 protests in Cuba, “the Biden administration should be raising the voice of those who advocate for the freedom of Cuba, NOT silencing them through shameful staff cuts at Radio and TV Martí,” Senator Rubio wrote on Twitter. "Martínoticias is a vital component of initiatives in support of freedom and democracy in Cuba."

In recent years, Rep. Diaz-Balart said, the U.S. Agency for Global Media has repeatedly requested a budget of about $13 million for stations, well below the $30 million it used to get in the past, which would lead to staff cuts, he said in a statement on Thursday.

According to the same source, for many years, critics of TV Martí in the United States have questioned its effectiveness and have pointed out that the Cuban government interfered with its signal, resulting in a broader presence of the station on the Internet.

In 2019, following the scandal caused by the broadcast of a controversial report on George Soros, an independent review commissioned by the agency found that some of the news programs did not meet basic journalistic standards.

In fact, the misnamed Radio TV Martí, since its foundation during the Ronald Reagan administration in 1981, has been a resounding failure that has only served as a source of employment for the acolytes of the anti-Cuban regime that reigns in the city of hatred and as blatant and unquestionable evidence of the interference of the United States government in Cuba’s domestic affairs.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff