Bill in US Congress Rejects Illegal Transmissions Toward Cuba

U.S. democratic congresswoman Betty McCollum introduced a bill that plans to eliminate the budget for the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB) based in Miami, which controls Marti radio and TV stations. The legislator stated that those stations, denounced by the Cuban authorities as illegals, are outdated instruments of the Cold War, and constitute a outdated method in the new context that is on the horizon for relations between the United States and Cuba.

McCollum said that U.S. taxpayers should not fund these media propaganda, whose average cost exceeds the $27 million USD per year.

During the last three decades the stations have spent more than $770 million USD, pointed out the legislator when announcing this Wednesday the submission of her proposal to the Capitol.

McCollum reiterated her support for the decision announced on December 17, 2014 by President Barack Obama to restore diplomatic relations with Havana.

She added she will work in the Congress to lift the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed against Cuba for more than five decades.

Other U.S. political leaders contrary to these transmissions argue that the broadcasters are hardly tuned in Cuba due to the lack of audience interested in the topics they cover and because since its foundation the signals are blocked by the Cuban authorities.

Cuban President Raul Castro Ruz pointed out yesterday at the Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), that to achieve the normalization of the bilateral ties the "radio and television broadcasts that violate international standards" must cease.