CUBAN INFORMATION ARCHIVES




DOCUMENT  0146a


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BROADCASTING TO CUBA
Radio Marti & C.A.N.F. 1960-1990
part 1


 part 2...Broadcasting to Cuba 1991-1994

1/1/60 3/31/60 David Atlee Phillips, a senior CIA operative posing as head of a public relations company in Havana, locates a 50-kilowatt transmitter in Germany that belongs to the U.S. Army.  With the help of the Navy, the transmitter is installed on Swan Island.  The station's funding is a secret, and its studios in Miami are subsequently staffed with Cuban exiles.  Cuban exiles also purchase time on the station to promote their viewpoints. (RW, p. 6, n6)
1/1/60 3/31/60 Cuba announces its intent to establish an international short-wave radio service. (RW, p. 8)
1/1/60 12/31/61 Mas Canosa makes bi-weekly radio broadcasts to Cuba, through radio stations WRUL and SWAN.
2/1/60 2/28/60 According to Jorge Mas Canosa, he is arrested several times in 1960.  In February he is picked up and interrogated by security forces.  He later tells the Miami Herald of being handcuffed to another Cuban who refuses to talk and is shot in front of him. (MH, 4/10/88)
3/21/60 VOA resumes Spanish language broadcasts, edited "with an eye toward Cuba." (RW, p. 16, n77)
3/23/60 A memo to the Secretary of State reviews stepped-up Voice of America (VOA) short-wave broadcasts to Cuba and other possible broadcasting and propaganda activities against the island. (Smith & Dominguez, p. 145)
4/1/60 4/30/60 Congress authorizes the International Communications Agency (ICA) to use $100,000 "to cultivate friendship with the people of Cuba and to offset anti-American broadcasts in that country." (RW, p. 16, n78)
4/1/60 7/31/60 In 1973, E. Howard Hunt discloses that during this period, David Atlee Phillips brags about Radio Swan's achievements in Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Allen Dulles' office.  Hunt, meanwhile, assures the leaders of counter-revolutionary exiles in Florida that as soon as the Bay of Pigs invasion starts, Radio Swan and other stations will start a massive series of broadcasts to urge the people to throw out Castro. (RW, p. 6, n5)
5/1/60 5/31/60 The Gibraltar Steamship Corporation announces that it has leased land on Swan Island off the coast of Nicaragua to operate a radio station for broadcasting to Cuba and the Caribbean.  Strictly a commercial venture, the station is to broadcast music, soap operas, and news from studios in New York.  Corporation President Thomas Dudley Cabot was formerly President of United Fruit, and in 1951 was director of the State Department's Office of International Security Affairs. (RW, p. 6)
5/17/60 The CIA begins broadcasting Radio Swan throughout Latin America to win supporters for U.S. policies and to discredit Castro.  (Warlaumont, p. 45; Smith & Dominguez, p. 146)
6/21/60 8/21/60 Cuba files a proposed short-wave radio transmission schedule with the International Telecommunication Union in Geneva. (RW, p. 8)
 7/1/60 Jorge Mas Canosa is arrested for plastering anti-government leaflets on buildings in Santiago de Cuba.  "God came to my rescue," he later tells the story. "I delivered a beautiful piece of oratory.  The guys around were so impressed they told the captain, `He is innocent. Let him go.'"  He is subsequently released.  (MH, 4/10/88)
7/15/60 Jorge Mas Canosa leaves Cuba for exile in Miami. (MH, 4/10/88)
9/1/60 12/31/60 Cuban radio and television broadcasts charge that Radio Swan broadcasts are "a new aggression of imperialistic North America."  Castro charges before the UN that Radio Swan was "placed at the disposal of war criminals and subversive groups that are still being sheltered by [the U.S.]."  In response to U.S. broadcasting, Castro uses Cuban stations to begin propaganda broadcasting throughout the island, jamming Radio Swan's signal.  Radio Varadero tries to project its signal to the eastern U.S. but is often blocked by a Canadian station. (RW, p. 7, n12, 13, 14, 15)
1/1/61 12/31/61 Following the Bay of Pigs invasion and extensive VOA broadcasting about it, President Kennedy adds $3 million to the ICA budget for Latin American broadcasting. (RW, p. 17, n80-81)
1/1/61 12/31/61 Jorge Mas Canosa marries his high school sweetheart, Irma Santos.  They have three children: Jorge Jr., Juan Carlos, and Jose Ramon.  (MH, 4/10/88; Who's Who)
2/1/61 2/28/61 VOA announces a series of anti-Castro broadcasts to the Caribbean and Latin America, featuring anti-Castro exiles and citing Castro's broken promises for free elections and a free press.  (RW, p. 16, n79)
2/1/61 2/28/61 Radio Havana Cuba begins broadcasting. (RW, p. 8)
4/16/61 4/18/61 Jorge Mas Canosa participates in the CIA-directed Bay of Pigs invasion force as part of Brigade 2506.  He is squad leader of the 1st Rifle Company, 3rd Squad, El Grupo Nino Diaz [HIGINIO "Nino"DIAZ ANE], which is supposed to land in Oriente province to divert attention from the main force at the Bay of Pigs.  The Grupo Nino aborts its mission upon finding that the main landing has failed.  While 1,180 other exiles are taken prisoner, Mas Canosa's ship returns to Miami without engaging the enemy.  Two other anti-Castro Cuban exiles of future prominence are part of Mas' brigade: Felix Rodriguez and Luis Posada Carriles, who later work for the CIA and become figures in the Iran-Contra scandal twenty-five years later.  (Fonzi, p.23)
4/17/61 Radio Swan broadcasts the following message:  "Alert, alert--look well at the rainbow.  The fish will rise very soon...the sky is blue, the fish is red.  Look well at the rainbow."  This message alerts counter-revolutionary Cubans on the island that the Bay of Pigs invasion is being launched.  During the invasion, Radio Swan broadcasts 24 hours a day, encouraging people to fight Castro and giving instructions to non-existent battalions. (RW, p. 6-7, n7-10)
6/1/61 6/30/61 Jorge Mas Canosa joins the U.S. military, training as an officer candidate at Fort Benning, Georgia.  The majority of Cuban exiles are sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky, or Fort Jackson, South Carolina.  At Fort Benning recruits, such as Felix Rodriguez and Luis Posada Carriles, receive specialized training in clandestine communications, intelligence and propaganda.  Mas Canosa is commissioned a second lieutenant, but when he finds out there are no plans for an invasion, he quits the Army. (Fonzi, p. 23; MH, 4/10/88)
1/1/62 12/31/62 Several stations, including Radio Caribe from the Dominican Republic and Radio Swan, begin broadcasting programs by the Cuban Freedom Committee, founded in Washington by Rep. Roman Pucinski (D-IL).  (RW, p. 11, n44)
1/1/62 12/31/62 Mas Canosa returns to Miami where he sells shoes and works  as a milkman.  He participates in the Christian Democratic Movement, which prints a bulletin calling for Cuban exiles to "reconquer" Cuba. During those years, the CIA operates one of its largest stations in Miami.  Mas Canosa says he never became an agent of the CIA, an assertion confirmed by a former intelligence official.  Instead he joins privately funded, exile-controlled operations. [This assertion is contradicted by Fonzi, in his description of RECE's CIA connections; see below] (MH, 4/10/88)
9/1/62 9/31/62 President Kennedy orders an expansion of VOA Spanish services and seeks $3 million from Congress for U.S. broadcasting to counter Cuban broadcasting efforts in the region. (Smith & Dominguez, p. 147)
9/1/62 12/31/62 A UPI story reports that "it was made known in [U.S.] official circles that a formula is being sought to counteract the propaganda emanating daily from Radio Havana." (RW, p. 9)
10/1/62 10/31/62 Radio Free Dixie, organized by Robert Williams, an American black leader under indictment for kidnapping, broadcasts from Cuba to the southern U.S., to encourage revolution among American blacks. (RW, p. 11, n49, 50; Warlaumont, p. 45; Smith & Dominguez, p. 147)
10/1/62 10/31/62 Radio stations broadcast American news messages to Cuba throughout the crisis.  A new radio station, Radio Americas, the successor to Radio Swan, joins in the broadcasting.  It is owned by the Vanguard Company of Miami, which is reportedly under the direction of the CIA. (RW, p. 18, n85)
11/1/62 The National Security Council (NSC) directs VOA to initiate medium-wave broadcasts to Cuba from Florida. (Smith & Dominguez, p. 147)
11/9/62 A U.S. Navy 50-kilowatt transmitter on Marathon Key, not registered with or approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) or the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), links with a special VOA network and broadcasts to Cuba on 1040 Khz.  The broadcasts are done under temporary presidential authority. (Smith & Dominguez, p. 147)
2/1/63 2/28/63 Radio Liberty, a CIA program aimed at the Soviet Union, begins broadcasting in Russian to Soviet personnel stationed in Cuba via a North Carolina medium-wave station. (Smith & Dominguez, p. 148)
6/21/63 8/21/63 Cuba begins the first electronic jamming in the hemisphere.  Reportedly, the Soviets provided the jamming device to shield Soviet advisors in Cuba from Russian-language broadcasts of WBT-AM Charlotte, NC, which had begun transmitting medium-wave programs prepared by CIA-financed Radio Liberty. (RW, p. 10, n42)
1/1/64 12/31/64 Cuba begins jamming Spanish language broadcasts on VOA transmitters in the Florida Keys to block Radio Swan and on other U.S. medium-wave stations. (RW, p. 10-11, n43)
1/1/64 12/31/68 Mas Canosa is responsible for three weekly radio commentaries on WMIE radio in Miami.
1/1/64 12/31/64 Jose Bosch, the Bacardi Rum magnate, invites Jorge Mas Canosa to join the anti-Castro paramilitary organization, Cuban Representation in Exile (RECE).  Bosch ostensibly gives the group $10,000 a month and hand-picks five exiles to lead it; however, files later reviewed by congressional investigators demonstrate that RECE was CIA supported.  Other members include Vincente Rubiera, Ernesto Freyre and Erneido Oliva; the latter  two exiles had strong CIA connections. Through RECE Mas Canosa helps plot military raids on Cuba, though he never mans the boats that attack the coastline or infiltrates the island himself.  RECE continues to praise commando tactics into the early 1970s. Mas Canosa serves as the "propaganda guy" for the group, and eventually becomes RECE's director. (MH, 4/10/88; Fonzi, p.23-24)
1/1/65 12/31/66 Jorge Mas Canosa plans military raids on Cuba with Tony Cuesta (the leader of Commandos L).  He raises money, gets boats and guns, and scouts bases for the group in Central America and the Caribbean.  (MH, 4/10/88; Fonzi, p.24)
12/17/66 12/21/66 Officials from the State Department, FCC, United States Information Service (USIS), NSC, and White House telecommunications management officials meet to discuss the interference complaint of WHAM, a New York station licensed by the FCC to broadcast on 1180 Khz, the same frequency that VOA is using without approval or registration.  Despite observations that the Marathon Key station is likely in violation of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA), the State Department representative insists that continued VOA broadcasts to Cuba are "most important."  (Smith & Dominguez, p. 149)
1/1/68 12/31/68 Vincente Rubiera of RECE introduces Jorge Mas Canosa to Iglesias and Torres, two Cuban exiles and former International Telephone and Telegraph company employees, who had opened a company in Puerto Rico.  Mas Canosa opens a branch of their company, Iglesias y Torres, in Miami. Rubiera also introduces Mas to Davin Finn of Communications Workers of America, who then introduces him to E.B. McKinney, then Southern Bell's general manager in South Florida. (MH, 4/10/88; Fonzi, p.24)
1/1/68 12/31/69 ICA research finds that six percent of a Central American sample listens to Radio Havana Cuba programs several times each week, while eight percent listen to VOA programs.  VOA receives more praise than RHC on "complete news," "truthfulness," and "impartiality."  However, the Miami Herald reports that "the Rockefeller mission learned that all over Central America and the Caribbean, Cuban radio propaganda wins out over the Voice of America during prime time."  Rockefeller tells President Nixon that the VOA "must see to it that its programs are more attractive than those of Radio Havana Cuba." (RW, p. 12, n53, 54)
1/8/68 Radio Havana Cuba begins broadcasting "The Voice of Vietnam" in English to the United States. (RW, p. 11, n46)
1/1/71 12/31/71 Jorge Mas Canosa buys Church and Tower -- for $50,000 -- and within a year is doing $1 million in work for Southern Bell digging ditches, laying cable, building manholes and setting telephone poles. (MH, 4/10/88)
4/1/73 VOA's Cuba-targeted and Cuban exile-staffed "Cita Con Cuba" program is cut from five hours to thirty minutes.  (Smith & Dominguez, p. 150)
1/1/74 12/31/74 Jorge Mas Canosa enters the political arena in Florida with a campaign contribution to Democrat Richard Stone, who wins a U.S. Senate seat this year. (MH, 4/10/88)
12/1/74 The remaining half-hour of VOA's "Cita Con Cuba" program is phased out, and the Marathon Key station broadcasts only generic VOA Spanish  service programming to Cuba.  (Smith & Dominguez, p. 150)
5/8/75 Jorge Mas Canosa testifies as an executive committee member of Cuban Representation of Exiles (RECE) before the House Committee on International Relations (CIS Index).
4/1/76 4/30/76 Emilio Milian is injured by a dynamite blast from a bomb in his car.  Shortly after, Jorge Mas Canosa begins driving an armored Mercedes-Benz. (MH, 4/10/88)
6/1/76 8/31/76 Orlando Bosch initiates the first summit of Commando of United Revolutionary Organizations (CORU), with 20 men from the most militant Cuban exile groups, including several close associates of Mas Canosa: Ignacio and Guillermo Novo, Jose Dionisio Suarez, and Luis Posada Carriles.  In the 10 months after its first summit, CORU takes credit for more than 50 bombings in Miami, New York, Venezuela, Panama, Mexico, and Argentina.  Among those terrorist acts are the car bombing of former Chilean Ambassador Orlando Letelier and the explosion of a Cubana Airlines plane, both in 1976. (Fonzi, p. 25)
1/1/77 12/31/79 Jorge Mas Canosa has become a successful businessman.  By the late 1970's, Church and Tower is worth $9 million.  (Fonzi, p. 10)
1/1/78 12/31/78 Jorge Mas Canosa tells a reporter, "Am I non-violent?  No, I am pro-violence.  I think Castro should be overthrown by a revolution...but I am short of advocating any type of criminal activities within the ranks of the exiles or within the sanctuary we have in the United States." (MH, 4/10/88)
6/29/79 Cranston, Alan 1000 Individual
7/3/79 Heftel, Cecil 250 Individual
11/29/79 Stone, Richard 200 Individual
12/12/79 Stone, Richard 400 Individual
12/14/79 Stone, Richard 1000 Individual
2/5/80 Talmadge, Herman 3500 Individuals
2/7/80 The FCC launches an effort to close unlicensed anti-Castro exile radio stations operating from Florida.  One station closed in Miami belongs to the Bay of Pigs Veterans' Association.  (Smith & Dominguez, p. 150; MH, 2/9/80)
6/1/80 6/30/80 A VOA informational leaflet is published which says, "Creating a separate broadcast `for Cubans only' would in no way increase the supply or availability of appropriate broadcast materials, but could rather be interpreted as a special propaganda campaign, less credible and even dismissable."  (VOA leaflet, Washington, cited in RW, p. 23, n118)
6/16/80 Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) introduces a Congressional resolution in support of radio broadcasting to Cuba.  (Smith & Dominguez, p. 150)
6/30/80 Gunter, Bill 1000 Individual
8/14/80 Talmadge, Herman 2000 Individuals
9/15/80 Pepper, Claude 500 Individual
10/1/80 Gunter, Bill 1000 Individual
10/22/80 Talmadge, Herman 1000 Individual
10/24/80 Talmadge, Herman 4000 Individuals
10/27/80 Hawkins, Paula 2000 Individual
 11/1/80 11/30/80 Cuba gives a one-year notice that it is withdrawing from NARBA (signed in 1950 with the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas, and the Dominican Republic).  (Smith & Dominguez, p. 150)
11/1/80 Florida Sen. Stone loses his seat to Republican Paula Hawkins in the 1980 Reagan landslide; Mas Canosa was one of her main supporters.  According to Raul Masvidal, a CANF founder who later left the organization, Mas then "parked himself" in Hawkins' Senate office. (Progressive, 6/93)
11/4/80 Talmadge, Herman 1000 Individual
1/1/81 3/31/81 Richard  Allen, President Reagan's first national security advisor, and NSC aide Mario Elgarresta meet with Raul Masvidal and Carlos Salmon in Washington to discuss creating a Cuban American lobbying force.  "We were told that there was a chance of doing something during the Reagan administration for Cuba if we could organize to improve our image," according to Masvidal.  Allen remembers telling them that "the best thing to do would be to create an organization that would speak with one voice or appear to speak with one voice.  They should take a chapter from the very successful history of organizations like AIPAC," the American Israeli Political Action Committee.  At the meeting, Elgarresta suggests making Jorge Mas Canosa part of the organization's leadership. Elgarresta had been an executive for Southern Bell, for which Mas was a prime contractor (Fonzi, p. 28; National Journal)
1/1/81 1/1/82 According to Federal Election Commission records, during this period Jorge Mas Canosa and his wife contribute $36,000 to national political campaigns. (MH, 4/10/88)
3/21/81 6/21/81 Writing in Foreign Affairs, Kenneth Adelman proposes that VOA create a special program for Cubans, broadcasting "the casualty rates of Cuban troops in Africa and their discontent at being there, and the declining fortunes of Cubans at home." (Adelman, p. 932; CRS, p. 15)
4/6/81 4/7/81 U.S. State Department and FCC negotiators meet with Cuban officials in Havana to resolve bilateral differences prior to the next Region II session of the AM broadcasting conference in Rio.  (Smith & Dominguez, p. 151)
4/14/81 The Justice Department refuses to prosecute "Commander David," a celebrated anti-Castro clandestine broadcaster.  Clandestine anti-Castro broadcasting increases immediately.  (Smith & Dominguez, p. 151)
5/1/81 5/31/81 Frank Calzon writes a proposal for a "Cuban American Foundation" in Washington to be started with less than $59,000 per year.  Washington lawyer Barney Barnett, who had created the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), later advises the group on how to create a PAC and a lobbying entity and also introduces the Cubans to Tom Dine, executive director AIPAC. (MH, 8/11/86) The foundation was initially composed of 14 Miami businessmen. (Time, 11/26/93)
6/21/81 8/21/81 The Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) is established.
7/1/81 7/31/81 Representatives of various agencies meet at the State Department to examine options for additional broadcasting to Cuba. (RW, p. 26)
7/19/81 Hatch, Orrin 1770 Individuals
8/1/81 8/30/81 President Reagan and the NSC authorize "Project Truth" to refute "misleading Soviet propaganda and disinformation" and to "underline the Soviet threat" to world stability and security.  ICA director Charles Z. Wick directs an inter-agency committee to coordinate Project Truth. (RW, p. 24, n123, 124)
8/24/81 8/28/81 U.S.-Cuban bilateral talks on radio interference continue in Washington.  (Smith & Dominguez, p. 151)
 8/27/81 Reagan administration officials announce plans to establish a "Radio Free Cuba," similar to Radio Free Europe, to be called Radio Marti.  National Security Advisor Richard Allen says, "The administration has decided to break the Cuban government's control of information in Cuba...Radio Marti will tell the truth to the Cuban people about their government's mismanagement and its promotion of subversion and international terrorism."  However, FCC field operations chief Richard Smith states, "I've heard the plans for the broadcasts [into Cuba] being discussed in government circles for over some time.  But I don't think anything has been decided."  Enacting legislation H.R. 5427 states "It is the policy of the United States to support the right of the people of Cuba `to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers,' in accordance with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."  (Smith & Dominguez, p. 151; RW, p. 24, n125, p. 28, n142)
9/17/81 Wayne Smith, head of the U.S Interests Section in Havana, cables the State Department that the planned Radio Marti program "could well destroy any progress on resolving AM broadcasting incompatibilities."  (Smith & Dominguez, p. 151)
9/22/81 Ronald Reagan signs Executive Order No. 12323, outlining the Radio Marti proposal and creating the Presidential Commission on Broadcasting to Cuba, "to develop recommendations with respect to broadcasting of information and ideas to Cuba."  Members include:  F. Clifton White; ICA Director Charles Z. Wick; construction executive Jorge Mas Canosa; Californian Republican Party chair Dr. Tirso del Junco; beer corporate head Joseph Coors; publishing magnate Richard Mellon Scaife; Mobile Oil vice president Herbert Schmertz; WINZ Miami Radio political editor William Bayer; former Senator Richard Stone; George Jacobs, and staff members George Landau and Yale Newman.  (RW, p. 26, n138, p. 140; Feltman, p. 81n; NYT, 8/9/82; CRS, p. 16)
9/23/81 National Security Advisor Allen announces the proposal for Radio Marti, saying, "This Administration has decided to break the Cuban government's control of information in Cuba.  This radio service will tell the truth to the Cuban people about their government's domestic mismanagement and its promotion of subversion and international terrorism in this hemisphere and elsewhere."  (WP, 9/24/81)
9/28/81 Radio Broadcasting to Cuba, Inc., a private non-profit corporation, is incorporated in the District of Columbia.  Intended to eventually be responsible for Radio Marti, the incorporation allows RBC, Inc., to receive private funds before it is authorized by Congress, much as the Board for International Broadcasting was created before Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty.  Its trustees are Midge Decter, Amb. William Stedman, and Amb. Robert Zimmerman.  (CRS, p. 17)
10/15/81 Tony Cuesta, a former Mas Canosa associate and leader of Commandos L, tells UPI that a new guerrilla force inside Cuba is ready to go into action against the government of President Fidel Castro. The Miami-based exile, who spent 12 years in a Cuban prison, opens his speech saying, ''I can inform you that the 'Movimiento Interno de Liberacion' (Internal Liberation Movement) which has fought inside Cuba for many years, considers it is strategically necessary to come to the public light for the first time.''  He says the group began to form after the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion, and that he could not talk about the exact size of the organization within Cuba ''because I don't want to jeopardize their safety.''  In another speech, Jorge Mas Canosa says, ''we wish to request that you follow Cuban-related events very closely in the immediate future. It is possible that events of great transcendency will come to pass inside Cuba.'' (UPI, 10/15/94)
 10/26/81 Castro denounces the plan for U.S. government radio broadcasting to the island, saying it is "an insult, an offense to our people."  Castro adds, "Of course, there will be a response to that measure..."  (Smith & Dominguez, p. 151-2)
11/1981 Cuba withdraws from NARBA.  (RW, p. 33)
11/13/81 Cuba announces at the Western Hemispheric Broadcasting conference in Rio that if any country tries to beam uninvited radio programs into its territory, it will retaliate with "100 transmitters" of its own.  (MH, 11/14/81)
11/16/81 SR 1853 is introduced to create Radio Marti, upon the Reagan Administration's request, by Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair Charles Percy (R-IL). (Feltman, p. 81n; CRS, p. 17)
12/14/81 Cuba withdraws from the Rio conference on AM broadcasting, citing U.S. plans to "set up medium-wave transmitters beamed exclusively at our country for subversive, destabilizing purposes..."  (Smith & Dominguez, p. 152)
1/1/82 12/31/82 The International Telecommunications Convention is adopted, with Regulation Number 2665 prohibiting the establishment of stations broadcasting from boats, ships, or other flying objects, in water or by air, that are outside national territory.  It also prohibits television frequencies from crossing borders.  (Alexandre, p. 527)
1/1/82 12/31/82 The ICA is renamed the United States Information Agency (USIA). (RW, p. 24)
1/15/82 A charter for the Presidential Commission on Broadcasting to Cuba is signed by Richard T. Kennedy, Under Secretary of State for Management. (CRS, p. 16)
1/19/82 Jackson, Henry 1000 Individual
1/19/82 President Reagan formally announces the Commission on Broadcasting to Cuba, chaired by long-time Republican party official F. Clifton White.  Members of the Commission include Jorge Mas Canosa, Joseph Coors, Tirso Del Junco, George Jacobs, Richard Scaife, Herbert Schmertz, Richard Stone, William Bayer and Charles Wick.  (WP, 1/20/82; CRS, p. 16)
2/2/82 House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Clement Zablocki (D-WI) submits HR 5427 to fund Radio Marti. (CRS, p. 17)
2/3/82 Fourteen Democratic Members of Congress circulate a letter to their colleagues in opposition to Radio Marti.  (MH, 2/4/82)
2/7/82 An article by Frank Calzon, executive director of the CANF, is published in the Miami Herald defending the need for Radio Marti. (MH, 2/7/82)
2/19/82 Durenberger, Dan 1000 Free Cuba PAC Hatch, Orrin  1000 Individual Heinz, Henry John 1000 Free Cuba PAC Lugar, Richard 1000 Free Cuba PAC Michel, Robert 1000 Free Cuba PAC
3/4/82 The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) objects to the administration's Radio Marti proposal, citing probable Cuban retaliatory interference with U.S. commercial broadcasts.  (NYT, 3/5/82)
3/11/82 Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs Thomas Enders proposes Radio Marti to the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee, stating it would not be a propaganda tool or a way to "incite Cubans to revolt against  their own society."  Jorge Mas Canosa also testifies at the hearings.  (MH, 3/12/82; CRS, p. 18; CIS)
3/15/82 Tillman, Harrel 1000 Free Cuba PAC
3/20/82 3/31/82 Radio Alpha, which broadcasts anti-Castro messages to Cuba nightly, is shut down and ordered to pay $2,250 in fines by the FCC, which is "acting on complaints from U.S. amateur radio operators and the Cuban government."  (MH, 4/4/82)
3/25/82 Before a House Appropriations subcommittee, Asst. Sec. Enders proposes the Radio Marti program, saying it would break the Castro government's "monopoly" on information and that "absolutely credible, intelligent" news and commentary would ultimately undermine the Castro regime.  Enders asks for $17.7 million to operate Radio Marti over the next 18 months.  (MH, 3/26/82)
4/1/82 4/30/82 Jorge Mas Canosa becomes a U.S. citizen. (MH, 4/10/88)
4/21/82 Baker, Cynthia 1000 Free Cuba PAC
5/4/82 Asst. Sec. Enders presents the Senate Subcommittee on Appropriations with a request for $17.7 million to operate Radio Marti over the next 18 months.  (MH, 5/5/82)
5/10/82 Asst. Sec. Enders states that if Cuba jammed a future Radio Marti broadcasting program, the U.S. would retaliate. (MH, 5/11/82)
5/18/82 A CANF full-page ad in the Washington Post supports Radio Marti and opposes any relaxation of U.S. policy toward Cuba.   (WP, 5/18/82)
5/20/82 The House Energy and Commerce subcommittee approves Radio Marti legislation that would limit the broadcasts to short-wave frequencies and provide $10 million in 1982 and $7.7 million in 1983 under the Board for International Broadcasting.  (MH, 5/21/82)
5/24/82 The Presidential Commission on Broadcasting to Cuba issues its interim report, recommending that Radio Broadcasting to Cuba, Inc., be allowed to use private funds for planning prior to federal authorization and that it begin to hire key personnel.  The report also states that Gaither International has been hired to perform an audience survey to plan programming.  Radio Marti's program director Yale Newman states at this time that the station will be located in Washington, DC, to keep it from becoming a Cuban exile station, but it will have bureaus in Florida and New York, with correspondents in the Midwest, Southwest, and West Coast regions.  The budget request to Congress is $10 million for FY 1982 and $7 million for FY 1983, plus $1.2 million for equipment and $1 million for facilities. (CRS, p. 17-21)
6/3/82 Kemp, Jack 1000 Free Cuba PAC
6/4/82 Fascell, Dante 250 Free Cuba PAC Rinaldo, Matthew 1000 Free Cuba PAC
6/11/82 Symms, Steve 1000 Free Cuba PAC
6/11/82 Representatives Timothy Wirth (D-CO) and Thomas Tauke (D-IO) write to Asst. Sec. Enders that "the expenditure of any funds for the construction of facilities for the purpose of making Radio Marti operational without the passage of authorizing legislation would be illegal." (letter cited in RW, p. 29)
6/16/82 Lt. Cmdr. Mark Neuhart, public affairs officer for U.S. forces in the Caribbean, is quoted by the New York Times as saying that the Navy is constructing four 250-foot antennas for Radio Marti.  Congress has not authorized funds for the station.  The New York Times also reports that Rep. Wirth wrote to officials in the State and Defense Departments, warning that "clearly, the construction of facilities for the purpose of making Radio Marti operational without the passage of authorizing legislation would be illegal."   A State Department spokesperson states that if Radio Marti is not approved, the antennas will be put to other use by the government.  (NYT, 6/17/82)
6/18/82 Fascell, Dante 1000 Free Cuba PAC
6/19/82 Bush, Prescott 1000 Individual Emery, David 500  Individual
6/20/82 Bush, Prescott 1000 Free Cuba PAC
6/21/82 8/21/82 CANF publishes a paper on "Radio Broadcasting to Cuba: Policy Implications," which is used to promote Radio Marti and suggests a framework for its operations.  The paper is also submitted as testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  (CANF Summary)
7/1/82 Asst. Sec. Enders and Fred Ikle, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, testify for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in support of Radio Marti.  (NYT, 7/2/82)
7/13/82 The House Energy and Commerce Committee, rejecting offered amendments, votes 23 to 3 to approve Radio Marti legislation and send it to the House floor for a vote.  Frank Calzon of CANF states, "We won." (MH, 7/14/82)
7/19/82 Fascell, Dante 2000 Individuals
7/23/82 Buechner, John C. 1000 Free Cuba PAC
8/3/82 Rep. Tom Harkin (D-IA) submits eighty amendments to the bill HR 5427 to create Radio Marti, delaying House action on the bill.  Amendments include changing the name of the act to "The $17.7 Million Boondoggle Duplicative Radio Broadcasting to Cuba Act" and "The John Foster Dulles Cold War Mentality Memorial Radio Broadcasting to Cuba Act."  Another proposed amendment calls for the withholding of funds until the Government Accounting Office investigates the possible improper use of government money to build Radio Marti's antennas before the station was approved by Congress.  Harkin and other opponents object to the bill for many reasons, including costs of the program and predictions that Cuba will interfere with U.S. radio stations in response. (CQWR, 8/7/82, p. 1900-1; RW, p. 29)
8/10/82 The House approves the administration's proposals to create Radio Marti with $7.5 million in funding provided.  (LAT, 8/11/82)
8/11/82 Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Ricardo Alarcon states that if the Reagan administration begins broadcasting propaganda aimed at undermining Castro's government to Cuba, Cuba will respond with transmissions that would interfere with U.S. commercial programming:  "those who will suffer the consequences will be those in the middle, the North American radio transmitters and radio listeners."  (WP, 8/12/82)
8/11/82 The 11-member Presidential Commission on Broadcasting to Cuba submits its report on the proposed Radio Marti program, stating that it should "avoid harsh, strident, or obviously ideological presentations or concepts to which the average Cuban cannot relate."  The report also lists alleged Cuban failings that should be the focus of the broadcasts.  (WP, 8/12/82)
8/11/82 The Senate approves a hard-line anti-Castro resolution which some militant exile groups interpret as permission to fight Castro directly from  U.S. soil.  Justice Department spokesperson John Russell warns that there is no legal relaxation of the Neutrality Act, which bars attacks from U.S. soil against countries with which the U.S. is not at war.  (MH, 8/12/82)
8/19/82 Buechner, John 2000 Individuals
8/19/82 Responding to questions about Cuba's response to Radio Marti, Castro says, "We are not going to interfere, but we are going to broadcast back; I think the Americans are going to be listening to a lot of Cuban music."  (Smith & Dominguez, p. 152)
8/20/82 As a result of Sen. Edward Zorinsky's (D-NE) use of a parliamentary measure to end hearings, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee defers action on Radio Marti. (NYT, 8/12/82)
8/31/82 The "radio wars" begin with a "Voice of Cuba" station interfering with U.S. broadcasters as a "demonstration" of Cuba's ability to respond to Radio Marti.  For four hours during the evening, Cuba counter-broadcasts music and propaganda interfering with at least five AM stations in the U.S., one as distant as Des Moines, Iowa.  (WP, 9/1/82 and NYT, 9/10/82; Smith & Dominguez, p. 152)
9/2/82 Fascell, Dante 2772 Free Cuba PAC
9/9/82 The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approves Radio Marti legislation by a vote of 11 to 5 with funding at $7 million per year.  The Committee rejects, by a vote of 11 to 7, an amendment sponsored by Sen. Paul Tsongas (D-MA) to provide compensation funds to U.S. stations damaged by Cuban retaliatory broadcasting. (NYT, 9/10/82)
9/10/82 Sarbanes, Paul 2000 Free Cuba PAC
9/13/82 Fascell, Dante 5000 Free Cuba PAC
9/14/82 Barnes, Michael D. 500 Free Cuba PAC Buechner, John C. 1000 Free Cuba PAC Chiles, Lawton 100  Free Cuba PAC Hecht, Chic 3000 Free Cuba PAC
9/17/82 The FCC shuts down two anti-Castro Cuban exile stations for operating without a license. (MH, 9/18/82)
9/19/82 Fascell, Dante 500 Individual
9/20/82 9/30/82 A Senate Foreign Relations Committee issues a 26-page report on Radio Marti, recommending that Congress approve the proposal and use Congressional oversight to make sure that the administration does not use the station as a propaganda weapon but rather as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of accurate, objective, and comprehensive news.  In the minority viewpoint section, Sens. Claiborne Pell (D-RI), Edward Zorinsky (D-NE), Paul Tsongas (D-MA), Alan Cranston (D-CA) and Christopher Dodd (D-CT) object to the program as "an insult to the American taxpayer" and urged the Senate to reject it as "bad government policy."  (MH, 9/25/82)
10/1/82 Metzenbaum, How 2000 Free Cuba PAC Rousselot, John 2000 Free Cuba PAC
10/14/82 Chappell, William 1000 Free Cuba PAC Difazio, Lucien 1000 Free Cuba PAC Hyde, Henry 1000  Free Cuba PAC Ireland, Andy 1000 Free Cuba PAC Lagomarsino, Bob 1000 Free Cuba PAC Leboutillier, Joh  1000 Free Cuba PAC Roth, William 1000 Free Cuba PAC  Zablocki, Clemen 1000 Free Cuba PAC
10/19/82 Baker, Cynthia 3000 Free Cuba PAC Fascell, Dante 1000 Individual Metzenbaum, Howard  2000 Individuals
10/29/82 Barbour, Haley R. 1000 Free Cuba PAC Emery, David  1000 Free Cuba PAC
11/1/82 Trible, Paul 1000 Free Cuba PAC
 11/19/82 Pepper, Claude 500 Individual
12/9/82 White House spokesperson Mort Allin states that Cuban Americans have been flooding the President's office with telegrams, asking him not to let the Radio Marti proposal die.  (MH, 12/10/92)
12/14/82 Cuban exile and former political prisoner Armando Valladares and Asst. Sec. Enders, on behalf of the White House, make a special appeal to lawmakers to approve President Reagan's request for Radio Marti. (WP, 12/15/82)
12/15/82 The National Coalition for a Free Cuba (NCFC) accuses Sen. Zorinsky, a staunch opponent of Radio Marti, of a possible conflict of interest from receiving campaign contributions from Herbert Dolgoff, the owner of Spanish-language radio stations in Miami who would perhaps be a part of an alternative broadcasting method to Cuba.  Francisco Hernandez, treasurer of the NCFC and a CANF official, states that Zorinsky has said in the past that he would support Radio Marti if the U.S. government bought time on commercial stations that reach Cuba, rather than setting up its own.  Zorinsky states that he has never discussed Radio Marti with Dolgoff, and Dolgoff states he supports Radio Marti and has never been interested in selling time on his station to the government or anyone else.  (MH, 12/16/82)
12/17/82 Tabling an amendment to provide $7 million in funding, the Senate fails to pass Radio Marti legislation. (WP, 12/18/82)
12/19/82 Pressler, Larry 1000 Individual
1/1/83 President Reagan signs National Security Directive No. 77, instating Project Democracy.  Mas Canosa lobbies for the creation of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), of which Rep. Dante Fascell (R-Fl) becomes the first chairman.  One of NED's first grants goes to CANF. (Fonzi, p. 29-30)
1/1/83 12/31/83 Mas Canosa becomes a leader in a committee to intercede for the release of Orlando Bosch from a Venezuelan jail. Alberto Hernandez, CANF's vice-chairman, also works to free Bosch.  (Progressive, 7/93)
1/15/83 D'Amato, Alfonse 200 Free Cuba PAC
1/20/83 D'Amato, Alfonse 500 Individual
2/24/83 After previous bills had died in the end of the last Congressional session, Sen. Paula Hawkins (R-FL) and 35 co-sponsors introduce S. 602, to establish Radio Marti.  Mas Canosa comments that in the new bill, "the change is simply technical" to a new frequency, with Radio Marti as part of VOA.  (MH, 2/25/83; CC, p. 1)
3/1/83 5/31/83 Jorge Mas Canosa introduces retired CIA special operations specialist Felix Rodriguez to U.S. special envoy Richard Stone.  The purpose of the meeting is for Rodriguez to share his Tactical Task Force counterinsurgency plan for El Salvador with high U.S. officials.  (Shadow Warrior, p. 261.)
3/4/83 Tony Costa, a CANF director, writes a letter to the Miami Herald supporting Radio Marti. (MH, 3/4/83)
3/11/83 Thurmond, Strom 2500 Individuals
3/14/83 Nunn, Sam 1000 Free Cuba PAC
3/22/83 Hollings, Ernest 1000 Free Cuba PAC Nunn, Sam  1000 Individual
3/23/83 Rep. Dante Fascell (R-FL) and 9 co-sponsors introduce HR 2298 to amend the Board for International Broadcasting Act of 1973 to provide for radio broadcasting to Cuba. (CC, p. 1)
3/24/83 Packwood, Bob 2250 Free Cuba PAC
3/26/83 CANF holds a fundraising breakfast, featuring Sen. Bob Packwood (R-OR), to start a campaign to raise a million dollars for its lobby in Washington.  Jorge Mas Canosa announces that the Foundation plans to register  the names of all Cubans living in the U.S. in a computer for solicitations.  CANF will also act as co-host with Georgetown University's Center for Strategic Studies, with funding from the Carthage Foundation, for 10 seminars on Cuban issues.  (MH, 3/27/83)
4/25/83 Sununu, John 5000 Free Cuba PAC
4/25/83 The House Subcommittee on International Operations approves a Radio Marti bill that provides for compensation of American radio stations damaged by Cuban interference.  (MH, 4/26/83)
5/1/83 5/31/83 The U.S. Office of Personnel Management grants a Schedule B (non-competitive, excepted service) hiring authority for up to 150 Radio Marti staff, on the basis that the need for specialized knowledge of Cuba precludes using general competitive hiring procedures.  (GAO, 7/89)
5/7/83 The New York Times reports that Congressional aides and broadcasting officials have heard in several meetings that the administration is considering a list of 40 options for retaliating against Cuba, including surgical removal of transmitting antennas, if Cuba begins regular interference or jamming of American radio stations.  Also, Edward Fritts, president of the National Association of Broadcasters, states that he has been assured by Asst. Sec. Enders that "if you are with us, we'll help you," in order for the NAB to relax its vigorous opposition to Radio Marti. (NYT, 5/7/83)
5/20/83 In a speech before CANF in Miami, President Reagan strongly supports Radio Marti and praises Jorge Mas Canosa.  Following Reagan's speech, Asst. Sec. Enders predicts that Radio Marti "will prevail" in Congress this year.  (MH, 5/21/93; Smith & Dominguez, p. 153)
5/20/83 Asst. Sec. Enders speaks at a dinner sponsored by CANF that evening, and pledges that the U.S. will stand firm against the Cuban government and resist calls for a dialogue with Castro.  (MH, 5/21/83)
5/31/83 Ramon Sanchez Parodi, chief of the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, meets with Wayne Smith, former head of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, and states that "Cuba is indeed prepared to resume talks with the U.S. aimed at resolving the problem of interference in one another's radio channels...were it not for Radio Marti."  Smith writes to Sen. Pell with Sanchez Parodi's comments.  (MH, 6/16/83)
6/1/83 Smith, Lawrence 500 Individual
6/8/83 The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approves Radio Marti legislation.  (WP, 7/29/83)
6/21/83 Hawkins, Paula 1000 Individual
6/22/83 Hawkins, Paula 1000 Individual
7/4/83 Hawkins, Paula 500 Individual
7/16/83 Hawkins, Paula 1000 Individual
7/18/83 Hawkins, Paula 1000 Individual
7/29/83 The House Energy and Commerce Committee approves a bill authorizing Radio Marti which includes amendments which limit and delay the program, including one requiring the U.S. to make "all efforts" to negotiate an agreement with Cuba to reduce Cuban interference with U.S. commercial radio stations. (WP, 7/29/83)
 8/1/83 8/30/83 Jorge Mas Canosa and CANF sponsor a medical treatment program for wounded contras in Honduras, bringing some to Miami for surgery and sending Cuban American doctors to Tegucigalpa.  (Arcos, p. 1253)
8/1/83 8/30/83 According to U.S. press attaché Chris Arcos, retired CIA agent Felix Rodriguez shows up at the U.S. embassy in Tegucigalpa.  "He came and introduced himself with a card from Mr. Mas Canosa, and that he should talk to me [one line deleted].  Then he spoke of his role in helping bring these physicians [deleted] ...to attend the FDN wounded, and also take the more serious cases back to the United States for treatment." (Arcos, p. 1254)
8/3/83 The Senate ends a filibuster led by opponents of a bill to create Radio Marti and agrees to begin discussion of the Cuba broadcasting legislation after the August recess.  (MH, 8/4/83)
8/5/83 Secretary of State George Shultz sends a letter to House Speaker Tip O'Neill, Jr., saying that Congressional proposals to create Radio Marti within VOA "cannot be accepted...Surrogate broadcasting is more properly the function of radio services like Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty--the models for Radio Broadcasting to Cuba." (cited in Feltman, p. 84)
8/8/83 8/9/83 The U.S. and Cuba hold secret talks in Costa Rica to attempt to resolve the radio interference issue.  (Smith & Dominguez, p. 153)
9/3/83 A bill by Sens. Pell and Zorinsky to expand VOA's Cuba service by over 14 hours on Radio Marathon passes both houses.  It establishes a $5 million fund to reimburse broadcasters for costs from mitigating interference with Cuban signals, and authorizes $14 million in FY 1984 and $12 million in 1985, which is more money than was requested in the original Radio Marti proposal.  The new VOA Cuba Service is to operate under a director who is appointed by the USIA director and is responsible directly to the directors of USIA and VOA.  The bill also creates a bipartisan Advisory Board for Radio Broadcasting to Cuba, to be appointed by the president.  Reagan signs the bill.  (RW, p. 37)
9/13/83 The Senate approves a bill for Radio Marti that makes it part of VOA and establishes a $5 million fund for any American stations damaged by Cuban jamming. (MH, 9/30/83)
9/25/83 Boschwitz, Rudy 5000 Free Cuba PAC
9/29/83 The House approves the Radio Marti bill that passed the Senate earlier, making the establishment of Radio Marti now a law ready for Reagan's signature. (MH, 9/30/83)
9/29/83 Former Senator Richard Stone writes to William Clark at the White House, recommending that Jorge Mas Canosa be appointed "chairman of the new independent radio board under USIA when the Radio Marti bill becomes law." (Stone Letter, 9/29/83)
10/4/83 Boschwitz, Rudy 500 Individual
10/4/83 Sen. Hawkins' bill S602 to establish Radio Marti becomes PL 98-111. (CC, p. 1)
10/6/83 Reagan signs Public Law 98-111, establishing Radio Marti as a separate "Cuba Service" under the VOA short-wave broadcasting service.  The program falls short of the separate service under the Board for International Broadcasting that the Reagan administration wanted.  (CSM, 10/7/83)
10/15/83 Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Ricardo Alarcon states that Cuba views Radio Marti as an unacceptable, hostile measure, "but we will have to wait and see what Radio Marti is all about first to evaluate our response." (MH, 10/16/83)
10/18/83 Leslie Lenkowski of USIA writes a memo to a Mr. Tomlinson, recommending that Jorge Mas Canosa be considered for membership on the Radio  Marti Advisory Board, noting that he is a former member of the President's Commission on Radio Marti.  (Lenkowski Memo, 10/18/83)
10/20/83 Evans, Daniel 1000 Individual
11/11/83 Jorge Mas Canosa sends a CANF report, "Castro and the Narcotics Connection," to Rep. Michael Barnes (D-MD).  In a cover letter, Mas Canosa writes that the report presents a "comprehensive picture" of "the use of narcotics trafficking by Havana as a means of financing terrorism abroad."  The letter also urges Rep. Barnes to request that the Chairman of the House Affairs Committee hold hearings on the issue of Cuba and drugs.  "Castro's behavior," Mas Canosa writes, suggests that "a prudent and urgent reappraisal of the U.S.-Cuba relationship is needed." (Mas Canosa Letter)
12/1/83 12/31/83 In an "informal" meeting with Jorge Mas Canosa and broadcasting executive Emilio Milian, Radio Marti task force director William Marsh offers the job of director of Radio Marti to Milian.  Milian turns the offer down because he does not want to move to Washington. (MH, 2/21/84)
12/1/83 12/31/83 Carlos Benitez, a member of the CANF board, is named to a national advisory board on international education programs by Secretary of Education T.H. Bell.  (MH, 12/22/83)
12/15/83 VOA officials announce that Radio Marti programming will begin with a one-hour pilot broadcast the evening of January 1, the anniversary of Castro's rise to power.  "This pilot show will be a taste of what VOA's Radio Marti program is like," states a VOA official, and will include an explanation of the program's goals.  A second pilot program is to be aired on January 28 to commemorate the birth of Jose Marti, the station's namesake.  (MH, 12/16/83)
12/18/83 An article by Jorge Mas Canosa appears on the opinion page in the Miami Herald, stating that there is no reason to open a dialogue with the Castro regime and that renewing diplomatic relations with the island would sent the wrong message to other countries.  (MH, 12/18/83)
12/23/83 Bradley, Bill 500 Individual
1/1/84 The National Endowment for Democracy grants $140,000 to the Cuban American National Foundation for its support of international citizen committees in six European countries for gathering and disseminating human rights information in Cuba and to encourage pluralism and respect for human rights on the island.  (NED, "Fiscal Year 1984, Grants Awarded")
1/1/84 12/31/84 CANF prints and distributes over 12,000 copies of a paper by Kenneth Skoug, "Cuba as a Model and a Challenge."  Copies are sent to Latin American diplomats and members of the press.  (CANF Summary)
1/5/84 A speech by President Reagan addressing the Cuban people is broadcast by VOA, mentioning plans for the Radio Marti station and its objective "to tell the truth about Cuba to the Cuban people." (NYT, 1/6/84)
1/6/84 The Cuban press agency Prensa Latina criticizes Reagan's speech as "lies."  (NYT, 1/7/84)
1/13/84 While visiting Ecuador, Cuban Vice President Carlos Rafael Rodriguez calls Radio Marti an act of "aggression," and hints that Cuba might start broadcasts aimed at the United States.  (MH, 1/14/84)
1/17/84 The Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy reports to President Reagan that the "decision to place Radio Marti in the Voice of  America was questionable public policy" because that "could cast doubt on [VOA's] most important and fragile asset--its credibility." (NYT, 1/19/84)
1/30/84 The National Coalition for a Free Cuba PAC, CANF's political action committee, holds a radio fundraising marathon on three Miami stations.  Dade state committee member Mike Thompson later says he called PAC leaders while the marathon was being broadcast to tell them, "You make it sound as if it's all going to Reagan...It was quite clear to me it was misleading."  (MH, 3/8/84)
2/6/84 Hawkins, Paula 5000 Free Cuba PAC Pressler, Larry 5000 Free Cuba PAC
2/20/84 Emilio Milian says he would reconsider taking the position as director of Radio Marti. (MH, 2/21/84)
2/23/84 Percy, Charles 5000 Free Cuba PAC
3/1/84 Mattingly, Mack 2000 Individuals
3/1/84 3/31/84 Forty applicants for Radio Marti jobs from the Miami area are interviewed at CANF's Miami's offices.  (MH, 3/5/84)
3/84 3/31/84 Members of a Radio Marti task force have reportedly tapped three prominent Cuban Americans for Radio Marti positions:  Emilio Milian, Humberto Medrano, and Ernesto Betancourt.  The task force is also moving quickly to open the station's Miami bureau, as William Marsh, the task force's head, notes that while the New York bureau will not open until 1985, "Miami is going to be [part of Radio Marti] very early in the game."  (MH, 3/5/84)
3/2/84 Pressler, Larry 1000 Individual
3/12/84 Lehman, William 1000 Individual
3/25/84 Biden, Joseph R. 5000 Free Cuba PAC Percy, Charles 5000 Free Cuba PAC
3/26/84 Warner, John 500 Free Cuba PAC
4/5/84 Fascell, Dante 1500 Individuals
4/7/84 Humphrey, Gordo 4500 Free Cuba PAC
4/12/84 Cranston, Alan 1000 Individuals
4/19/84 Members of the National Coalition for a Free Cuba PAC have raised individual contributions totaling $200,000 for Reagan's re-election campaign.  In response to criticism that all the money raised in the January radio fundraising marathon was going to Reagan's campaign,  Jorge Mas Canosa says the $200,000 that was raised during the marathon is being given to other candidates around the country who "support Radio Marti."  (MH, 4/19/84)
4/25/84 Percy, Charles 1000 Individual
5/9/84 Armstrong, Willi 3000 Free Cuba PAC Boschwitz, Rudy 3000 Free Cuba PAC Cohen, William  2000 Free Cuba PAC Craig, Larry 4000 Free Cuba PAC  Domenici, Pete 2000 Free Cuba PAC Hatfield, Mark  5000 Free Cuba PAC Helms, Jesse 5000 Free Cuba PAC  Jepsen, Roger 3000 Free Cuba PAC Simpson, Alan 5000  Free Cuba PAC Stevens, Ted 5000 Free Cuba PAC Thurmond, Strom 3000 Free Cuba PAC Warner, John 4500  Free Cuba PAC
5/10/84 Fascell, Dante 5000 Free Cuba PAC Pepper, Claude 5000 Free Cuba PAC
5/18/84 VOA announces the appointments of Humberto Medrano, a Cuban exile radio journalist from Miami, as deputy director of news and programs and Ernesto Betancourt, former adviser to the Organization of American States (OAS) and the World Bank, as director of research and policy. (MH, 5/19/84)
5/31/84 White House officials announce that President Reagan has nominated Jorge Mas Canosa to the chair of the Advisory Board for Broadcasting  to Cuba.  Sen. Hawkins and Rep. Fascell, both strong supporters of Radio Marti, praise Reagan's decision.  (MH, 6/1/84)
6/1/84 Swindall, Patrick 1000 Individual
6/14/84 Alexader, Dan 500 Individual
6/19/84 Humphrey, Gordon 1000 Individual
7/6/84 Oliver North's secretary Fawn Hall leaves a message for North mentioning that "Juan Castro, Executive Director Cuban-American Foundation...can solve some of your problems.  He works with/for Jorge Mas.  Castro handles domestic type things.  Your problem child (Pastora) may not be in their good graces though."  (North Notebook)
7/25/84 During his confirmation hearings on his appointment as chairman of the Radio Marti advisory board, Jorge Mas Canosa is asked by Sen. Pell whether he is familiar with any assassination plot against Fidel Castro.  "No sir, I am not," Mas Canosa replies.  Later, he tells the Miami Herald that indeed he helped plan an operation "to make justice in the case of Fidel Castro himself."  Mas Canosa also comments that Radio Marti would be an objective broadcast service and "a useful and peaceful means of providing the Cuban people with information they are denied by the Cuban authorities."  He also assures the Committee that his personal anti-Castro sentiments would not influence his work.  (MH, 7/26/84 and 4/10/88; NYT, 8/5/84)
7/26/84 Helms, Jesse 5000 Free Cuba PAC Huddleston, Walt 3000 Free Cuba PAC
7/30/84 USIA Director Charles Wick submits to Sen. Percy, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a limited-distribution, 19-page report stating that due to recruitment problems and other delays, Radio Marti will not start broadcasting until after the November elections.  The report also states that Saul Gefter, a senior USIA foreign service officer who just completed a three-year tour of duty at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, has been appointed Radio Marti's deputy director. (MH, 8/7/84)
7/31/84 By a voice vote, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations passes the nomination of Jorge Mas Canosa to be a member of the advisory board for Radio Broadcasting to Cuba. (CFR)
8/1/84 8/10/84 Sens. Pell and Zorinsky commission a report on Jorge Mas Canosa and his background, saying "Appointments from a narrow ideological band could undermine the objectivity, and hence the effectiveness, of VOA's Cuba service." (MH, 8/10/84)
8/3/84 The Committee on Foreign Relations reports favorably on the nomination of Jorge Mas Canosa to chair the Advisory Board for Radio Broadcasting to Cuba.  The Committee "found Mr. Mas to be a responsible businessman with a strong sense of civic duty," according to the report.  "Mr. Mas brings exceptional expertise to this position." (CFR)
8/6/84 Fascell, Dante 5000 Free Cuba PAC
8/9/84 By a unanimous voice vote, the Senate confirms Jorge Mas Canosa's appointment as chairman of the Advisory Board for Radio Broadcasting to Cuba. (MH, 8/10/84)
8/11/84 Fascell, Dante 4500 Individuals
8/17/84 Fascell, Dante 500 Individual
8/30/84 HR 5712, sponsored by Rep. Neal Smith (D-IO), is passed as PL 98-411 and amends PL 98-111, the Radio Broadcasting to Cuba Act. (CC, p. 2)
9/13/84 Smith, Lawrence 4000 Free Cuba PAC
9/17/84 Richardson, Bill 1500 Free Cuba PAC
9/28/84 Cozzens, Charles 500 Individual Humphrey, Gordon  1000 Individual Lousma, Jack 500 Individual  Percy, Charles 1000 Individual Warner, John 500   Individual Yatron, Gus 500 Free Cuba PAC
9/30/84 Armstrong, William 1000 Individual
10/1/84 Bethune, Ed 1000 Individual
10/3/84 Bentley, Helen 1000 Free Cuba PAC Simpson, Alan  500 Individual Taylor, Gene 1000 Free Cuba PAC
10/5/84 Domenici, Pete 1000 Individual
10/8/84 Smith, Neal 3000 Free Cuba PAC
10/11/84 Bradley, Bill 500 Individual
10/24/84 Cozzens, Charles 2000 Free Cuba PAC
10/29/84 Gramm, Phil 1000 Free Cuba PAC
10/30/84 Bush, Tom 2500 Individuals
11/1/84 Mica, Daniel 1000 Free Cuba PAC
11/2/84 Swindall, Patrick 500 Individual
11/12/84 Fuster, Jaime 500 Individual Grassley, Charle  2700 Free Cuba PAC
12/10/84 Sen. Hawkins writes a letter asking President Reagan to intervene in order to help get Radio Marti under way and on the air by January 28, 1985, the anniversary of the birth of Jose Marti, the Cuban patriot for whom the radio station is named.  (MH, 12/11/84)
12/11/84 VOA announces that Los Angeles radio programming consultant Paul Drew will be the first director of Radio Marti.  Congressional aides comment that without any experience in Cuban affairs, he will help VOA avoid charges that the station would be an outlet for Cuban exiles' anti-Castro propaganda. (MH, 12/12/84; LAT, 1/29/85)
12/14/84 Rep. Fascell writes a letter to President Reagan complaining that Radio Marti, authorized by Congress over a year ago, still has not begun broadcasting.  (MH, 12/15/84)
1/1/85 12/31/85 CANF founder Raul Masvidal resigns from the Foundation. (MH, 4/11/88)
1/1/85 12/31/85 Ricardo Mas Canosa, Jorge's brother, files a lawsuit alleging that Jorge had beaten him up and taken his 1983 Oldsmobile. (MH, 4/10/88)
1/9/85 USIA Dir. Wick appoints former VOA director Kenneth Giddens as acting director of Radio Marti. (WSJ, 1/31/85)
1/28/85 A USIA spokesperson announces that Radio Marti will miss its targeted start-up date because it has only hired 100 of its authorized 188 member staff.  In addition, director Paul Drew has resigned, citing lack of coordination between Radio Marti operating staff and administration and congressional policy makers.  (LAT, 1/29/85)
1/28/85 An entry in Oliver North's notebooks states: "Felix Rodriguez--expedite 50k for I.R. Jorge Mas."  When Rodriguez is later questioned before the Senate Subcommittee on Narcotics and Terrorism about the entry, he refuses to explain its meaning.  (North Notebook)
2/4/85 Another entry in Oliver North's notebooks names Jorge Mas Canosa.  "Felix Rodriguez," it reads. "Still have not gotten dollars from Jorge Mas." (North Notebook)
2/18/85 2/28/85 The White House announces the nominations of Jose Luis  Rodriguez, Joseph Glennon, Anne Brunsdale, and Danford Sawyer to the Advisory Board overseeing Radio Marti.  (JC, 5/20/85)
2/19/85 Hawkins, Paula 500 Individual
2/20/85 2/28/85 CANF hosts a luncheon for over 200 in Washington to honor Jeanne Kirkpatrick for her service to the U.N.  Guests include members of the American Jewish Committee, the Heritage Foundation, AIPAC, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Members of Congress, journalists, and others.  (***CITE***)
2/21/85 USIA Dir. Wick testifies to the House Subcommittee on International Operations that studio construction and personnel security check delays have caused the start of Radio Marti's broadcasts to be delayed until the spring or early summer.  (MH, 2/21/85)
3/1/85 3/31/85 CANF assists the European Coalition for Human Rights in Cuba to contact Cuban poet Angel Cuadra and publicize his case for immigration.  (CANF Summary)
3/1/85 3/31/85 CANF's Executive Director Frank Calzon briefs Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) for a debate with Rep. Ted Weiss (D-NY) on U.S. Cuban relations for "CBS Nightwatch."  CANF also sponsors a briefing for members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on the Nicaraguan conflict, with presentations by Eden Pastora and Adolfo Calero.  (CANF Summary)
3/2/85 Bludworth, David 500 Individual
3/12/85 Packwood, Bob 3000 Individuals
3/26/85 Hawkins, Paula 15750 Individuals
4/5/85 An entry in Oliver North's notebook lists a "Mtg w/ Jorge Mas."  The two are scheduled to discuss Mas Canosa's contacts with Central and South American leaders regarding Contra activities.  (North Notebook)
4/8/85 Mattingly, Mack 500 Individual
4/9/85 Hawkins, Paula 1000 Individual
4/10/85 Pepper, Claude 5000 Free Cuba PAC
4/11/85 Pepper, Claude 3000 Individuals
4/19/85 Hawkins, Paula 2000 Individuals
5/1/85 5/31/85 CANF produces a major research paper for the U.S. Department of Education on the public school experiences of minors who came from Cuba to South Florida in the Mariel boat lift of 1980. (CANF Summary)
5/18/85 CANF hosts a dinner to honor Jeanne Kirkpatrick and to commemorate Cuban independence day. (CANF Summary)
5/19/85 Antonio Navarro, a Key Biscayne businessman and Cuban exile who initially supported Castro, is nominated to the Advisory Board overseeing Radio Marti.  (JC, 5/20/85)
5/20/85 Top Secret National Security Decision Directive 170 gives authorization for the creation of Radio Marti and for USIA to begin full broadcasting on May 20, 1985, on the 1180 AM frequency band and an additional short-wave band.  The directive also mandates alerting Cuba of the U.S. plans to proceed with Radio Marti broadcasting on May 20.  A "special paper on the bilateral relationship" is also ordered for the NSC by May 20.  (NSDD 170, 5/20/85)
5/20/85 At 5:30 am, Radio Marti begins broadcasting on the 1180 AM station.  The first broadcast includes a statement by President Reagan commenting that he hopes the new station will "help defuse the war hysteria on which much of current Cuban government policy is predicated."  Programming includes news and sports reporting and entertainment, as well as translated VOA editorials.  (MH, 5/21/85 and 4/13/86; NYT, 5/21/85)
5/20/85 In retaliation for Radio Marti broadcasting, the Cuban government announces it is suspending most of its agreements with the U.S.,  including the migration agreement which had started to resolve the question of repatriating Cuban criminals who entered the U.S. during the 1980 Mariel boat lift. (NYT, 5/21/85; WP, 5/22/85; EC, 5/25/85, p. 28)
5/20/85 The FCC formally requests that the International Frequency Registration Board (IFRB), the enforcement body of the International Telecommunications Convention (ITC), investigate Cuban stations operating outside their station inventories.  (Smith & Dominguez, p. 153)
5/22/85 Hawkins, Paula 2000 Individuals
5/31/85 Hawkins, Paula 6000 Individuals
6/3/85 Hawkins, Paula 1000 Individual Pepper, Claude  500 Individual Symms, Steve 5000 Free Cuba PAC
6/4/85 Hawkins, Paula 2100 Individuals
6/5/85 Hawkins, Paula 4500 Individuals
6/10/85 Hawkins, Paula 2750 Individuals
6/25/85 D'Amato, Alfonse 5000 Free Cuba PAC
6/25/85 USIA's Charles Courtney writes a memo for Dir. Wick, stating that Jorge Mas Canosa will be in Washington for a briefing on Radio Marti.  (Courtney Memo, 6/25/85)
6/29/85 D'Amato, Alfonse 1000 Individual Swindall, Patrick 500 Individual
6/30/85 Garrett, David 500 Individual
7/11/85 Radio Marti's news director Jay Mallin announces that Cuban radio stations are changing their radio program to compete with Radio Marti. (MH, 7/12/85)
7/12/85 Hatch, Orrin 5000 Individuals
7/17/85 The House votes to cut Radio Marti's budget by 24 percent.  During the appropriations debate, Rep. Bill Alexander (D-AR) questions whether Radio Marti should broadcast a Sunday Catholic mass, citing separation of church and state.  (MH, 7/18/85)
8/1/85 11/30/85 The Cuban American National Foundation circulates 20 policy recommendations in Congress, including a proposal to establish television broadcasting to Cuba.  (MH, 5/29/86)
8/9/85 President Reagan signs the FY 1986 Foreign Aid bill which contains a repeal of the 1976 Clark Amendment prohibiting U.S. military or paramilitary aid or operations in Angola.  CANF is among the chief lobbyists which fought to overturn the nine-year ban on CIA support for anti-Communist rebels led by Jonas Savimbi.  (***CITE***)
8/18/85 Luis Posada Carriles escapes from a Venezuelan prison where he has been held for nine years for jointly masterminding the bombing of a Cuban airliner, killing 73 persons.  A onetime CIA demolitions expert, FBI officials believe Posada was a key figure in CORU, an anti-Castro Cuban terrorist organization believed responsible for a number of bombings and killings in the mid-1970s.  Posada is aided in his escape by an unidentified Miami benefactor and by former CIA operative Felix Rodriguez, who brings him to El Salvador to work on Contra re supply operations.  (MH, 9/5/88) Venezuelan press media agree that Posada Carriles' escape could only have taken place with internal complicity and foreign support.  Ultimas Noticias reports that the government presumes that a large sum of money was distributed to obtain the release of Luis Posada Carriles, who left the prison through the large front doors and had people waiting for him outside.  Andres Jose Arana Mendez, chief of the prison, admitted that he had helped Posada escape for $28,000, but said the money was not in the place they had agreed upon. (FBIS, 8/23/85)
8/21/85 11/21/85 CANF circulates 20 policy recommendations in Congress, including a proposal to establish television broadcasting to Cuba.  (MH,  5/29/86)
8/30/85 Graham, Bob 1000 Individual Mica, Daniel 500  Free Cuba PAC
9/20/85 During a meeting of the Latin American Press Forum, Castro states that Cuba has powerful radio transmitters, which, if turned on, would prevent the U.S. from hearing its own stations.  (CAR 1985)
10/14/85 Hollings, Ernest 5000 Free Cuba PAC
10/20/85 Fascell, Dante 1000 Free Cuba PAC
10/25/85 Hollings 500 Individual
10/31/85 11/12/85 Jorge Mas Canosa testifies for the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearings on U.S. policy toward Angola.  (CIS Index)
11/12/85 Graham, Bob 500 Individual
11/13/85 Hawkins, Paula 500 Individual
11/20/85 Garn, Jake 5000 Free Cuba PAC
11/23/85 Smith, Lawrence 1000 Free Cuba PAC
11/25/85 Smith, Lawrence 2000 Individuals
11/29/85 Siljander, Mark 5000 Free Cuba PAC
12/1/85 The National Endowment for Democracy grants $109,529 to the Cuban American National Foundation.  (NED Report G1C, 9/10/89)
12/9/85 Pepper, Claude 5000 Free Cuba PAC
12/10/85 Pepper, Claude 1000 Individual
12/26/85 Graham, Bob 2500 Individuals
1/1/86 12/31/86 In a radio appearance, Jorge Mas Canosa challenges Miami city commissioner Joe Carollo, who has just vetoed a $130 million real estate development deal involving Mas Canosa's company, to a duel with firearms: "I am going to prove to the Cubans that you are a clown and a coward.  Your bullying in Miami has ended because you have encountered a man, with a capital M, a very big M."  Mr. Carollo replies that Mas Canosa might cool off if the duel were held with water pistols.  No duel is ever fought, but Mr. Carollo is defeated in the next election by a CANF-backed candidate. (WSJ, 5/11/90)
1/27/86 At the National Endowment for Democracy's board meeting, a grant of $95,000 is approved for the Cuban American National Foundation to support its work with the European Coalition for Human Rights in Cuba.  (NED Minutes, 1/27/86)
2/1/86 2/28/86 Jorge and Ricardo Mas Canosa settle their 1985 lawsuit out of court and the case is dismissed. (MH, 4/10/88)
2/7/86 Hawkins, Paula 500 Individual
2/10/86 Fascell, Dante 661 Individual
2/10/86 Radio Marti increases its programming to seventeen and a half hours daily.  (Smith & Dominguez, p. 153)
2/11/86 Smith, Lawrence 500 Individual
2/20/86 Kennedy, Edward 1000 Individual
3/6/86 Bentley, Helen 250 Free Cuba PAC
3/17/86 Gorton, Slade 2000 Free Cuba PAC
3/19/86 Gorton, Slade 1000 Individual
3/19/86 CANF Chair Jorge Mas Canosa leads a group asking the Mexican government's guarantee for protection of a Cuban tourist who was refused  political asylum in Mexico and was forced to return to Havana. (MH, 3/20/86)
3/24/86 Yatron, Gus 1000 Free Cuba PAC
3/24/86 CANF president Jose Sorzano writes an editorial in the New York Times defending Radio Marti.  (NYT, 3/24/86)
3/31/86 Graham, Bob 500 Individual Kramer, Kenneth  3000 Free Cuba PAC
4/1/86 Gorton, Slade 1000 Individual
4/5/86 Fascell, Dante 500 Individual
4/7/86 Mica, Daniel 250 Free Cuba PAC
4/16/86 Sanford, James 500 Individual
4/22/86 Christian, David 1000 Free Cuba PAC
5/8/86 Graham, Bob 1500 Individuals
5/20/86 Fascell, Dante 500 Individual
5/20/86 In a letter to USIA Dir. Wick, Sen. Lawton Chiles (R-FL) proposes that Radio Marti, if successful, should be expanded to broadcast television programs to Cuba as well.  (MH, 5/29/86)
5/22/86 Kasten, Robert 5000 Free Cuba PAC
6/1/86 6/30/86 President Reagan does an interview with Radio Marti director Betancourt for later broadcast on Radio Marti. (WP, 3/18/87)
6/1/86 6/30/86 President Reagan does an interview with Radio Marti director Ernesto Betancourt. (WP, 3/18/87)
6/2/86 Denton, Jeremiah 1000 Free Cuba PAC Jordan, W. Hamilton 1000 Individual
6/3/86 Cranston, Alan 1000 Individuals
6/6/86 Graham, Bob 3000 Individuals
6/9/86 Kasten, Robert 1000 Individual
6/10/86 Christian, David 400 Free Cuba PAC Mica, Daniel  1000 Free Cuba PAC Pepper, Claude 2000 Individuals
6/23/86 Reid, Harry 2000 Individuals
6/26/86 Weber, John 1000 Free Cuba PAC Smith, Dennis  250 Free Cuba PAC
6/30/86 Graham,  Bob 1000 Individuals
7/1/86 7/31/86 Cuban and U.S. officials meet in Mexico to discuss immigration agreements; the topic of radio broadcasting is also discussed.  Cuban officials request that the name of Jose Marti be dropped from the U.S. broadcasting program, and demand four channels for Cuban broadcasts to the U.S.  (CAR 1986; WP, 7/11/86)
7/10/86 Bernard Kalb, State Department spokesperson, announces that talks on radio transmissions with Cuban officials in Mexico City had broken down.  Kalb states that Cuba "insisted on proposals that would have required major and disruptive changes in the organization of radio broadcasting in the United States" in order to counter Radio Marti broadcasts.  Officials state that no date has been scheduled for more talks.  (NYT, 7/11/86)
7/29/86 Mica, Daniel 1000 Free Cuba PAC
8/1/86 8/30/86 A National Security Council directive strengthens the U.S. embargo on Cuba.  (CAR 1986)
8/6/86 Mica, Daniel 1000 Individual
8/26/86 Serra, Enrique 150 Free Cuba PAC
9/5/86 Mica, Daniel 2000 Free Cuba PAC
9/9/86 Hawkins, Paula 2000 Individuals Richardson, Bill 1500 Free Cuba PAC
9/12/86 At the National Endowment for Democracy's board meeting, a grant of $15,000 is approved for the Cuban American National Foundation to support its work with the Argentine Committee for Human Rights in Cuba.  (NED  Minutes, 9/12/86)
9/15/86 Cranston, Alan 2000 Individuals
9/18/86 Graham, Bob 1000 Individual Serra, Enrique  1000 Free Cuba PAC
9/19/86 Fascell, Dante 1000 Individual
9/25/86 Abdnor, James 1000 Individual Graham, Bob 1000  Individual
9/26/86 Bond, Christopher 1000 Individual
9/30/86 Bilirakis, Michael 500 Free Cuba PAC Burton, Dan  2000 Free Cuba PAC Garcia, Robert 1000 Free Cuba PAC Graham, Bob 2000 Individuals
10/1/86 Chavez, Linda 1000 Free Cuba PAC Quayle, Dan  1000 Free Cuba PAC
10/2/86 Jordan, W. Hamilton 500 Individual
10/3/86 D'Amato, Alfonse 500 Individual
10/14/86 Hawkins, Paula 500 Individual
10/16/86 Cobey, William 500 Free Cuba PAC
10/17/86 Chavez, Linda 1000 Free Cuba PAC Kramer, Kenneth 1000 Free Cuba PAC Moore, W. Henson  1000 Free Cuba PAC Symms, Steve 1000 Free Cuba PAC  Zschau, Edwin 1000 Free Cuba PAC
10/23/86 Fascell, Dante 2500 Free Cuba PAC
10/24/86 Fascell, Dante 5500 Individuals Hawkins, Paula  500 Individual
10/28/86 Bilirakis, Michael 500 Individual
10/31/86 Rudman, Warren 1000 Individual
11/1/86 12/31/86 Media reports identify Luis Posada Carriles, a fugitive from charges in the 1976 bombing of a Cubana plane, as a logistics aide for Felix Rodriguez in the Contra weapons airlift (both men are Mas' friends as well as former CIA agents).  Vice President Bush refuses to answer questions about the affair, and Rodriguez says he never said anything about Posada because he was never asked. (MH, 9/5/88)
11/3/86 Hawkins, Paula 1000 Individual
11/20/86 Radio Marti reporter Annette Lopez-Munoz tells United Press International (UPI) that she has been transferred and threatened with firing for asking two questions at a press conference by President Reagan to which NSC staff objected.  VOA Director Richard Carlson states that Lopez-Munoz was not being fired, that no one at the White House or the NSC had complained, and that VOA and Radio Marti policy holds that government employees should not use up time in press conferences.  (WP, 11/21/86)
11/25/86 Graham, Bob 5000 Free Cuba PAC
12/1/86  The National Endowment for Democracy grants $110,000 to the Cuban American National Foundation to support the International Coalition for Human Rights in Cuba.  (NED Report G1C, 9/10/89)
12/1/86 12/31/86 Ricardo Mas Canosa files another lawsuit against his brother Jorge and Southern Bell, alleging that Jorge bribed Southern Bell managers over many years with cases of liquor.  Dade Circuit Judge David Gersten dismisses all counts against Southern Bell. (MH, 4/10/88)
12/22/86 Kerry, John 1000 Individuals
1/1/87 12/31/87 Sen. Chiles sponsors legislation for a $100,000 feasibility study on TV Marti, which is passed with an appropriations bill.  (CQ, 6/23/90, p. 1931)
1/1/87 3/1/87 The chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, Curtis Kaufman, is recalled to Washington.  He is not replaced until later in the  year.  (CAR 1987)
1/1/87 12/31/87 Jose Sorzano, president of CANF, leaves the Foundation to become the Reagan Administration's National Security Council specialist on Latin America.  Before his departure, he receives a $10,000 bonus from the Foundation "for his outstanding work," according to Jorge Mas Canosa. (MH, 4/11/88)
1/21/87 Fascell, Dante 500 Individual
2/10/87 By a mail ballot vote, the National Endowment for Democracy grants $110,000 to the Cuban American National Foundation to support its work with the International Coalition for Human Rights in Cuba.  (NED Minutes, 2/10/87; NED, "International Coalition for Human Rights in Cuba")
2/11/87 Harkin, Tom 2000 Individuals
2/16/87 Byrd, Robert 5000 Free Cuba PAC
2/19/87 Minutes of a CANF board meeting record foundation vice president Jose Luis Rodriguez as being replaced by Francisco Jose Hernandez.  But no election for the switch takes place, and when foundation members complain, Jorge Mas Canosa and assistant secretary Antonio Zamora dismiss it as a "clerical error." (MH, 6/10/87)
3/2/87 Mitchell, George 5000 Free Cuba PAC
3/5/87 Hatch, Orrin 2000 Individual
3/13/87 Hamilton, Lee 2000 Free Cuba PAC
3/13/87 At the National Endowment for Democracy's board meeting, a grant of $15,000 is approved for the Cuban American National Foundation to support its work with the Argentine Committee for Human Rights in Cuba.  (NED Minutes, 3/13/87)
3/17/87 The USIA employees' union president Norman Painter testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Radio Marti.  He states, "Unprofessional management in the spring of 1986 brushed aside the critical findings of Radio Marti's annual independent, outside evaluation required by Congress, and ordered up a new study whose findings were easier to swallow."  (MH, 4/11/87)
3/18/87 The Washington Post reports that the June 1986 Radio Marti program featuring President Reagan was staged and altered while presented as a spontaneous interview.  In a VOA memo, Betancourt states that Radio Marti's questions for Reagan "passed the NSC...some questions were 'adjusted' slightly to correspond with the policy statements...The president only read the first two or three lines of the answers for time's sake, then the rest of the answers were ultimately broadcast in Spanish."  The Post article questions the journalistic validity of such a practice, while VOA Dir. Carlson defends the arrangement: "There was no intent to deceive anyone in our audience with the interview."  (WP, 3/18/87)
3/21/87 An editorial in the Miami Herald calls Reagan's staged interview a "breach" of the VOA's charter and its standards for journalistic integrity.  (MH, 3/21/87)
4/1/87 4/30/87 Jorge Mas Canosa offers Felix Rodriguez, a key figure in the  contra re supply operations, a lawyer to accompany him to testify before the Iran-Contra committees. (Shadow Warrior, p. 303)
4/4/87 Radio Marti director Betancourt writes to the Miami Herald that his June 1986 interview with President Reagan was done according to regular practice and was not misrepresented.  (MH, 4/4/87)
4/11/87 USIA employee union president Norman Painter writes an article in the Miami Herald on the Radio Marti controversy, stating "Radio Marti's isolation from its parent organization [USIA] results from a deliberate attempt by outside special interests to circumvent, if not the letter, at least the spirit of the law that placed Radio Marti within the structure of the Voice of America."  Painter also reiterates his earlier statement before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about management rejecting a Congressionally required independent evaluation. (MH, 4/11/87)
4/22/87 Zschau, Edwin 4500 Individuals
4/23/87 Jorge Mas Canosa writes to the Miami Herald in response to Norman Painter's article of April 11.  Mas claims that the independent evaluation was rejected because it was found to be faulty, and he defends Radio Marti's programs.  (MH, 4/23/87)
4/27/87 Bingaman, Jeff 5000 Free Cuba PAC
4/29/87 The board annuls the disputed election and reinstates Rodriguez; however, Zamora says that by mistake, the disputed results have already been filed with the secretary of state in Tallahassee. (MH, 6/10/87)  Also at this meeting, CANF Executive Director Frank Calzon resigns, citing "policy differences."  He says he will keep working with the foundation until July 1, and Jorge Mas Canosa calls him "a great patriot." (MH, 5/2/87)
5/1/87 Roe, Robert 1000 Free Cuba PAC Smith, Lawrence 500 Free Cuba PAC
5/1/87 5/31/87 Frank Calzon, the longtime executive director of CANF, resigns over political conflicts with Jorge Mas Canosa.  Calzon tells the Miami Herald that he is disturbed over the involvement of CANF leaders in exile politics.  Foundation vice chairman, Jose Luis Rodriguez, also submits his resignation at this time, charging that decision making within the Foundation is undemocratic.  Subsequently he withdraws his resignation and signs a letter drafted by Mas Canosa to the Miami Herald denying any critical remarks about the Foundation.  "I signed it, I shouldn't have," Rodriguez later tells a Herald reporter.  "It's another example of the dictatorial style" at CANF.  (MH, 4/11/88)
5/19/87 Bentson, Senator 5000 Free Cuba PAC Dole, Robert  5000 Free Cuba PAC Guarini, Frank 250 Free Cuba PAC  Nelson, Bill 350 Free Cuba PAC Torricelli 250 Free Cuba PAC
5/20/87 In a written statement, Vice President George Bush praises Radio Marti's efforts to provide "the real story" to the Cuban people.  (MH, 5/21/87)
6/1/87 Lautenberg, Fran 5000 Free Cuba PAC
6/10/87 6/20/87 Jose Antonio Font is named executive director of CANF. (MH, 6/10/87)
6/17/87 Heinz, Henry John 5000 Free Cuba PAC
7/1/87 7/31/87 After the Cuban government accuses employees of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana of being CIA agents, the U.S. expels two staff members from the Cuban Interests Section in Washington.  (CAR 1987)
8/1/87 8/31/87 In anticipation of the Pan American games in Indianapolis, CANF opens an office there to exhort defections from the Cuban athletic teams.   Among its tactics are hiring a plane to overfly the events towing a banners  that read: "Cubans, welcome to a free country," and "The Foundation Salutes You."  None of the athletes defect, and some members of the exile community charge that Mas Canosa is more interested in headlines than results.  (MH, 4/11/88)
8/22/87 Trible, Paul 2500 Free Cuba PAC
9/1/87 9/30/87 Jose Luis Rodriguez, CANF vice-chairman, resigns.  In his letter of resignation, he blasts the direction of the Foundation:  "Unfortunately, our worst fears have become true and the Foundation group continues to get involved in political races at the local level that dilute our energies and resources."  (MH, 4/11/88)
9/16/87 Smith, Neal 1000 Individual
9/25/87 Smith, Neal 5000 Free Cuba PAC Smith, Neal  3000 Individuals
10/6/87 Karnes, David 1000 Individuals
10/9/87 A USIA spokesperson announces an internal investigation to determine if Radio Marti employees violated federal anti-propaganda laws that prohibit distribution of government programs intended for foreign audiences.  Rep. Dan Mica (D-FL), chair of the House subcommittee that oversees USIA, asked for the investigation after Miami radio stations re-broadcast a Radio Marti program.  Mica also asks the General Accounting Office (GAO) to review Radio Marti personnel practices.  (MH, 10/10/87)
10/10/87 Bilbray, James H. 500 Free Cuba PAC
10/15/87 Over 150 relatives of Cuban nationals stranded in third countries rallied today on the steps of the US Capitol in support of legislation to allow their family members to immigrate to the US.  The rally culminates a series of meetings between members of CANF and high-ranking officials at the State Department and INS on the issue of Cuban immigration.  The rally group traveled by bus from South Florida, where they were met by several members of Congress, including Senators Frank Lautenberg, Lawton Chiles, and Bob Graham, and representatives Dante Fascell and Larry Smith.  A bill submitted by Lautenberg, Chiles, and Charles Grassley, directs INS to restore normal immigration to the US of Cubans in third countries; currently, Cuban nationals who made it to third countries after August 22, 1986, are not eligible to come to the US.  The bill has passed unanimously in the Senate, and is now before a conference committee.  Congressman Claude Pepper had introduced similar legislation in the House.  Following the Capitol Hill rally, Francisco J. Hernandez, Chairman of the Cuban Exodus Relief Fund, and Jose Antonio Font, Executive Director of CANF, led a delegation to the White House, presenting 50,000 signatures of Cuban Americans seeking family reunification to the Reagan Administration.  The INS has already begun modifying its position on Cuban immigration, allowing any Cuban national who  has served any time as a political prisoner in Cuba to be eligible to come to the US; the previous policy had been to allow only those who had served over 10 years. (CANF Press Release "Rally for Reunification", 10/16/87)
10/19/87 CANF takes out a full page advertisement in the Miami Herald, denouncing the paper's coverage of the Cuban-American community.  "The Cuban-American community has sorrowfully accepted the fact that the Miami Herald's only interest in Cuban Americans is economic.  We are simply a market to be penetrated."  The ad becomes an opening public salvo in a CANF campaign against the Miami Herald for its Cuba coverage, and prompts a series of private talks between Jorge Mas Canosa and other CANF officers, and executives at the Herald and Knight Ridder Newspapers.  (MH, 10/19/87 and 4/11/88)
10/26/87 Riegle, Donald 5000 Free Cuba PAC
10/27/87 A survey by Strategic Information Research, a subsidiary of public relations firm Hill and Knowlton, finds that of 873 recently-arrived Cuban exiles, 86 percent reported having listened to Radio Marti and 72 percent said it was their "most-listened-to station."  Nancy Belden, Hill and Knowlton project manager for the survey, said the results do not represent a statistically valid picture of radio listening habits in Cuba, as the sample of people surveyed was limited to those who had left the island.  Joseph Straubhaar, a Michigan State University telecommunications professor who worked on a 1986 evaluation of Radio Marti, states that emigre surveys are considered only marginally useful in academic circles.  Tony Guernica, director of audience research for Radio Marti, states that in-house surveys show slightly higher audience levels.  (MH, 19/28/87)
11/1/87 11/30/87 The Reagan administration announces an accord with Cuba to deport some Cubans who came in the Mariel boat lift.  Jorge Mas Canosa calls a press conference to announce that Radio Marti was not bargained away: "We know the State Department and Cuba were talking.  We made it clear Radio Marti could not be compromised.  I said that to [Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs] Elliot Abrams, to Secretary of State Shultz, to [NSC staff member and former CANF president Jose] Sorzano." (MH, 4/11/88)
11/9/87 Humphrey, Hubert 2000 Free Cuba PAC
11/19/87 Fuster, Jaime 500 Individual
11/24/87 Kennedy, Edward 500 Individual
11/24/87 CANF honors Cuban poet and former political prisoner Armando Valladares, who is Reagan's nominee for U.S. representative to the U.N. Human Rights Commission. (MH, 11/21/87)
11/25/87 Moody, Jim 500 Individual
12/16/87 Bryan, Richard 750 Free Cuba PAC Mack, Connie  1000 Free Cuba PAC Smith, Lawrence 4000 Free Cuba PAC
12/17/87 Mack, Connie 1000 Individual
12/22/87 Rep. Mica's bill HR 1827 becomes PL 100-204, authorizing appropriations for USIA and others.  Sen. Chiles sponsors an amendment for creating TV Marti. (CC, p. 4)
12/23/87 Humphrey, Hubert 1000 Individual Mack, Connie  1000 Individual
12/28/87 Bryan, Richard 1000 Individual
12/29/87 Zorinsky, Cecile 500 Individual
1/1/88 12/31/88 The Cuban American National Foundation opens local chapters in Puerto Rico and Chicago. (MH, 4/10/88)
 1/1/88 12/31/88 CANF's political action committee gives over $182,000 in contributions to both parties in 1988. (WP, 5/18/90)  CANF's expenditures for 1988 total $1.7 million. (Common Cause, An/Feb. 1991)
1/15/88 The National Endowment for Democracy grants $110,000 to the Cuban American National Foundation for its support of the International Coalition for Human Rights in Cuba.  (NED Minutes, 1/15/88)
1/26/88 Durenberger, Dave 700 Individual
1/29/88 Mack, Connie 500 Individual
2/20/88 Lehman, William 500 Individual
2/24/88 Lieberman, Joseph 3000 Individuals
2/26/88 Hecht, Chic 500 Individual
3/1/88 3/31/88 Jorge Mas Canosa plays a central role in winning $30 million in U.S. military aid for the Angolan faction UNITA. (MH, 3/26/88)
3/2/88 Mack, Connie 1000 Individual
3/8/88 Lehman, William 500 Individual
3/11/88 Metzenbaum, Howard 4000 Individuals
 3/11/88 ******* $30,000 to the Cuban Human Rights Film Project  *******
3/18/88 Metzenbaum, Howard 2000 Individuals
3/19/88 Wilson, Peter 5000 Free Cuba PAC
3/23/88 Metzenbaum, Howard 1000 Individual
3/24/88 Licht, Richard 2000 Free Cuba PAC
3/26/88 In the Miami Herald, Jorge Mas Canosa announces he will travel to Angola to meet with UNITA's leader Jonas Savimbi.  Mas Canosa says he will address Cuban troops through the Voice of the Black Rooster, UNITA's radio service:  "I will call for Cubans to surrender and to know that we Cuban-Americans will provide logistical support to incorporate them into Western society...The foundation would guarantee their physical safety."  (MH, 3/26/88)
3/28/88 Wilson, Peter 2150 Individuals
3/31/88 Askew, Reubin 1660 Individuals
4/1/88 4/10/88 In the wake of successful lobbying efforts to secure $30 million in military aid to UNITA forces, Jorge Mas Canosa travels to Angola to meet with rebel leader Jonas Savimbi.  He is accompanied by five directors of CANF, including Alberto Hernandez, Pepe Hernandez, Tony Costa, Jorge Rodriguez, and Feliciano Foyo. (MH, 3/26/88)    They bring Savimbi tapes of Radio Marti to broadcast to Cuban troops fighting with the MPLA in Angola, which include encouragement for Cuban troops to defect.  During their visit, the Foundation and UNITA sign a declaration of common cause, and CANF pledges financial and material support to UNITA. (MH, 4/6/88)
4/1/88 4/30/88 Jorge Mas Canosa receives an anonymous letter and documents detailing a plot by another Cuban exile organization, Cuba Independiente y Democratica (CID), to kill him.  Mas Canosa sends the letter to CID founder Huber Matos Sr. discounting the materials as part of a Communist disinformation plot to split the exile movement.  (MH, 8/21/88)
4/4/88 Milder, Alice 5000 Free Cuba PAC
4/6/88 Acle, Luis 250 Free Cuba PAC Fuster, Jaime  250 Free Cuba PAC
4/11/88 Boulter, Eldon 500 Individual
4/18/88 Richardson, Bill 5000 Free Cuba PAC Robb, Charles  5000 Free Cuba PAC
4/24/88 Obey, David R. 1500 Free Cuba PAC
4/25/88 Kucinich, Dennis 1000 Free Cuba PAC
4/29/88 Fascell, Dante 3000 Free Cuba PAC
 5/1/88 Lehman, William 1000 Individual
5/2/88 Mack, Connie 1000 Individual
5/2/88 Jorge Mas Canosa receives a letter from Huber Matos stating that the documents are forged and the allegations that CID was plotting to kill him are false.  Matos thanks Mas Canosa for "the sensible attitude with which you have handled this perverse and clumsy intrigue." (MH, 8/21/88)
5/3/88 Fascell, Dante 1000 Individual
5/6/88 Obey, David 500 Individual
5/12/88 Fascell, Dante 1000 Individual
5/21/88 Sasser, James 5000 Free Cuba PAC
5/26/88 Lieberman, Joseph 5000 Free Cuba PAC
5/30/88 Jorge Mas Canosa meets with former CID member Guillermo Casasus Toledo at a Burger King in Miami.  Casasus reiterates allegations that CID is plotting to kill him.  Mas Canosa turns minutes of this meeting, and the previously sent documents alleging an assassination plot against him over to the FBI.  (MH, 8/21/88)
5/31/88 Montoya, Rick 1000 Individual
6/1/88 The Private Sector Initiative (PSI) began.  Under this program "a private agency may enter into an agreement with the US government to cover all resettlement costs usually born by the Departments of State and Health and Human Services (including transportation, resettlement services, welfare and medical costs)." PSI allowed CANF to begin its Cuban Exodus Program, in which it paid all costs for the resettlement of Cuban refugees coming from third countries. While INS had to issue visas to the refugees, CANF was able to chose which refugees it would sponsor.  (Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration document, 10/19/94)
6/1/88 9/30/88 CANF's Cuban Exodus program began functioning the last three months of  fiscal year 1988.  The Bureau of Refugee Affairs of the Department of State reports that no Cubans were resettled during that period. (Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration document, 10/19/94)
6/2/88 Lieberman, Joseph 5000 Individuals
6/6/88 Burton, Danny 1000 Individual
6/7/88 Dowdy, Wayne 2000 Free Cuba PAC
6/17/88 Smith, Lawrence 500 Individual
6/20/88 Lieberman, Joseph 1500 Individuals Pepper, Claude  5000 Free Cuba PAC
6/21/88 Pepper, Claude 5800 Individuals
6/22/88 Mills, Jon 500 Free Cuba PAC
6/30/88 Bryan, Richard 1500 Individuals Gramm, Phil  4700 Free Cuba PAC Gunter, William 2500 Individuals
7/11/88 Burdick, Quentin 500 Free Cuba PAC Deconcini, Dennis 5000 Free Cuba PAC
7/14/88 Felix Rodriguez is questioned by Senator John Kerry (D-MA) about his relation to Jorge Mas Canosa during hearings before the Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics, and International Operations.  Kerry asks him to explain entries in Oliver North's notebooks suggesting that Rodriguez was to receive money from Mas Canosa.  Rodriguez admits talking to Mas Canosa about $50,000  but refuses to answer Kerry's repeated questions regarding the money.   "I will not discuss that, Senator," Rodriguez tells Kerry.  "It would create speculation, whatever it is, and I will not talk about it."  Rodriguez also refuses to discuss the issue in closed session.  "Ask Oliver North, Senator," he tells the exasperated chairman of the Subcommittee.  (Kerry Hearings, p. 373)
7/22/88 Hatch, Orrin 5000 Free Cuba PAC
8/1/88 Hatch, Orrin 2100 Individuals
8/12/88 Mica, Daniel 5000 Free Cuba PAC
8/15/88 Fuster, Jaime 500 Individual Mack, Connie 500  Individual
8/16/88 Melcher, John 1000 Individual Kennedy, Rosario  1000 Individual
8/20/88 Gunter, William 4000 Individuals
8/21/88 The FBI closes its investigation of an assassination plot against Jorge Mas Canosa, the Miami Herald reports.  Investigators say that Casasus had failed a lie detector test on his accusations that CID officials were plotting to kill Mas Canosa, and that no other evidence had emerged to support the allegations. (MH, 8/21/88)
8/23/88 Bafalis, Skip 500 Individual
8/31/88 Bafalis, Skip 1000 Free Cuba PAC Mack, Connie  1500 Individuals
9/2/88 Douglas, Charles 1000 Individual
9/5/88 The Miami Herald reports that Senate investigators are pursuing allegations that Jorge Mas Canosa financed the August 18, 1985 escape of Luis Posada Carriles from a Venezuelan prison where he had been held for the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner which killed 73 people.  Former CIA operative Felix Rodriguez, a close friend of Mas Canosa's and a key figure in the Iran-Contra operations, has admitted harboring Posada "at the request of a wealthy Miami benefactor who... financed Posada's prison escape," the paper reports.  "I got a call from an old friend in Miami who has helped me financially who wanted me to hide him," Rodriguez states.  "The man who called was a very old and dear friend, and he has helped pay my expenses since I have been in Central America."  Rodriguez admits to arranging Posada's flight to El Salvador and making him a deputy manager of the contra re supply operations out of the Ilopango airbase in San Salvador, using the name Ramon Medina.  Two members of Posada's group and three Cuban exile leaders identify Mas Canosa as the financier of the escape.  Mas Canosa calls Posada "a friend," but denies funding his prison breakout.  (MH, 9/5/88)
9/6/88 Garcia, Robert 500 Individual
9/9/88 Gunter, William 2000 Individuals
9/9/88 The National Endowment for Democracy grants $30,000 to the Cuban American National Foundation to provide supplemental assistance to the International Coalition for Human Rights in Cuba.  (NED Minutes, 9/9/88)
9/14/88 Mack, Connie 4000 Free Cuba PAC
9/16/88 Chappell, William 1000 Individual
9/22/88 The House Subcommittee on Western Hemispheric Affairs, chaired by Rep. George Crockett (D-MI), holds hearings on TV Marti.  Jorge Mas Canosa testifies.  (CC, p. 4; CIS)
9/23/88 Sarbanes, Paul 1000 Individual
9/25/88 Gunter, William 1000 Individual
9/26/88 Gunter, William 1000 Individual
9/27/88 Gunter, William 5000 Free Cuba PAC
9/30/88 Gunter, William 2000 Individual
 10/1/88 9/30/89 CANF resettled 1,512 Cuban refugees through the PSI Cuban Exodus Program. (Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration document, 10/19/94)
10/1/88 Rep. Smith's bill HR 4782, including $7.5 million in start-up costs for TV Marti as well as Radio Marti funding, becomes PL 100-159. (CC, p. 4)
10/4/88 Engeleiter, Susan 2000 Free Cuba PAC Johnston, Harry 1000 Free Cuba PAC
10/5/88 Melcher, John 1000 Individual
10/6/88 Kennedy, Joseph 3000 Individuals
10/7/88 Mack, Connie 500 Individual
10/11/88 Hecht, Chic 1000 Individual
10/14/88 Lieberman, Joseph 6000 Individuals
10/18/88 Florio, James 500 (returned) Free Cuba PAC  Smith, Lawrence 5000 Free Cuba PAC
10/19/88 Gorton, Slade 1000 Free Cuba PAC Melcher, John  500 Free Cuba PAC
10/20/88 Chappell, William 3500 Free Cuba PAC Lieberman, Joseph 1000 Individual
10/21/88 Chappell, William 500 Individual
10/25/88 Burton, Dan 5000 Free Cuba PAC Johnston, Harry 500 Individual Mack, Connie 5000 Free Cuba PAC Mack, Connie 1500 Individuals
10/26/88 Mack, Connie 3000 Individuals
10/27/88 Mack, Connie 500 Individual
10/28/88 Goss, Porter 500 Individual
10/29/88 Lieberman, Joseph 489 Free Cuba PAC
10/31/88 Gorton, Slade 1000 Individual Mack, Connie  2000 Individuals
11/1/88 Lieberman, Joseph 1000 Individual
11/2/88 Dioguardi, Joseph 500 Individual
11/7/88 Allgaier, Calvin J. 500 Free Cuba PAC Douglas, Charles 500 Free Cuba PAC Fascell, Dante  2000 Free Cuba PAC Lott, Trent 2000 Free Cuba PAC  Mackay, Buddy 500 Individual Mills, Jon 500 Free Cuba PAC
11/29/88 Gunter, William 500 Individual
11/30/88 Mack, Connie 500 Individual
12/10/88 Under the US government-supported CANF Exodus program, 185 Cubans arrive in Miami from Spain.  Foundation spokesperson Marilyn Calusin says 470 more Cubans are expected to fly from Spain to Miami in the next week. (MH, 12/12/88)
12/14/88 Gunter, William 1000 Individual
12/22/88 Richardson, Bill 1108 Free Cuba PAC
12/24/88 Lieberman, Joseph 1000 Individual
1/1/89 1/1/90 Free Angola Information Service -- TKC Int'l $43,000  $0
1/1/89 12/31/89 The Intergovernmental Council for the Coordination of Information and Communication Among the Non-Aligned Nations declares, "the act of radio and television systems aimed exclusively at the territories of non-aligned countries for subversive purposes, constitutes an act of interference in the internal affairs of these states, a violation of international legislation, particularly the UN Charter, and a violation of the Telecommunications Convention adopted in 1982 and the Regulations of the  International Telecommunications Union."  (Alexandre, p. 527)
1/1/89 12/31/89 Cuban American Foundation, CANF's lobbying arm, spends $145,000 (Common Cause, An/Feb 1991).
1/10/89 Jonathan Slade (MMW) $8,000  $677
1/19/89 The National Endowment for Democracy grants $110,000 to the Cuban American National Foundation for its support of the International Coalition for Human Rights in Cuba.  (NED Report G1C, 9/10/89)
2/22/89 4/11/89 Rep. Smith holds hearings on Radio and TV Marti. (CC, p. 5)
2/24/89 Fascell, Dante 500 Individual
3/3/89 In an interview with the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, Cuban Foreign Minister Carlos Rafael Rodriguez sates, "The foreign policy of the Bush administration is more reasonable and realistic than the Reagan administration's....However, we are exercising caution because President Bush has close connections with a group of exiled Cubans in Miami.  We are ready to begin a dialogue at any time.  Whether or not [the U.S.] establishes a TV station for anti-Cuban propaganda will be the Bush administration's litmus test."  (CAR 1989)
3/7/89 Jorge Mas Canosa testifies for the House Foreign Relations Committee hearings on appropriations for USIA and broadcasting programs for Cuba.  (CIS)
3/7/89 Jorge Mas Canosa testifies for the House Foreign Relations Committee hearings on appropriations for USIA and broadcasting programs for Cuba.  (CIS Index)
3/9/89 Boschwitz, Rudy 5000 Free Cuba PAC
3/10/89 McConnel, Mitch 3250 Individuals
3/17/89 At the National Endowment for Democracy's board meeting, a grant of $20,000 is approved for the Cuban American National Foundation to enable the Cuban Committee for Human Rights to disseminate independent human rights literature inside Cuba.  (NED Minutes, 3/17/89)
3/21/89 McConnell, Mitch 500 Individual
3/23/89 Boschwitz, Rudy 500 Individual
3/28/89 Secretary of State James Baker sends a cable to all U.S. diplomatic posts worldwide, itemizing the requirements for a change in U.S. policy toward Cuba.  (CAR 1989)
3/30/89 Biden, Joseph 250 Individual Boschwitz, Rudy  2350 Individuals
3/31/89 Rockefeller, John 5000 Free Cuba PAC
4/10/89 Jonathan Slade (MMW) $4,250  $265
4/20/89 Biden, Joseph R. 5000 Free Cuba PAC Roe, Robert  1000 Free Cuba PAC
4/20/89 The Miami Herald reports that Cuban Vice President Carlos Rafael Rodriguez warned that Cuba will take all "appropriate measures" against the "reactionary attack" of TV Marti broadcasts.  (MH, 4/20/89)
5/1/89 5/31/89 CANF promotes a bill in the Florida State Legislature to establish a Cuban studies institute at Florida International University.  The bill calls for the institute to have a nine member board, two-thirds of which would be nominated by CANF.  After opposition by professors at FIU, the legislature rejects CANF's bill, but appropriates $1 million for the Foundation to give research grants to scholars of its choice.  (AW)
5/3/89 Garcia, Robert 500 Individual Kerry, John 3000   Individuals Pressler, Larry 1000 Individual
5/4/89 Lehman, William 500 Individual
5/5/89 Kennedy, Rosario 500 Individual
5/5/89 Fourteen U.S. Treasury agents raid the home and offices of Ramon Cernuda.  Cernuda is vice-president of the Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture and head of CODEHU, an organization based in Havana that promotes a non-violent approach to the political transformation of Cuba.  The agents confiscate 220 works of Cuban art on the grounds that Cernuda's possession of these paintings violates the trade embargo against Cuba.  Several days later, Jorge Mas Canosa publicly takes responsibility for the raid: "we in effect are responsible for this and other investigations that I hope come through and which cannot be halted with Cernuda."  In a radio broadcast, Mas Canosa announces, "I'm going to continue trying to get an investigation of Cernuda and of 20 other 'Cernudas' who are in Miami, or two hundred or two thousand of them."  In the same radio broadcast, Mas Canosa calls Alicia Torres, who works for the Cuban American Committee Research and Education Fund, a Castro agent. (WP, 8/24/89; Radio Transcript)
5/13/89 Boschwitz, Rudy 1000 Individual
5/14/89 A Miami Herald article reports that Frank Calzon, former CANF executive director, and Jorge Mas Canosa, CANF Chairman, disagree on a proposal to locate TV Marti's studios in Miami.  Calzon says locating the station in Miami "would be a terrible mistake...Neither Radio Marti nor TV Marti are supposed to be exile operations....It creates the problem of somebody having to explain to the Cuban community that this is not an exile station."  Mas Canosa disagrees, saying that Miami "is the natural source where people who would work for TV Marti are located."  VOA Deputy Director Robert Coonrod said the agency has not decided where to put the studios.  Another Herald article reports that the aerostat blimp "Fat Albert" that would be used to relay TV Marti programs can be flown less than half the time from June to September, and less than 40 percent of the time between August and September, due to weather conditions in the area.  (MH, 5/14/89)
5/18/89 Hollings, Ernest 5000 Free Cuba PAC
5/18/89 The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approves permanent funding for TV Marti. (WP, 5/19/89)
5/20/89 Sen. Connie Mack (R-FL) tells members of CANF at their annual dinner, "I believe TV Marti will be a reality by the end of this year, at the latest by the beginning of next year."  (MH, 5/21/89)
5/21/89 An article by Jose Cardenas, director of research and publications at CANF, appears in the Miami Herald, defending the contributions of Radio Marti and promoting TV Marti.  (MH, 5/21/89)
5/22/89 Garcia, Robert 250 Individual
5/24/89 Kennedy, Rosario 200 Individual
5/25/89 Levin, Carl 500 Free Cuba PAC
5/31/89 Kennedy, Rosario 1000 Individual
6/5/89 Levin, Carl 2000 Individuals
6/9/89 Hamilton, Lee 500 Free Cuba PAC Torricelli 500  Free Cuba PAC
6/19/89 Hefner, W.G. 1500 Free Cuba PAC
6/22/89 Cuba records and registers Channel 13 for 24-hour broadcasts with the IFRB. (GAO, 5/92, p. 11)
6/29/89 Ros-Lehtinen 5000 Individuals
6/30/89 Harkin, Tom 1000 Individual Ros-Lehtinen 500  Individual
7/5/89 In a farewell memo to Radio Marti director Betancourt, Radio Marti's  departing research director Ramon Mestre writes that the station "has departed significantly from its mandate" to broadcast domestically unavailable news and information.  He also questioned the effectiveness of the research and news departments, adding that "Many of our reporters are actually green broadcasters who know little about Cuba and very little about radio broadcasting."  (MH, 9/28/89)
7/7/89 Ros-Lehtinen 500 Individual
7/10/89 Jonathan Slade (MMW) $6,750  $201
7/12/89 Kennedy, Rosario 1000 Individual
7/12/89 The GAO forwards its report, titled "Voice of America: Selected Personnel Practices Warrant Management Attention," to Rep. Mervyn Dymally (D-CA) and the House Subcommittee on International Operations.  Regarding Radio Marti, the report states that several employees did not have sufficient knowledge of Cuba required by the agency's hiring authority.  Radio Marti and VOA staff had also submitted complaints regarding various management practices.  (GAO, 7/89)
7/17/89 Ros-Lehtinen 200 Individual
7/18/89 Ros-Lehtinen 450 Individuals
7/21/89 Ros-Lehtinen 2000 Individuals
7/21/89 The Senate approves $16 million for TV Marti programs in 1990 as part of the State Department authorization bill.  (WP, 7/22/89)
7/24/89 Ros-Lehtinen 5000 Free Cuba PAC Ros-Lehtinen  1000 Individual
7/25/89 Ros-Lehtinen 9000 Individuals
7/25/89 Jorge Mas Canosa testifies for the House Foreign Affairs Committee on alleged Cuban involvement in international drug trafficking. (CIS Index)
7/25/89 Jorge Mas Canosa and his wife Irma each contribute $1000 to the campaign of Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL). (NLMP)
7/26/89 Ros-Lehtinen 1000 Individual
7/26/89 Cuban officials state that they will use "all means available" to stop the broadcasts of TV Marti.  (WP, 7/27/89)
7/28/89 Kennedy, Rosario 1000 Individual Smith, Lawrence  300 Individual
7/31/89 Ros-Lehtinen 750 Individual
8/1/89 8/31/89 CIA and FBI documents released to lawyers of anti-Castro Cuban militant Orlando Bosch document his involvement in acts of terrorism during the 1960s.  Sabotage attacks against Cuba by Bosch's paramilitary organization, the Insurrectional Movement of Revolutionary Recovery claimed the lives of three children, CIA intelligence reports state.  FBI documents record a 1987 letter from special agent George Davis to then Secretary of State Shultz urging that Bosch not be allowed entry to the United States from Venezuela where he had been released on terrorism charges.  "My colleagues and I in Miami conducted exhaustive investigations of Bosch from the time of his arrival in about 1960 as a Cuban exile until he departed on a forged passport while out of prison on parole [in 1972].  He was regarded by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies as Miami's number one terrorist." (MH, 8/4/89)
8/3/89 Kennedy, Rosario 1000 Individual Simon, Paul 300  Individual
8/7/89 Ros-Lehtinen 300 Individual
8/10/89 Ros-Lehtinen 1000 Individual
8/11/89 Jorge Mas Canosa testifies for the Senate Caucus of International Narcotics Control hearings on allegations of Cuban involvement in drug trafficking. (CIS Index)
8/16/89 Ros-Lehtinen 2500 Individuals
8/17/89 Ros-Lehtinen 4500 Individuals
8/21/89 Ros-Lehtinen 1000 Individual
8/22/89 Pressler, Larry 3500 Free Cuba PAC
8/23/89 Ros-Lehtinen 900 Individual
8/24/89 Pressler, Larry 2500 Individuals
8/29/89 Ros-Lehtinen 500 Individual
9/8/89 The U.S. Interests Section in Havana cables USIA regarding Cuban reaction to the planned TV Marti.  The cable reports that the Cuban press is denouncing TV Marti on technical and legal grounds, claiming that most Americans are unaware of the project, apparently to show that TV Marti is not only an insult to Cubans but also to the U.S. public.  (USIA Cable, "TV Marti: GOC Puts its Case on the Air, 9/8/89)
9/13/89 Another cable from the U.S. Interests Section in Havana reports on official Cuban reactions to TV Marti, citing an interview with Carlos Aldana, PCC Secretary for propaganda and ideology, in Arieto magazine.  Aldana emphasizes Cuban opposition to TV Marti, but stresses that they have nothing to fear from it.  (USIA Cable, "Carlos Aldana's Public Comments on TV Marti," 9/13/89)
9/18/89 Judge Kenneth Ryskamp orders the Treasury Department to return Ramon Cernuda's Cuban artworks.  The judge rules that it is not for the U.S. government "to dictate whether [Cernuda] and the Cuban Museum may exhibit or auction paintings of Cuban origin." (AW)
9/20/89 Smith, Lawrence 1000 Individual
9/21/89 Jorge Mas Canosa testifies for the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearings on U.S.-Cuban relations. (CIS Index)
9/25/89 Simon, Paul 1000 Free Cuba PAC
10/1/89 9/30/90 CANF resettled 3,003 Cuban refugees through the PSI Cuban Exodus Program. (Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration document, 10/19/94)
10/1/89 10/31/89 James Skinner is selected as Executive Director of the Advisory Board for Cuba Broadcasting by Board chairman Jorge Mas Canosa and approved by the White House.  (ABCB, 1989)
10/1/89 10/31/89 James Skinner is selected as Executive Director of the Advisory Board for Cuba Broadcasting by Board chairman Jorge Mas Canosa and approved by the White House.  (ABCB 1989 Report)
10/10/89 Helms, Jesse 2000 Individual
10/10/89 Marilyn Kalusin $7,122  $0
10/10/89 Jonathan Slade (MMW) $6,750  $102
10/17/89 Blackwell, J. Kenneth 250 Individual Ros-Lehtinen 500  Individual
10/23/89 Ros-Lehtinen 250 Individual
10/27/89 Smith, Lawrence 250 Individual
10/30/89 Smith, Lawrence 2250 Individuals
11/3/89 Manuel Castillo Rabasa, Minister of Communications for the Cuban government, files a formal complaint with the ITU, requesting that the IFRB examine United States interference with Cuban national broadcasting services.  The Cuban government charges that U.S. attempts to use frequencies assigned to Cuban television stations constitute a flagrant violation of international telecommunications regulations.  Furthermore, Cuba declares the  U.S. broadcasts interfere in Cuba's internal affairs and establish a dangerous precedent for large countries to overpower the broadcasts of smaller ones.  (Castillo Rabasa Letter to P.J. Tarjanne, ITU, 11/3/89)
11/6/89 Senate and House conferees pass TV Marti contingent on feasibility testing. (CC, p. 6)
11/9/89 According to a later article by Jorge Mas Canosa, Radio Marti director Betancourt states, "I want the record to show that Mr. Mas Canosa has never tried to use Radio Marti as a means of personal or [Cuban American National] Foundation propaganda."  (MH, 3/17/90)
11/16/89 Smith, Lawrence 2250 Individuals
11/16/89 The Senate approves a State Department authorization bill including $16 million each year for 1990 and 1991 for the TV Marti program.  An amendment to the bill intended to correct some Iran-Contra abuses is expected to cause a Presidential veto.  (MH, 11/17/89)
11/20/89 McCollum, Bill 500 Free Cuba PAC Smith, Robert  500 Free Cuba PAC
11/21/89 Because of a provision attached to limit presidential powers, Bush vetoes the State Department Authorization Bill with its provisions for TV Marti. (CC, p. 6-7)
11/22/89 The Senate adjourns without reconsidering the State Authorization bill and TV Marti.  (MH, 11/23/89)
11/25/89 Rep. Smith's appropriations bill for Commerce/Justice/State includes $16 million for FY 1990 for TV Marti. (CC, p. 7)
12/1/89 12/31/89 A congressional delegation led by Rep. Al Swift (D-WA), a ranking member of the House telecommunications and finance subcommittee, visits Cuba on a fact-finding trip with John Spicer Nichols, a Penn State communications professor.  (MH, 1/6/90)
12/1/89 12/31/89 The Cuban government demonstrates their ability to jam television broadcasts to a visiting U.S. congressional delegation.  Officials also announce that they are considering a range of options in response to TV Marti broadcasts, including counter-broadcasting, limiting or changing migration between the island and the U.S., and jamming not only TV Marti but also Radio Marti.  (MH, 1/6/90)
12/14/89 Deputy Foreign Minister Ricardo Alarcon says in a Havana news conference that TV Marti broadcasts would be "an act of aggression" and that Cuba would retaliate if TV Marti went on the air.  That night, Cuban transmitters interfere with three AM radio frequencies across the U.S.  (MH, 12/15/89 and 12/16/89)
12/15/89 The FCC sends a telex to Cuba complaining about the previous night's radio interference.  (MH, 12/16/89)
12/15/89 The FCC sends a telex to Cuba complaining about the interference.  (MH, 12/16/89)
12/15/89 The Cuban Museum Rescue Committee, an organization formed by CANF and other anti-Castro groups, petitions the city of Miami to cancel the lease of the Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture because it has shown the art of Cubans still living in Cuba.  A letter from the Committee claims that the Museum's policies represented "the treason of the principles of 'cubanness'" and "a political agenda not shared by the Cuban exile community." (Diario de las Americas, 12/15/89)
12/20/89 Bradley, Bill 1000 Individuals
12/29/89 Gore, Albert 1000 Individual
12/31/89 Kerry, John 2000 Individuals
1/1/90 The National Endowment for Democracy grants $100,000 to CANF to support the International Coalition for Human Rights in Cuba.  NED also grants an  additional $30,000 to CANF for its support of the US counterpart of the Havana-based Cuban Committee for Human Rights in compiling and disseminating human rights information.  (NED 1990 Annual Report)
1/1/90 12/31/90 The Office of Cuba Broadcasting is established under VOA to coordinate management of Radio and TV Marti.  The office has an eight-member management team headed by Antonio Navarro.  (ABCB, 1991)
1/1/90 2/28/90 CANF holds a radio press conference announcing the formation of an "Information Commission" and the coming together of "two historic tendencies."  Guillermo and Ignacio Novo, who were both convicted in the car-bombing murder of former Chilean Ambassador Orlando Letelier, are appointed to the commission. Guillermo Novo tells Washington Post journalist Scott Sleek that he doesn't regret any of his past activities, and he writes off the bazooka attack on the United Nations to the enthusiasm of his youth. (MH, 3/27/92; WP 7/18/90)
1/4/90 A document titled "TV Marti Guidance" is drafted by Michael Schoenfeld of VOA, providing a question-and-answer explanation of the TV Marti program and its status.  One part of the guidance states, "TV Marti is a foreign policy priority of the Bush Administration.  It also has strong bipartisan support among Members of Congress with little or no Cuban-American constituents.  TV Marti is a logical extension of the U.S. policy to provide accurate and balanced information directly to people who are denied that precious commodity by their government.  While Cuban-American efforts on behalf of the program have been important, TV Marti has advanced on its own merits as a public diplomacy program."  ("TV Marti Guidance," 1/4/90)
1/10/90 Marilyn Kalusin $8,306  $0
1/10/90 Jonathan Slade (MMW) $9,000  $147
1/12/90 G. C. Brooks, chair of the IFRB, requests that the FCC provide technical information
 and comments for the Board's consideration regarding Cuba's November 1989 complaint of U.S. broadcasting interference.  (G. C. Brooks, Letter to FCC, 1/12/90)
1/16/90 Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) writes President Bush, asking that the U.S. "proceed will all due speed and make TV Marti fully operational" as soon as possible.  (Ros-Lehtinen Letter, 1/16/90)
1/16/90 USIA contracting officer Herman Shaw writes to Department of Labor administrator Joseph Dubray, Jr., requesting a pre-award equal-opportunity (EEO) clearance on Techniarts Engineering, which will provide services for news gathering and reporting for TV Marti.  (Shaw Letter, 1/16/90)
1/18/90 Hamilton, Lee 4000 Free Cuba PAC
1/18/90 Techniarts, Inc. of Silver Spring, Maryland, is chosen as a contractor for news gathering and reporting for TV Marti.  Other television and communication firms receive notification letters from the USIA Contracts Office.  (Muller Letters, 1/18/90)
1/19/90 The U.S. Mission to the UN in New York cables the State Department and USIA regarding Cuban protests against TV Marti in the Security Council.  (USIA Cable, "Cubans Protest TV Marti in Security Council," 1/19/90)
 1/22/90 The U.S. Interests Section in Havana cables USIA regarding media reaction to TV Marti.  The cable reports that the Cuban press has printed the text of a letter from Cuban Foreign Minister Isidoro Malmierca to the President of the UN Security Council regarding TV Marti, and several stories denouncing the program have run in newspapers.  (USIA Cable, "Media Reaction: TV Marti Project Jan. 21-22," 1/22/90)
1/23/90 Gramm, Phil 150 Free Cuba PAC
1/23/90 Jorge Mas Canosa meets with Channel 23 WLTV manager Jose Cancela.  (MH, 1/26/90)
1/24/90 The U.S. Interests Section in Havana cables Washington with concern over recent Cuban remarks on TV Marti:  "[A Cuban official] said that if we went through with TV Marti he was afraid that we would have `a war (figuratively) on our hands.'  He said that he was concerned that TV Marti could cause the Soviet Union to re-think its cooperation in the region....This is the first hint that we heard that TV Marti, together with Panama, could cause the USSR to re-think its cooperation on Central America."  (USIA Cable, "[deleted] Says TV Marti Could Effect Soviet Cooperation," 1/24/90)
1/24/90 USIA contract officer Edward Muller designates Oscar Underwood as USIA's Authorized Representative for the Techniarts contract, and contract officer Herman Shaw notifies Judith Deitz of Techniarts.  (Muller and Shaw Letters, 1/24/90)
1/25/90 White House official Frederick McClure writes to Rep. Ros-Lehtinen regarding her concerns about TV Marti, and sends a copy of both his letter and hers to USIA for a direct response.  (McClure Letter, 1/25/90)
1/25/90 The U.S. Interests Section in Havana cables Washington to report that Cuban Foreign Relations First Vice Minister Jose Raul Viera had brought a letter from Foreign Minister Isidoro Malmierca to each of the EC countries, reportedly emphasizing that Cuba was prepared to submit the TV Marti question to international arbitration and would like their support.  (USIA Cable, "Cuban Action Against TV Marti," 1/25/90)
1/25/90 Jose Cancela confirms that his station, WLTV Channel 23 will supply "the first 15 or 20 days" of news programs for TV Marti's broadcasts to Cuba.  He says he committed to the deal in a meeting two days earlier with Jorge Mas Canosa.  (MH, 1/26/90)
1/25/90 USIA receives a Reuter wire report, stating that Cuban state television will begin broadcasting the Cable News Network (CNN) program, "World Report."  Cuban media official Rodobaldo Diaz states that Cuban television would respect the exact content of every CNN report.  (Reuter Wire Report, 1/25/90)
1/26/90 The U.S. Interests Section in Havana cables USIA, stating that Cuban "collaboration" will begin tonight with a half-hour broadcast of CNN's "World Report," dubbed in Spanish.  (USIA Cable, "GOC Launches CNN Program Tonight," 1/26/90)
1/26/90 USIA receives a cable from the U.S. Interests Section describing television programming schedules and reception in Havana, particularly Channel 13, the proposed channel for TV Marti broadcasts.  (USIA Cable, "Cuban TV Broadcasts Times," 1/26/90)
1/27/90 The USIA Operations Center Brief includes a wire report from Reuters on students and workers marching through Havana and other Cuban cities to protest the planned TV Marti.  (Reuters Wire Report, 1/27/90; Operations Center Brief, 1/29/90)
1/28/90 The U.S. Interests Section in Havana cables the Department of State and USIA regarding Cuban claims that the U.S. is building up for a military confrontation.  The cable also reports that, in light of U.S. naval  deployments to Guantanamo and Florida, diplomats in Cuba, including U.S. allies, are accepting the Cuban line and "are no doubt [reporting] back to capitals and by making the U.S. appear belligerent and provocative may have a negative effect on our policy interests regarding Central America and Panama."  The cable recommends that the State Department consider a public relations campaign to counteract Cuban criticisms.  (USIA Cable, "GOC Diplomatic Campaign Against U.S. 'Military' Moves," 1/28/90)
1/28/90 The U.S. Interests Section reports that Cuban television's broadcast of CNN's "World Report" was "dull and eminently non-controversial."  (USIA Cable, "CNN Program Debuts on Cubavision," 1/28/90)
1/29/90 Muenster, Theodore 250 Individual
1/29/90 USIA receives a cable from the U.S. Interests Section on Cuban campaigns against TV Marti, including the installation of a new bulletin board facing the U.S. Interests Section building and demonstrations around the building, as well as a mass torch light parade celebrating Jose Marti's birthday and military sentries in battle dress outside military installations.  (USIA Cable, "GOC Build-up to TV Marti Broadcasting," 1/29/90)
2/1/90 Gramm, Phil 1500 Individuals
2/1/90 2/28/90 USIA official Steven Friedman forwards copies of several news articles to colleagues including Joseph O'Connell, Jim Skinner, and Antonio Navarro.  The articles cover TV Marti, the Cuban view of the program, and the December visit by the delegation led by Rep. Al Swift (D-WA).  (Friedman Note, c. 2/90)
2/1/90 2/10/90 Antonio Navarro is appointed acting director at TV Marti.  Navarro resigned his position with the Advisory Board for Cuban Broadcasting to take the TV Marti position. (MH, 2/4/90)
2/2/90 The USIA Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) bureau in Key West reports that Havana Radio has broadcast statements by Cuban Culture Minister Armando Hart, while visiting Ecuador, that the Cuban response to TV Marti will be one of "self-defense against a flagrant violation" of international law.  (USIA Cable, "Hart Says Response to TV Marti to be Self-defense," 2/2/90)
2/2/90 The IFRB, based on technical information it received from the U.S. regarding the Cudjoe Key, Florida station, classifies U.S. broadcasts to Cuba as "harmful interference" and requests that the U.S. State Department's Bureau of International Communications and Information Policy take prompt action to eliminate the broadcasts.  The IFRB informs the U.S. that the powerful 3000-meter-high antenna aimed at Cuba is not appropriate considering international broadcasting regulations which restrict unnecessary international interference.  (G.C. Brooks, IFRB Letter to DOS, 2/2/90)
2/5/90 Lehman, William 300 Individual
2/5/90 Edward Fritts, President and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, writes to USIA Director Bruce Gelb regarding TV Marti.  Fritts asks for an explanation of the testing program and for how TV Marti will operate when the blimp cannot broadcast in bad weather, commenting, "We would hope these questions will be addressed and evaluated before the President is asked to determine the feasibility of the project."  (Fritts Letter, 2/5/90)
2/6/90 Gramm, Phil 500 Individual
2/6/90 The Foreign Relations Authorization Act for FY 1990 and 1991 is passed as PL 101-246, including a provision authorizing TV Marti.  The law mandates that TV Marti's broadcasts must conform to all VOA standards for objectivity, accuracy, and balance, and must present a variety of views.  VOA standards are derived from its charter and are expanded upon in the VOA Handbook. (GAO, 5/92, p. 8; CC, p. 7)
2/7/90 Hamilton, Lee 800 Individual
2/8/90 Techniarts, the firm contracted for TV Marti's 90-day test period, announces the appointment of Roberto Rodriguez-Tejera as TV Marti's Miami bureau chief.  (Techniarts Press Release, 2/8/90)
2/9/90 Lehman, William 500 Individual
2/10/90 The U.S. Interests Section in Havana cables USIA regarding Cuban reactions to TV Marti, reporting that it is now common to have anti-TV Marti statements at any public event.  The cable also cites a Granma article on the visit of U.S. historian Philip Foner, who is quoted as saying that it was "a shameful scandal to use the name of such a passionately anti-imperialist as Jose Marti to promote the interests of the U.S.  The project should be named after Narciso Lopez," referring to the 19th century supporter of Cuban annexation to the U.S.  (USIA Cable, "Media Reaction: TV Marti," 2/10/90)
2/10/90 TV Guide magazine publishes an article on TV Marti by Neil Hickey, who spent four days in Cuba.  (TV Guide, 2/10/90)
2/12/90 Burton, Dan 4000 Free Cuba PAC Heflin, Howell 500 Individuals
2/13/90 Specter, Arlen 5000 Free Cuba PAC
2/14/90 Lehman, William 500 Individual
2/15/90 Simon, Paul 2000 Free Cuba PAC
2/16/90 Burton, Dan 1000 Individual
2/20/90 Bacchus, Jim 2000 Free Cuba PAC
2/23/90 Ros-Lehtinen 250 Individual
2/23/90 A logo for TV Marti is designed by USIA graphics staff.  The announcement memo from Stephen Murphy to USIA Dir. Gelb notes, "It has been approved and accepted by the director of TV Marti, Antonio Navarro, and by Jorge Mas of the Cuban-American [sic] Foundation."  (Stephen Murphy, USIA Memorandum, "TV Guide of February 10, 1990," 2/23/90)
2/23/90 The IFRB sends a fax to the U.S. State Department, reiterating its request for comments and technical information regarding the Cuban complaint of U.S. broadcasting interference.  (IFRB Fax to Secretary of State, 2/23/90)
2/26/90 Gray, William H. 1000 Free Cuba PAC Johnston, Harry 500 Free Cuba PAC Lehman, William  500 Individual
2/27/90 Douglas, Charles 1750 Individuals Ros-Lehtinen  250 Individual
2/27/90 Martha Johnston and Alberto Mora of USIA write their director Bruce Gelb a memo regarding tomorrow's scheduled briefing for House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Fascell.  "We, along with TV Marti Task Force chairman Bob Coonrod and representatives of the State Department, are to brief Fascell at 9:30 am Wednesday, February 28, in Rep. Fascell's office.  We understand that Fascell's staff has invited other interested members of the Florida congressional delegation to attend."  Fascell requested the briefing on the status of test preparations, the testing timetable, and international legal and regulatory issues involved.  (Johnston and Mora Memo, 2/27/90)
3/5/90 Hollings 22800 Individuals
 3/5/90 Jorge Mas Canosa contributes $1000 to the campaign of Sen. Ernest Hollings (R-SC). (NLMP)
3/7/90 Kennedy, Rosario 750 Individual
3/9/90 According to an unsigned Radio Marti letter, on this date in a meeting with Radio Marti department heads, Director Betancourt reportedly denies that he has been transferred to USIA and indicates that an "attempted coup d'etat" occurred.  (Radio Marti Open Letter, 3/14/90)
3/12/90 Radio Marti Director Betancourt writes a 14-page memo to VOA Dir. Carlson, outlining what Betancourt calls a "coordinated effort" by the CANF to remove him.  Mas Canosa denies involvement and states that he "has never tried to use Radio Marti" for personal or Foundation "propaganda."  (WP, 3/13/90)
3/13/90 Simon, Paul 1400 Individuals
3/13/90 VOA Dir. Carlson writes a letter to Ernesto Betancourt, "to confirm our conversation of last Tuesday [when] I informed you of the decision to reassign you from Radio Marti."  USIA Dir. Gelb also writes Betancourt a letter regarding "my decision that you will be reassigned to the position of Director, Office of Research," for USIA.  In announcing the transfer, a USIA spokesperson states "There is a great need for a director of research...He was qualified for this job because of his background in research."  (Carlson Letter, 3/13/90; WP, 3/13/90)
3/13/90 Jorge Mas Canosa testifies for the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearings on international travel restrictions.  (CIS Index)
3/14/90 Ernesto Betancourt notifies Radio Marti employees by memo of his reassignment to USIA Research effective today, stating, "This is a personal matter involving me only, and should not affect anyone else at Radio Marti.  Within the next two weeks, I will be deciding my future plans."  (Betancourt Memo, 3/14/90)
3/14/90 An unsigned letter "on the situation at Radio Marti" is circulated which alleges that Ernesto Betancourt had in the preceding week denied that he was being transferred to USIA and that he and his deputy Orlando Rodriguez tried to intimidate employees into signing a letter of support.  The letter states, "The employees of Radio Marti and the Cuban exile community favor the transfer....At this moment, Radio Marti is a propaganda vehicle for the interests of Betancourt and Rodriguez."  The letter recommends a definition of clarification of the law establishing Radio Marti and says the program should not be "separated from VOA as it presently is."  The letter ends, "This is an unsigned letter because the employees seek to avoid the reprisals that the current leadership of Radio Marti could take against them."  (Radio Marti Open Letter, 3/14/90)
3/14/90 Judith Deitz of Techniarts Engineering receives a "notice to proceed" with start-up and operation of the Miami Bureau of TV Marti.  A contract status meeting is also held on this date in Techniarts' offices.  (USIA Letter, 3/14/90)
3/15/90 A USIA press release announces that a management team of Dr. Orlando Rodriguez, Jay Mallin, and Dr. Rolando Bonachea has been appointed to temporarily direct Radio Marti programs pending the appointment of a permanent director.  (Michael Shoenfeld, Press Release, "Management Team Appointed at Radio Marti," 3/15/90)
3/15/90 Norman Wain of Metroplex Communications of Ohio writes to USIA Dir. Gelb, sending him copies of Georgie Ann Geyer's column on Radio Marti, which states that Ernesto Betancourt's transfer resulted from a "power grab" by Jorge Mas Canosa.  Wain writes, "Obviously, this was one of the subjects we discussed during the recent U.S.-USSR Information Talks.  To have this Radio  Marti program subverted by Jorge Mas is totally unacceptable.  I am totally familiar with Mr. Mas because of our involvement with Florida radio, and I can tell you that I believe every word of this column.  I really think it's up to you to take strong actions to prevent this subversion of the original intent for this activity."  (Wain Letter, 3/15/90)
3/17/90 A column by Jorge Mas Canosa appears in the Miami Herald, stating that "Betancourt's power grab failed," and defending his own involvement with Radio and TV Marti and the Advisory Board for Cuba Broadcasting.  (MH, 3/17/90)
3/19/90 In a letter to USIA Dir. Gelb, Ernesto Betancourt resigns from Radio Marti and USIA. (Betancourt Letter, 3/19/90)
3/19/90 In a memo to Radio Marti employees, VOA Dir. Carlson announces that a management team of Dr. Orlando Rodriguez, Jay Mallin, and Dr. Rolando Bonachea has been appointed to temporarily direct Radio Marti programs pending the appointment of a permanent director. (Carlson Memo, 3/19/90)
3/19/90 Jorge Mas Canosa writes a memo to the new Radio Marti Management Team, stating, "The President's Advisory Board for Cuba Broadcasting has been informed of the managerial changes taking place at Radio Marti and would like to express its support...."  (Mas Canosa Memo, 3/19/90)
3/20/90 3/31/90 Jorge Gomez Barata, a top official in the Cuban government in charge of jamming TV Marti, proposes that the U.S. and Cuba negotiate to beam American commercial network broadcasts to the island, but demands that TV Marti be stopped before any talks can begin.  (WP, 3/31/90)
3/23/90 Former CANF vice-chairman Jose Luis Rodriguez writes to the Washington Post of his concern about Jorge Mas Canosa's activities relating to the transfer of Ernesto Betancourt from Radio Marti and other issues with the Advisory Board for Cuba Broadcasting.  (WP, 3/23/90)
3/26/90 Boren, David 1000 Individual Cohen, William  5000 Free Cuba PAC
3/26/90 Sen. Paul Simon (D-IL) introduces legislation to create a seven-member presidential advisory committee to "recommend policy options to encourage freedom in Cuba."  Simon also suggests that the CANF could submit names to Bush for appointment to the committee.  (MH, 3/27/90)
3/26/90 Sen. Paul Simon (D-IL) introduces legislation to create a seven-member presidential advisory committee to "recommend policy options to encourage freedom in Cuba."  Simon also suggests that the CANF could submit names to President Bush for appointment to the committee.  (MH, 3/27/90)
3/27/90 TV Marti begins a 90-day testing period of broadcasting at 1:45 am.  The same day, the U.S. notifies the IFRB of its intent to use Channel 13 for TV Marti's broadcasts.  (CQ, 6/23/90, p. 1930; WP 4/16/92; GAO, 8/90, p. 10)
3/27/90 Jorge Mas Canosa writes a memo to USIA Dir. Gelb, asking him to close part of the April 10, 1990, meeting of the Advisory Board for Cuba Broadcasting to the public.  He states that part of the meeting involves "discussion of classified information" and "internal personnel rules and practices of an agency." (Mas Canosa Memo, 3/27/90)
 3/28/90 USIA begins conducting surveys among Cuban émigrés, refugees, visitors, and others arriving in Florida regarding TV Marti reception and viewership. (GAO, 8/90, p. 1)
3/28/90 In a letter to Ernesto Betancourt, USIA Dir. Gelb expresses "my admiration for your many accomplishments at Radio Marti" and invites Betancourt to "bring to my attention any views or opinions you might have on Cuba [or] the management of Radio Marti....I will welcome any such comments and weigh them carefully."  (Gelb Letter, 3/28/90)
3/29/90 USIA Dir. Gelb approves Jorge Mas Canosa's request to close to the public a portion of the Advisory Board for Cuba Broadcasting meeting.  According to the agenda, the closed portions of the meeting will include the "Radio Marti Status Report" and the "TV Marti Status Report."  (Gelb Memo, 3/29/90)
3/30/90 Ros-Lehtinen 1000 Individual
3/30/90 USIA's "Foreign Media Reaction Daily Digest" notes that foreign media writers have "described TV Marti as `the voice of freedom and hope' on one hand and as a `violation of national sovereignty' on the other."  (USIA Foreign Media Reaction Daily Digest, 3/30/90)
4/1/90 1/1/91 Morris J. Amitay, P.C.  $120,000  $0
4/2/90 Bush speaks to the National Association of Broadcasters and asks them to change their opposition stance on TV Marti. (CQ, 6/23/90, p. 1931)
4/2/90 The ITU writes the State Department that, "considering its location, relative power, high antenna height, and the given antenna directivity," TV Marti "is not in compliance with the intent and spirit" of international regulations.  The State Department contends that the ITU has no jurisdiction in the matter and that the regulations allow exceptions that other countries have taken advantage of. (CQ, 6/23/90, p. 1931; Alexandre, p. 528)
4/3/90 Kostmayer, Peter 1000 Individual
4/5/90 Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) asks GAO to conduct investigations of TV Marti: one on how the USIA calculates Cuban viewership, one on the TV Marti survey on test period viewership, and one on the spending and activities of the Advisory Board for Radio and TV Marti and the Board's relationship with CANF, both of which are headed by Jorge Mas Canosa.  Rep. Dingell states, "The apparent links between the advisory board and the Cuban American National Foundation raise other significant questions about the board's quality of advice.  The GAO audit should expose any improper linkage that might exist."  The GAO, citing staff and resource shortages and difficulty in finding information, fails to produce a report.  (CQ, 6/23/90, p. 1931; LAT, 4/28/90; interview with David Leach, Office of Rep. Dingell, 3/31/93)
4/10/90 Marilyn Kalusin $7,147  $0
4/10/90 Jonathan Slade (MMW) $6,000  $640
4/10/90 In a meeting partially closed to the public, the Advisory Board for Cuba Broadcasting votes to endorse the proposed merger of the Radio Marti and TV Marti programs into one office, the Cuba Broadcasting Service, which would operate under USIA.  In an article in the Miami Herald, former Radio Marti director Ernesto Betancourt suggests that Mas Canosa influenced a survey of recently-arrived exiles which found that jamming of TV Marti was only effective in Havana, in order to show that TV Marti was feasible.  Mas Canosa denies the allegations. (MH, 4/11/90)
4/10/90 4/20/90 Radio Marti's report on the results of USIA's first survey on TV Marti viewership states that TV Marti was "received in practically all of the Cuban territory with acceptable quality," and that the potential population receiving the signal was about 7.3 million.  USIA research staff  note several problems with the survey methodology and conclude that "the study does not yield reliable and valid results."  (GAO, 8/90, p. 2)
4/12/90 Lieberman, Joseph 1500 Free Cuba PAC
4/16/90 The State Department's Bureau of International Communications and Information Policy responds to the IFRB judgment regarding TV Marti broadcasts.  The U.S. maintains that the IFRB has no authority on the matter under the International Telecommunications Convention.  The U.S. also states the antenna on Cudjoe Key is appropriate and will not foster harmful interference but rather facilitate "time sharing" on Cuban stations.  The U.S. claims that although Cuban television officially operates on the frequency 24 hours a day, in fact the frequency is unused several hours each day and "time sharing" should be permitted. (Bradley Holmes, DOS Letter to IFRB, 4/16/90)
4/17/90 Fascell, Dante 1000 Free Cuba PAC Glickman, Dan  500 Free Cuba PAC Yatron, Gus 500 Free Cuba PAC
4/23/90 Lieberman, Joseph 4000 Individuals Roe, Robert  1000 Free Cuba PAC Ros-Lehtinen 1000 Free Cuba PAC
4/23/90 Radio Marti broadcasts live an Orange Bowl rally sponsored by the CANF and other groups, including an address by Ronald Reagan and what the Miami Herald calls a "fiery political speech" by Mas Canosa.  (CQ, 6/23/90, p. 1931)
4/23/90 Rolando Bonachea, former head of Radio Marti's investigation department, is appointed acting director of Radio Marti by the USIA.  (MH, 4/24/90)
4/25/90 Easley, Michael 1000 Individual
4/27/90 Ros-Lehtinen 200 Individual
4/30/90 Easley, Michael 5334 Individuals
5/7/90 Cuba resumes jamming Radio Marti broadcasts in protest of the planned TV Marti. (CQ, 6/23/90, p. 1930)
5/8/90 Ros-Lehtinen 1000 Individual
5/8/90 The IFRB again determines that U.S. broadcasts to Cuba are harmful interference.  The IFRB rejects U.S. claims that the Board has no authority on the matter, and states that Cuban hours of operation on the frequency are 24 hours per day and time sharing is not permissible without the agreement of the Cuban government.  (G.C. Brooks, IFRB Letter to DOS, 5/8/90)
5/11/90 Engel, Eliot 500 Free Cuba PAC Frost, Martin  500 Free Cuba PAC Gibbons, Sam 1000 Free Cuba PAC  Ros-Lehtinen 600 Individuals Torricelli 1000 Free Cuba PAC
5/17/90 Ros-Lehtinen 600 Individuals
5/18/90 Bradley, Bill 5000 Free Cuba PAC Gramm, Phil  4000 Individuals
5/21/90 Pell, Claiborne 1000 Individual Pressler, Larry  1000 Free Cuba PAC Richardson, Bill 500 Free Cuba PAC
5/21/90 A preliminary USIA report on TV Marti viewership surveys projects that between 1 million and 1.3 million Cubans were able to receive TV Marti during the first six weeks of broadcasts.  The projections are based on the comments of 112 respondents, or 26 percent of 424 who had tried to receive it, who indicated that they were able to view TV Marti for five minutes or more. (GAO, 8/90, p. 3)
5/24/90 Luna, Luis 1000 Free Cuba PAC Luna, Luis  500 Individual
5/25/90 Luna, Luis 500 Individuals Ros-Lehtinen  1000 Individual
5/25/90 Senator Connie Mack (R-FL) writes on behalf of constituent Stanley Chichester to VOA Dir. Carlson regarding Radio Marti, inquiring about Jorge Mas Canosa's influence on Ernesto Betancourt's departure from Radio Marti.  (Carlson Letter, 6/22/90)
5/26/90 At a two-day conference organized by the University of Miami's Institute for Soviet and East European Studies, Soviet officials tell Cuban-Americans that they will begin cutting the USSR's huge subsidies to Cuba if the U.S. lifts its economic embargo against the island.  Jorge Mas Canosa, the only exile on the panel, says "It is important that the Soviet delegation knows that the Cuban American community has strong feelings about the military aid the Soviet Union has given Cuba...If the Soviets withdrew their subsidy to Cuba tomorrow, the Cuba problem would be solved in 48 hours, and everybody knows that." (MH, 5/27/90)
5/30/90 Hollings 2000 Individual
6/4/90 Schneider, Claudine 2900 Individuals
6/4/90 A USIA-contracted survey projects that 28 percent of households in the metropolitan Havana area have been able to receive TV Marti at least occasionally, and that within the Havana area alone, 33 percent of households were able to receive it.  (GAO, 8/90, p. 3)
6/14/90 Johnston, Harry 1000 Free Cuba PAC Kennedy, Joseph 1000 Free Cuba PAC
6/14/90 A bomb explodes outside the Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture, causing $20,000 worth of damage to works by Cuban painters and sculptors.  The FBI issues a statement that "the individuals believed responsible for these actions have targeted businesses, museums, and individuals who the subjects believe have advocated a better relationship with Castro's Cuba." (WP, 6/15/90)
6/15/90 Ros-Lehtinen 250 Individual
6/19/90 Joseph E. Kelley, Director of GAO's National Security and International Affairs Division, testifies before the House Subcommittee on International Operations regarding personnel practices at VOA and Radio Marti.  Mr. Kelley states that Radio Marti's use of the Schedule B non-competitive, excepted service hiring authority "was questionable....Our review of personnel files of 35 employees in the excepted service showed that five of them did not possess the required knowledge of Cuba called for by the Schedule B authority....From an employee's viewpoint, continued use of the excepted service reduces job security and limits the employee's ability to express concerns to management." (Joseph Kelley, Testimony before the House Subcommittee on International Operations, June 19, 1990)
6/20/90 The House votes to appropriate $16 million to continue TV Marti broadcasting in FY 1991, rejecting an amendment to cut the funding level to $8 million.  (CQ, 6/23/90, p. 1930)
6/22/90 VOA Dir. Carlson writes to Sen. Connie Mack (R-FL) regarding Radio Marti and Ernesto Betancourt's departure from the program.  Carlson states, "I can assure you that the decision to transfer Mr. Betancourt was made in accordance with all applicable laws and policies.  His reassignment was an internal management decision; it was not the result of a `deal' with Jorge Mas Canosa...as Mr. Chichester alleges.  (Carlson Letter, 6/22/90)
6/27/90 Ros-Lehtinen 500 Individual
7/1/90 7/31/90 Orlando Bosch, who had been arrested for masterminding the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner and was currently being held in the U.S. for a parole violation, drives away from federal prison in a Mercedes Benz.  Jorge Mas Canosa had urged Sen. Connie Mack, Rep. Ileana Ross-Lehtinen, and Jeb Bush to have Bosch freed and placed under electronic home monitoring. (Fonzi, p. 27)
7/9/90 The U.S. claims again that the IFRB is acting outside the scope of its authority in its judgment of TV Marti broadcasts.  The U.S. states that time sharing is the most appropriate solution and that Cuba should not be able to maintain a monopoly over frequencies based on projected hours of broadcasting but rather only during actual broadcast hours.  The U.S. also states that it carefully monitors Cuban broadcasts and that TV Marti only broadcasts when Cuban television is off the air.  (Kenneth Bleakley, DOS Letter to IFRB, 7/9/90)
7/10/90 Marilyn Kalusin $7,147  $0
7/10/90 Jonathan Slade (MMW) $6,000  $369
7/11/90 Buechner, John W. 500 Free Cuba PAC Graham, Bob  4500 Free Cuba PAC
7/12/90 Ros-Lehtinen 1750 Individuals
7/16/90 G.C. Brooks of the IFRB writes to the Department of State, acknowledging receipt of the U.S. statement on television broadcasts to Cuba and stating that "The Board once again requests your prompt action in eliminating this harmful interference to the Cuban station."  (IFRB Letter, 7/16/90)
8/1/90 8/30/90 TV Marti ends its testing period and begins regular daily broadcasting to Cuba.  Agencies providing services to TV Marti include the Air Force, Defense Department, FCC, Commerce Department, USIA, and the Coast Guard.  (GAO, 8/90, p. 2, 6)
8/6/90 Carr, Bob 500 Free Cuba PAC Feighan, Edward 250 Free Cuba PAC Obey, David R. 500  Free Cuba PAC Pressler, Larry 500 Free Cuba PAC Roemer, Timothy 500 Free Cuba PAC Wilson, Charles  500 Free Cuba PAC
8/9/90 The GAO submits its report titled, "Broadcasting to Cuba: TV Marti Surveys Are Flawed," to Rep. Dingell and the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.  The report criticizes the June 1990 USIA study, saying its methodology was flawed and that audience estimates differed widely from U.S. Interests Section reports from Havana.  (GAO, 8/90, p. 3-4)
8/13/90 Allen, Bob 1500 Individuals
8/15/90 Allen, Bob 200 Individual
8/16/90 Johnston, J. Bennett 2000 Free Cuba PAC Johnston, J. Bennett 2600 Individuals Ros-Lehtinen 500  Individual
8/21/90 11/21/90 Radio Marti's Programming Committee develops criteria to guide evaluation of potential new programs, including program purpose, target audience, audience reaction, scheduling, Cuban competition, subject matter, format, and production values.  (RMPO)
8/23/90 Luna, Luis 250 Individual Ros-Lehtinen 1000  Individual
8/24/90 Luna, Luis 200 Individual
8/25/90 Luna, Luis 200 Individual
8/26/90 President Bush evaluates the TV Marti program as "feasible."  (WP, 4/16/92; ABCB, 1991)
8/30/90 Franco, Reuben 500 Individual Helms, Jesse 250   Individual
9/1/90 9/30/90 Igor Packlin, a defecting Soviet communications technician working in Cuba, tells U.S. authorities that Cuba has contingency plans to block reception of TV Marti, including cutting off electricity in areas receiving the signal.  Packlin also says that the Cuban jamming project is an elaborate military effort, involving several dozen full-time soldiers with helicopter-borne and mobile land jammers.  (ABCB, 1991)
9/3/90 The IFRB reports an unfavorable finding for the U.S. appeals regarding TV Marti broadcasts.  The IFRB remains firm that Cuba has the right to broadcast 24 hours a day on the frequency used by TV Marti, regardless of what hours the Cuban station is actually on the air.  The IFRB reiterates that broadcasting as a general rule is limited to provide national service, and without permission from the Cuban government, TV Marti is no exception.  (V.V Kozlov, IFRB Letter to DOS, 9/3/90)
9/4/90 Gramm, Phil 250 Individual
9/6/90 Burton, Dan 1000 Free Cuba PAC
9/12/90 Burton, Dan 3400 Individuals
9/19/90 Fascell, Dante 625 Individual
9/26/90 Solarz, Stephen 500 Free Cuba PAC
10/1/90 Simon, Paul 2000 Free Cuba PAC
10/1/90 9/30/91 CANF resettled 1,789 Cuban refugees through the PSI Cuban Exodus Program. (Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration document, 10/19/94)
10/5/90 Ros-Lehtinen 1000 Individual
10/9/90 Helms, Jesse 500 Individual Ros-Lehtinen 2000  Individuals
10/10/90 Marilyn Kalusin $4,765  $0
10/10/90 Jonathan Slade (MMW) $6,000  $196
10/11/90 CANF sponsors a conference on "Castro's `Special Period in a Time of Peace.'"  The meeting is held at the Four Seasons hotel in Washington D.C. and is moderated by Jacqueline Tillman, CANF Executive Director. Panel presenters include: Jerrold Post, professor of psychiatry, political psychology and international affairs at George Washington University; Rolando Bonachea, director of Radio Marti; Benigno Aguirre, associate professor of sociology at Texas A&M; Pamela Falk, senior research scholar at Columbia University; and Michael Kozak, deputy assistant secretary of State for inter-American affairs. (Conference report)
10/12/90 Fascell, Dante 419 Free Cuba PAC Ros-Lehtinen  212 Free Cuba PAC
10/16/90 Blackwell, J 850 Free Cuba PAC
10/17/90 Blackwell, J 1250 Individuals
10/18/90 Saiki, Patricia 500 Individual
10/23/90 Helms 1500 Individuals Ros-Lehtinen  7500 Individuals
10/23/90 Jorge Mas Canosa contributes $1000 to the campaign of Rep. Ross-Lehtinen. (NLMP)
10/25/90 Dymally, Mervyn 4000 Free Cuba PAC Fascell, Dante 446 Free Cuba PAC Helms, Jesse 5000  Free Cuba PAC Ros-Lehtinen 800 Free Cuba PAC Roth, Toby  1000 Free Cuba PAC
 10/29/90 Ray, Richard 418 Individual
10/30/90 Helms, Jesse 1000 Individual
11/1/90 Fascell, Dante 4000 Free Cuba PAC Shore, Howard  500 Individual
11/2/90 Fascell, Dante 7000 Individuals Ros-Lehtinen  250 Individual
11/27/90 Helms, Jesse 250 Individual
11/27/90 A New York Times editorial takes Mas Canosa to task for failing to distance himself from the Novo brothers, two Cubans who were implicated in the 1976 car-bomb murder of former Chilean Ambassador Orlando Letelier in Washington. (NYT, 11/27/90)
12/4/90 Peterson, Pete 1000 Free Cuba PAC
12/10/90 Muenster, Theodore 300 Individual

 part 2...Broadcasting to Cuba 1991-1994

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