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