Cuba broadcasting blasted...again

By Andrew Zajac

The Government Accountability Office has churned out another report on the federal government's controversial Cuba broadcasting program and this one is similar to many previous negative reviews.

The document's bland title "Broadcasting to Cuba. Actions Are Needed to Improve Strategy and Operations", does not do justice to its sharply critical message, which can be distilled thusly:

--Few, if any Cubans, see U.S. government-sponsored programming beamed by the Office of Cuba Broadcasting through Radio and TV Marti.

--The quality of programming leaves much to be desired both in entertainment content and in meeting journalistic standards.

--This is a lousy use of tax money.

You can read the entire report here: GAO-Cuba.pdf

For years, the government has poured tens of millions of dollars annually into broadcasting to Cuba to little apparent effect.

The Miami-based Office of Cuba Broadcasting runs like something close to a renegade operation within the government's broader foreign broadcasting effort, with little apparent oversight by officials in Washington, despite numerous watchdog reports pinpointing various shortcomings ranging from corruption to incompetence to plain old ineffectiveness.

Here's a story that details some of OCB's deficiencies:
Cuba broadcasting 06.doc

Many critics regard Radio and TV Marti as nothing more than political payola for the rabidly anti-Castro slice of south Florida's Cuban-American population, which has been a swing vote in several close elections.

But the anti-Castro zealots are ebbing in influence and with a new administration in the White House, opponents of the U.S. hard line toward Cuba see hope for change.

One of them, Massachusetts Democratic Rep. William Delahunt, released the GAO report and issued this statement ripping OCB and promising a renewed push for a fresh U.S. approach toward Havana.