An Air War With Cuba

Since 1985, Radio Marti, a Radio Free Europe-type station, has broadcast American news and propaganda in Cuba. Its sister station, TV Marti, debuted in 1990. A respected operation at the start, Radio and TV Marti fell under the influence of the Cuban American National Foundation--a group of hard-line Cuban exiles--who intensified the anti-Castro rhetoric the station sent to the island and promoted its leaders as the heirs to a post-Castro Cuba. Though the initial goal of the two stations was to increase pro-American sentiment among the island-nation's citizens, the stations have only succeeded in driving the two nations further apart. This history of American propaganda broadcasting in Cuba describes how Castro used radio to obtain power; explores the impact of Radio and TV Marti on U.S.-Cuba relations, including the phenomenon of Cuban rafters; and chronicles the domestic political struggles to keep the stations on the air.