Cuban News December 14 2006

WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday rebuffed a recent offer by Cuba for talks and said Havana had become even more hard-line since Raul Castro stepped in for his ailing brother Fidel Castro.

Assistant Secretary of State Tom Shannon, the top U.S. diplomat for Latin America, made clear Washington would only deal with Raul Castro's government when it showed commitment to a peaceful transition to democracy and not before.

"In Cuba there is not that commitment to democracy," Shannon said in a briefing to reporters.

Earlier this month, Raul Castro, Cuba's acting president, made a direct offer of talks with the United States. The younger Castro became acting president after his brother underwent emergency intestinal surgery in July.

Shannon said there had been a greater crackdown on dissent since the younger Castro effectively took over.

"It is a transfer of power that is in an uncomfortable moment. With Fidel still alive (and Raul in place), the regime has actually become harder and more orthodox and is not in a position to signal in any meaningful way what direction it will take post-Fidel," said Shannon.

"We have not been able to detect any political figures who could be reformers," he added.

Shannon said he did not have an update on Castro's health, but the fact that Castro had failed to turn up for his own birthday celebration this month was "significant."

As Castro's end neared, he said the regime would likely become even tougher. "It has shown a willingness to respond to any action in Cuban society that might challenge the state and that is not a good sign."

DIFFERENT APPROACHES

The United States is grappling with how to tackle Cuba after Fidel's death and Shannon conceded he was getting lots of advice from many people on how to deal with Cuba.

"There is genuine and honest disagreement with how you best approach a regime like this," he said.

Washington broke off diplomatic relations with Havana in 1961, two years after Fidel Castro seized power in a revolution and turned Cuba into a Soviet ally.

Communications were restored with the opening of low-level diplomatic missions called interest sections in 1978. However a strict U.S. embargo is in place.

The Bush administration is debating over whether to ease some restrictions against Cuba post-Castro, particularly if political prisoners are freed.

U.S. diplomats in Havana said recently that if Raul Castro were to free 59 of the 75 dissidents being held after a 2003 crackdown, then Washington might ease some sanctions.

But Shannon said the United States had laid down four goals that would have to be met before there was any change.

All political prisoners would have to be freed, human rights guaranteed, trade unions allowed to form and concrete moves made toward elections.

"The first of those four -- freeing political prisoners -- is obviously an important step towards a political opening, but we want them all free," said Shannon.

Phil Peters, a Cuba expert at the Lexington Institute, a thinktank in Virginia, said the Bush administration's approach of not dealing with Raul Castro was counterproductive.

He said there was no reason why the United States could not treat Cuba as it did other nations with whom it had fundamental disagreements but where there were important common interests.

"I think what they should do is argue about human rights but at the same time try to make progress on issues such as fighting drug trafficking, environmental protection, military to military relations and expanding relations between our two societies," said Peters.

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U.S. Sees Rise Of Hard-liners In Cuba (Gedda, AP)
Thursday, December 14, 2006
AP
By George Gedda
The deterioration of President Fidel Castro's health has been accompanied by the rise of hardline elements to key positions in Cuba, leaving no possibility for democratic reformers to surface, a senior State Department official said Wednesday.
"With Fidel Castro still alive, the regime has become more orthodox," said Thomas Shannon, who heads the State Department's Western Hemisphere affairs bureau. "It is hard to say what position it will take post-Fidel."
In the meantime, he said, "the success of the succession depends on the absolute control of the state."
For now, he added, potential reformers have been lying low, awaiting a more favorable climate to make their move. Once Castro dies, Cuban authorities will have a choice between "deepening repression" or a policy of greater openness to the world, Shannon added.
Among hardliners who have been ascendant lately are Ramiro Valdez, a former interior minister and now communications minister; and Jose Balaguer, health minister and prominent ideologue who is serving on a key committee responsible for succession issues.
Shannon said the United States has no way of corroborating persistent reports of Castro's deteriorating health, noting that the subject is treated as a state secret in Cuba.
The clearest sign that Castro's health is faltering occurred 10 days ago when he failed to make an appearance at delayed 80th birthday celebrations held in his honor, Shannon said. His actual birthday was in August, two weeks after Castro surrendered power to his brother, Raul, following intestinal surgery.
The brother is his designated successor but many analysts believe a power struggle is inevitable.
Cuban officials have said repeatedly that Castro's health continues to improve. But there have been no photographs of him in two months, and at the time he looked extremely frail.
As Cuban officials see it, the system Castro created will survive him. But Shannon expressed doubt that a successor can match the traits that have enabled Fidel Castro to survive in power for almost 48 years.
"There is nobody like Fidel," Shannon said, citing his "revolutionary legitimacy," charisma, political skills and ruthlessness.
Almost 25 years have passed since the United States and Cuba last held political discussions, and Shannon said he does not foresee any until Cuba has a leader committed to democratic change.
He brushed aside a proposal by Raul Castro several weeks ago for a dialogue between the two countries.
Shannon said release of political prisoners is a necessary but insufficient ingredient for a resumption of a political dialogue. Other prerequisites are a pathway to elections, guarantees for the protection of human rights and permission for independent organizations to be established, he said.

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US: Cuban Government Becoming More Rigid

13 December 2006

Voice of America Press Releases and Documents

VOA English Service

DATELINE: State Department

The U.S. State Department's top official for Latin America said Wednesday Cuba's government has become more hard-line since the ailing Fidel Castro transferred power to his brother Raul in late July. Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Shannon says U.S. officials see no reformer in the current Cuban political lineup. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

Raul Castro made an overture for dialogue with the United States in a speech December 2 at a rally marking his brother's 80th birthday.

But the State Department's top diplomat for Latin America says if anything, the communist government in Havana has become more rigid and orthodox since the transfer of power, and the Raul Castro gesture is not being viewed here as a real opportunity for change.

In a talk with reporters, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas Shannon gave a bleak assessment of prospects for early change in U.S.-Cuban relations.

He said there is no doubt that responsibility for running day-to-day affairs in Cuba has been passed to Raul Castro, the longtime defense minister, but that there is no hint of change in the government's approach:

"With Fidel still alive, the regime has actually become harder, more orthodox," he said. "And it's not in a position to signal in any meaningful way, what direction it will take post-Fidel. So we don't feel that we've lost an important moment, because quite frankly we don't see any significant possibility of change of any kind until Fidel is gone."

Shannon said the United States has no independent information on the condition of Fidel Castro, who underwent intestinal surgery in July, but he termed it significant that the Cuban leader was not able to make an appearance at the birthday events early this month.

He said if the past is any indicator, Raul Castro, known as a brutal enforcer of communist rule, will not be an agent of change in Cuba and none of the other senior figures in the hierarchy have shown any signs of being reformers either.

Shannon said after Fidel Castro passes from the scene, Cuban leaders will have a strategic choice to make:

"Once he goes, the successor government is going to have to chart out some kind of path into the future," he added. "The question is what kind of path does it chart out? Does it chart out a path that only deepens the repression and deepens the misery? Or does it attempt to chart out a path that is one of engagement with the world and an opening, both political and economic. But there are no clear signals about what that path is going to be."

Shannon said the Bush administration is comfortable with the terms of the 1996 Helms-Burton Act from Congress, which forbids U.S. recognition of any transitional Cuban government that includes Raul Castro.

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Cuba vows to defy U.S. efforts to prompt change on island

By VANESSA ARRINGTON

14 December 2006

HAVANA (AP) - Cuba vowed to defy U.S. efforts for economic and political change on the island in a front-page editorial Tuesday in the Communist Party's newspaper that also referred to Cuban dissidents as "mercenaries" and "counterrevolutionary puppies."

Members of the U.S. government "should not fool themselves," the editorial said. "The Cuban government and people will take charge, as they've done until now, of guaranteeing the complete failure of these plans ... to encourage the subversion and internal counterrevolution in our country," it said.

The U.S. government maintains a decades-old trade and travel embargo against Cuba and the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush has adopted even stricter policies aimed at squeezing the island's economy and pushing out the communist leadership.

The administration has dedicated US$80 million to what it describes as the promotion of democracy in Cuba over the next few years.

The Cuba editorial addressed a recent report by U.S. congressional investigators that said the U.S. Agency for International Development did not always properly oversee Cuban aid grants and that coordination with the State Department was sometimes ineffective. Cashmere sweaters and chocolate were among the items bought with agency money, the study found.

The party newspaper criticized the American mission in Havana for distributing books, medicine, clothes and shortwave radios to Cubans, saying the congressional report confirms that the U.S. Interests Section "acts like the central barracks of the counterrevolution."

The Cuban government frequently accuses dissidents of working with U.S. officials to undermine the island's system. That charge -- denied by the dissidents and Washington -- was used against 75 activists rounded up in the spring of 2003 and sentenced to prison terms ranging from six to 28 years.

"The poorly named dissident movement is no more than a group financed and directed by the U.S. government, true mercenaries ... at the service of the Cuban people's historic enemy: Yankee imperialism," the editorial said.

"No matter how much money they spend, they'll never be able to bend the will of the Cuban people," it added.

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Cuban journalist says he'll keep up fight for freedom of press

Havana, Dec 14 (EFE).- Cuban authorities have released an independent journalist - a category not tolerated by the Communist regime - after grilling him for nine days, but the young reporter says his prosecution on charges of "spreading false news" continues.

Ahmed Rodriguez, a 22-year-old journalist for the "Young People Without Censorship" agency, told EFE his treatment while jailed between Dec. 4 and Tuesday night, when he was released, "was not bad." But he also said he was interrogated "day and night" in sessions of up to six hours straight.

"I was arrested on the charge of the supposed crime of spreading false news, which I think is a smokescreen used to prosecute me," he said.

The terms of his release oblige him not to leave Havana and to remain "locate-able" while his prosecution continues. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to four years in prison.

"I will continue to struggle for freedom on expression and I will carry on with my journalistic work. But I will try to be more moderate," he said.

Rodriguez had been writing about conditions in Cuban prisons. He suffered a three-day detention last September.

"But this is quite a bit more serious," he said. "I've been charged with a crime and am being prosecuted."

Margarita Albacia, his mother, desisted in the hunger strike she had begun a week ago to press for the release of her son. EFE

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Delahunt heads to Cuba for talks

By KAREN JEFFREY
STAFF WRITER

http://www.capecodonline.com/cgi-bin/print/printstory.cgi
U.S. Rep. William Delahunt will be among a group of 10 Republican and Democratic congressmen traveling to Cuba tomorrow in what they hope will become the first step in normalizing relations.

''It's time to engage in discussion about issues that separate Cuba and the U.S.,'' said Delahunt, D-Mass., a strong critic of the Bush administration's policies toward the island nation.

Delahunt said the 10-member delegation is expected to return Sunday after meeting with Cuba's legislative and economic leaders. It will be the largest contingent of U.S. officials to visit Cuba in recent memory.

All are members of the Cuba Working Group, a 20-member bipartisan study group that opposes some U.S. sanctions against Cuba. Members of the group have previously described U.S. policy toward Cuba as a failure for more than four decades.

Normalizing relations with Cuba ''presents multiple opportunities for us. There are an abundance of economic opportunities for Americans in Cuba, including for businesspeople and farmers, Delahunt said.

Some large Midwestern agricultural concerns already do business in Cuba, earning an estimated $1 billion a year, he said.

But at the same time there are ''administrative barriers and roadblocks,'' that prevent other American businesspeople from tapping a market in Cuba, he said.

Lifting the trade embargo could mean opportunities for smaller businesses as well as farmers in Delahunt's congressional district, which includes the Cape and Islands. His office has fielded queries from cranberry growers and small dairy farmers who have looked at the potential market in Cuba for their goods.

Delahunt said next year the Democratic-controlled Congress will likely pass legislation to ease travel restrictions for U.S. residents with relatives in Cuba. Under current U.S. policy, those with relatives in Cuba may visit only once every few years, a policy Delahunt describes as ''cruel and ridiculous.''

Delahunt said Congress will also ease regulations on restrictions on money transfers sent to Cubans, now limited to $300 per Cuban household in a three-month period, according to the U.S. State Department's Web site.

The money must be sent through State Department-certified institutions.

In return, however, members of the bipartisan delegation will be looking for evidence that Cuba will ''give political status to dissidents and democratic activists,'' Delahunt said.

Delahunt, a member of the House International Relations Committee, is co-chairman of the Cuba working group with U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.

''We feel it is timely to make an effort to determine whether there is the political will - on the part of the Cubans - to initiate a real dialogue,'' Delahunt said.

He said the visit is unrelated to the recent olive branch extended by Raul Castro, brother of the ailing Fidel Castro.

Earlier this month the younger Castro - who has served as interim president since his brother underwent surgery in July - proposed talks with the U.S. to ease travel restrictions and bring an end to the trade embargo first imposed by the U.S. in 1961.

The Bush administration soundly rejected the Cuban overture.

Karen Jeffrey can be reached at kjeffrey@capecodonline.com.

(Published: December 14, 2006)

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U.S. Lawmakers Visit Cuba as State Department Refuses to Begin Bilateral Discussions

Luis Carlos Niño

14 December 2006

Global Insight Daily Analysis

While U.S. lawmakers visit Cuba and the U.S. state department ratifies its current policy towards the island, both U.S. and Cuban armed forces engage in independent military exercises.

These events are a symptom of the tension that is currently surrounding the health of Cuban President Fidel Castro and the subject of his return to power.

While the continued expectations and secrecy regarding Raul’s interim presidency are clearly increasing concerns in the region, it also appears that changes are not very likely to happen between the United States and Cuba. Indeed, the Cuban regime will not change in the short term, and neither will the U.S. policy towards the Caribbean country.

Lawmakers Paya Visit

A group of 10 members of the U.S. Congress will arrive in Cuba tomorrow for a three-day visit. The bipartisan group will fly into the capital, Havana, at a time when the level of speculation and uncertainty surrounding the health of Cuban President Fidel Castro is at its highest. The ailing eighty-year old revolutionary leader failed to attend his already-postponed birthday gala in early December (see Cuba: 6 December 2006: ). Their agenda has not been agreed and there is no confirmation of which Cuban officials will meet with the American commission. The announcement was made yesterday to Agence France-Presse (AFP) by a member of staff of the Democrat representative from California, Hilda Solis.

State Department Refuses to Engage in Dialogue

Simultaneously, Thomas Shannon, U.S. assistant secretary of state, said that the United States will not engage in bilateral dialogue with Cuba until significant changes have made towards a democratic regime in the Caribbean island. According to the BBC, Shannon also said that the Cuban regime has become more authoritarian and oppressive. Indeed, the situation is showing no signs of change or improvement since Cuban minister of defence, Raul Castro, became interim president in late July after his brother Fidel underwent intestinal surgery (see Cuba: 1 August 2006: ). The comments from the U.S. official are a response to the statement made by Raul Castro during his brother’s birthday anniversary in early December, when he reiterated his intention of seeking a solution to the differences with the United States, “as peers”. In August, days after Fidel underwent surgery, the Cuban minister of defence made this statement for the first time.

Shannon has also made clear that any U.S.-Cuban dialogue should only take place after the Cuban government has started an open dialogue with its own people. However, the U.S. authorities have not been able to detect a reformer within the regime who will move such changes forward in the Caribbean country. The current secrecy and silence regarding the health of the Cuban president only fuel speculations regarding any transition of power (Cuba/Venezuela: 8 December 2006: ).

Tensions On the Border?

There has been a series of military exercises on both sides of the border. Last weekend Cuban armed forces conducted a military exercise to establish Cuba’s readiness in case of a foreign invasion (see Cuba: 12 December 2006: ). Yesterday the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) undertook a drill to simulate a massive exodus of Cubans to the Florida coast. The American authorities have said that they were preparing to stop a mass influx of Cubans in life rafts, in order to avoid a situation similar to that of 1981, when 125,000 Cubans fled the island, and of 1994, when 36,000 made it to the Florida beaches. The USCG fears that its counterpart in Cuba will not be as effective given the state of uncertainty on the island. Current U.S. legislation establishes that any Cuban who reaches American soil (the so-called "wet foot/dry foot" policy) is allowed to stay in the country and citizenship is granted.

Outlook and Implications

The events of this week are a clear sign of the concern regarding the future stability in Cuba, which in turn is closely related to the secrecy with which Cuban authorities have handled the health of Fidel Castro. A highly significant episode is the increase in military activity in the area, as both Cuba and the United States carry out their exercises. While Cubans fear a massive invasion from the United States, the latter is concerned that a mass exodus from the island might take place.

The visit of U.S. lawmakers to Cuba could be seen as a possible change in the attitude of the legislative body; however, it is evident that the state department is not going to amend its policy towards the island until democratic conditions are improved. Unfortunately, the current regime in Cuba is not likely to change, even if Fidel Castro yields power permanently to his brother Raul. Indeed, the regime’s roots in Cuba seem to run deeper than most would like to admit (see Cuba: 11 December 2006: ). Without a doubt tensions appear to be increasing, and the lack of information flowing from the Caribbean country, more than the actual state of health of Fidel Castro himself, seems to be what is fuelling them.

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Envoy takes Cuba's message to the U.S. Cuba is sending back-channel signals to the Bush administration on a desire to begin talks. CUBA

By PABLO BACHELET

pbachelet@MiamiHerald.com

14 December 2006

The Miami Herald

WASHINGTON

The Swiss ambassador to Havana came to Washington last month in what is believed to be an effort to deliver a message from Cuba reiterating its eagerness to open contacts with the Bush administration, several persons familiar with the trip said Wednesday.

Ambassador Bertrand Louis met with State Department officials and influential members of the Cuban-American community in Washington, including Florida Republican Sen. Mel Martinez, the persons added.

The Swiss embassy in Washington confirmed the visit but declined to comment on its purpose. But those who met with Louis believe he came to repeat Raúl Castro's message that he's willing to open talks with the Bush administration.

In his talks with Cuban Americans, Louis also explored the exile community's possible responses to Cuba's search for a dialogue with Washington, according to those who met with him.

The Louis visit was the first sign that Raúl Castro is pulling diplomatic levers beyond public view to communicate his position, several Cuba watchers said. Castro has twice expressed a readiness to talk with Washington since his brother Fidel ceded power July 31 for health reasons.

U.S. RESPONSE

The State Department was tight-lipped on the Swiss envoy's visit, or on any other back-channel efforts that may be taking place to bring the two longtime foes to the negotiating table. ''We decline to comment on our diplomatic consultations,'' said Eric Watnik, a spokesman for the State Department.

The United States and Cuba do not have formal diplomatic relations, and Switzerland acts as official host to both the Cuban mission in Washington and the U.S. mission in Havana, known as interests sections.

Raúl Castro first made his offer to negotiate with Washington in an August interview with Cuba's official newspaper, Granma, and then again on Dec. 2, at a speech marking Fidel Castro's 80th birthday.

`INDEPENDENCE'

In both instances, he conditioned the talks on Washington respecting Cuba's ''independence'' -- an apparent rejection to Washington's precondition that Cuba must commit itself to a democratic path before any earnest engagement can begin.

Emilija Georgieva, a spokeswoman for the Swiss embassy in Washington, described Louis' visit as part of a ''framework of regular consultations'' and noted that the Swiss ambassador in Havana travels to Washington once every two or three years.

The Swiss ambassador carried a message that ''it was time to work out the differences,'' according to one person familiar with the Cuban government's outreach. Several sources consulted for this story declined to be quoted by name because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The Bush administration has repeatedly said it has nothing to discuss with Cuba at this time, a message that was reiterated to the Swiss envoy by his interlocutors in Washington, according to those familiar with the visit.

The State Department's top Latin America official, Thomas Shannon, told reporters Wednesday that the administration has ''made it clear'' at ''a variety of levels'' that the Cuban authorities had to initiate a dialogue with its own people before talking to the United States.

`WAIT-AND-SEE'

''We're attentive to what will happen after Fidel Castro passes from the scene,'' he said, ``but when we engage it has to be part of a process of democratic change.''

Shannon said Washington was in a ''wait-and-see'' mode for events to unfold in Havana, where Fidel Castro reportedly has terminal cancer.

Under Raúl, Shannon said, the Cuban government has ``become harder and more orthodox.''

''So we don't feel that we've lost an important moment,'' he said, ``because, quite frankly, we don't see any significant possibility of a change of any kind until Fidel's gone.''

Diplomats say many countries in Europe and Latin America, who condemn the U.S. sanctions against Cuba, have urged the Bush administration to talk with Havana.

Shannon recognized there were ''differences of approach'' with other nations but that there was ''broad consensus'' on the importance of promoting a transition to democracy on the island ``recognizing that this is a transition that the Cuban people themselves have to make.''

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U.S. broadcast efforts in Cuba worth the cost? Radio and TV Marti receive major taxpayer support but have a shrinking audience

By Andrew Zajac, Tribune national correspondent. Tribune foreign correspondent Gary Marx contributed to this report from Havana.

14 December 2006

Chicago Tribune

PHOTO: Office of Cuba Broadcasting's Pedro Roig (left) is joined by actor Armando Roblan ("el Jefe") at Radio and TV Marti in Miami. AP photo by Alan Diaz.

PHOTO: The shortwave signal from Radio Marti, the Miami-based, U.S. government-funded station, penetrates into Cuba and can sometimes be heard in Havana and elsewhere on the island. Tribune file photo by Gary Marx.

MIAMI

As Cuban President Fidel Castro battles serious illness and the nation he has ruled for more than four decades braces for change, the taxpayer-financed media outlets that the U.S. government counted on to communicate American values to Cuba find themselves invisible or ignored on the island.

After 20 years and more than $530 million, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting operates a radio station that by the U.S. government's own estimates has suffered a precipitous drop in listenership and a television station that may never have been seen by anyone in Cuba for more than a few minutes at a time.

Cubans who manage to tune in to Radio or TV Marti hear or see programming that is sprinkled with vulgarity, presents one-sided programming as news and omits stories critical of the Bush administration and Miami's Cuban exile community, all in apparent violation of federal broadcast standards, according to recent U.S. government quality-control reviews of OCB offerings.

Meanwhile, a nine-member advisory board set up to guide government broadcasting to Cuba has not met during the six years of the Bush presidency and the White House recently supplied a list of current board members that included a man who has been dead for 11 years.

Despite these shortcomings, the Bush administration has dramatically increased funding for Radio and TV Marti as part of a broader, controversial effort to finance Cuba's internal dissident groups and provide other assistance to undermine the country's socialist system and promote multiparty democracy.

With Castro believed to be critically ill after missing his 80th birthday celebration this month, TV and Radio Marti as well as overall U.S. policy toward Cuba are likely to come under increasing scrutiny by a Democratic-controlled Congress and moderate Republicans opposed to the longtime U.S. economic embargo against the island. Already Democrats have announced plans to hold hearings early next year on the cost-effectiveness of a program that funnels aid to dissidents primarily through groups in South Florida.

With all media in Cuba still under tight government control as Castro's brother, Raul, rules the island, backers of the Martis say Cubans need alternative sources of information in order to push for political change.

In recent years, under both the Clinton and Bush administrations, OCB's annual budget has swelled by 50 percent to $37 million currently.

"We really are missing an opportunity now. This is a critical juncture in Cuba and we don't have a credible voice," said Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), a member of a bipartisan congressional study group that advocates ending the 4-decade-old embargo against Cuba. "The fact is, the content is so bad it wouldn't be useful to realize our goals of promoting democracy."

Radio and TV Marti managers counter that they have substantially improved the quality of programming in recent years.

Some paradoxically point to the lack of an audience as proof of success. The programming is effective because the Cuban government is jamming broadcasts, said Kenneth Tomlinson, chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, along with Voice of America and the government's other non-military international broadcasters.

"They have been rationing electricity in Cuba and it's still so important to block Marti broadcasts that they will devote this incredible amount of energy. That to me demonstrates that the Martis must represent a grave, grave threat to Fidel Castro," Tomlinson said in a recent interview.

But Flake and other critics say OCB's lack of audience is the fruit of neglect by federal officials, who, despite abundant documentation of years of bungling by OCB, are loathe to step in for fear of antagonizing Florida's 830,000 Cuban-Americans, about 450,000 of them voters.

The importance of the Cuban vote was illustrated in the 2000 election, when George W. Bush won the presidency by eking out a 537-vote margin in Florida, where he received the Cuban vote by a ratio of about 4-to-1.

The Martis have benefited from a staunch defense against congressional would-be budget-cutters by Florida's influential congressional delegation, in particular Cuban-American Republican Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Lincoln Diaz-Balart, both of whose fathers appeared regularly on Radio Marti.

Unlike every other government-funded international broadcaster such as Voice of America or Radio Free Europe, OCB doesn't have an administrative office in Washington.

Over the vigorous objections of congressional skeptics who warned that watchdogs would lose control of the stations and they would become sources of patronage for the exile community, Radio and TV Marti were allowed to move from Washington to Miami in 1996.

In the 10 years since, OCB has had four directors.

The current director, Pedro Roig, a Miami attorney, has overseen some unusual employment arrangements, including hiring his wife's nephew as his chief of staff and contracting with a former legal client to write a comedy show mocking Castro.

This year, Congress gave OCB a new, annual infusion of $10 million to pay for an airplane to broadcast TV Marti's signal into Cuba--even though airborne transmission was specifically rejected as wasteful and impractical by the stations' advisory board shortly before it lapsed into inactivity, according to a former board member.

The Martis also are largely immune from having to produce measurable results like growing audiences or meeting quality standards.

Congress established Radio and TV Marti "to promote the cause of freedom in Cuba," a goal that should be achieved "as a derivative of the broadcast of programs (including news and information) which are objective, accurate, balanced, and which present a variety of views," according to the OCB Editorial Guidelines.

Asked how the stations' effectiveness is measured, a spokesman for the Martis said, "The evidence will come when freedom and democracy come to Cuba."

Shrinking audience

Cuba long has been a tempting target to U.S. government broadcasters, who believe the island audience is thirsting for alternatives to state-run media and extremely limited Internet access.

These proponents of the stations have been frustrated in part by vigorous jamming efforts by the Cuban government, which insists the Marti broadcasts violate international law and are part of an ongoing plot to overthrow the Castro regime.

TV Marti's signal has been readily blocked over the years. But Radio Marti's shortwave signal penetrates into Cuba and can sometimes be heard in Havana and elsewhere on the island, though sound quality at times is distorted by static, high-pitched squeals and thumping noises.

Despite getting the Radio Marti broadcasts into Cuba, albeit imperfectly, the U.S. government's own figures show that the station's listenership has plunged in recent years.

In 1998, Radio Marti reported an estimated weekly audience of just under 9 percent of Cuba's adult population, or about 775,000 of the island's estimated 8.6 million people age 15 or older.

In 2005, Tomlinson told Congress that just 1.2 percent of the Cuban market, or barely more than 100,000 people, listened weekly to the U.S.-run radio station, based on a survey conducted by telephone from abroad of randomly chosen Cuban households with phones.

Tomlinson also reported that only one out of 1,000 Cubans reported seeing TV Marti within the previous week and eight out of 1,000 reported seeing it in the previous year. An August 2006 report by the Congressional Research Service stated that TV Marti "has not had an audience because of Cuban jamming efforts."

Tomlinson said numbers may be low because those surveyed may fear reprisals if they admit to an interest in the U.S. broadcasting.

But in interviews on the island in 2005, the Tribune found another reason for Cubans' professed disinterest in the Martis: Many preferred sports and entertainment over programs rehashing the standoff between their country and the U.S.

To the extent Cubans do want information, they're likely to be wary of Radio Marti, said Philip Peters, vice president of the libertarian Lexington Institute of Arlington, Va., and a longtime critic of U.S. Cuban policy.

"The problem is that the Cuban audience can smell spin a mile away," and it doesn't trust Radio Marti to deliver news straightforwardly, Peters said, citing a lengthy string of journalistic blunders.

In 1999, for example, the State Department inspector general, citing a review by a panel of independent journalists, faulted Radio Marti for "a lack of balance, fairness and objectivity ... intermingling news and opinion, and using poor judgment in stories."

In May 2002, Radio Marti waited a full day before broadcasting a historic speech on the need for Cuba to move toward democracy delivered at the University of Havana by former President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat still loathed by many Cuban-Americans in Miami for allowing a limited diplomatic opening to Cuba during his administration.

Two years earlier, the station waited four hours before reporting that Cuban castaway Elian Gonzalez had been seized by federal agents from his great uncle's house in Miami, ending a standoff that transfixed much of this country and Cuba.

The delay meant that even Havana's government-run Radio Rebelde beat Radio Marti on the story.

Radio Marti's director at the time, Roberto Rodriguez-Tejera, said his station was waiting for an official statement from then-Atty. Gen. Janet Reno to clarify "a very confusing time."

"You should ask why it took her so long to make a statement," Rodriguez-Tejera said.

Rodriguez-Tejera said he objected to the way federal agents barged in and seized the 6-year-old boy, but doesn't believe it affected his decision to hold the story. "I wanted to think that it didn't because I think of myself as a professional journalist," Rodriguez-Tejera said.

Peters and other critics say the delay in coverage was inexcusable on a story that CNN and other outlets broadcast across the world. "When you blow a major news story, you lose your audience," said Peters.

Critical internal reviews

Recent internal reviews of both Marti stations identified violations of basic rules of journalism and government broadcast guidelines, as well as reluctance to air news "that could be perceived as adverse to the current presidential administration, the U.S. government or the exile community."

In May, for example, Radio and TV Marti ignored the announcement that Alberto Mora, a prominent Cuban-American Republican, would receive the prestigious John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award.

Mora, who resigned as general counsel of the Navy this year, received the award for a quiet campaign inside the Bush administration against policies that might allow mistreatment of detainees in the war on terror held at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station in Cuba.

Mora's award was "particularly important and relevant to Cubans" and "should have been covered by the Martis," the review said.

Even entertainment programming is slanted, according to the review, which singled out a Radio Marti talk and music show purporting to explore a Miami-area controversy over a children's book, "Vamos a Cuba," which many Cuban-Americans and exiles denounced as painting an overly rosy picture of life in Cuba.

The host began the show with a call for banning the book: "Laden with lies about how Cubans live today, it should be withdrawn from the 33 Miami-Dade libraries that have it" because the school board voted to remove it, the host said. "This book must be gone from the library."

The episode illustrates the Martis' tone-deafness to their mission and underscores how much they are creatures of local political passions rather than instruments of American foreign policy, said John Nichols, a communications professor at Penn State University and a longtime researcher of U.S. broadcasting to Cuba.

"It is astonishingly ironic that a Radio Marti analyst advocated banning `Vamos a Cuba' in broadcasts to Cuba, where books are banned, and used protecting democracy as the justification. Incredible," said Nichols.

The U.S. government reviewer of the stations' broadcasts content, Ivette Martinez, declined to discuss her findings with the Tribune.

OCB Chief of Staff Alberto Mascaro said the criticisms are overblown.

"I can take any news organization and pick it apart," Mascaro said. "I believe these are minor compared to what we've done well."

Mascaro also said he was baffled that Martinez focused on the stations' concern with how they are perceived among exiles in Florida.

"Our audience is in Cuba," Mascaro said. "We're not beholden to the exile community by any stretch."

The internal review also criticized "frequent vulgarity" and "poking fun at the Afro-Cuban religion" in "La Oficina del Jefe" (The Office of the Boss), a thinly veiled spoof mocking Castro and his inner circle airing on Radio and TV Marti.

"Avoid vulgarity and obscene gestures at all times. Avoid frequent references to customs and practices of a particular ethnic group," the review stated.

The show is written by Alberto Gonzalez, a contractor hired by Mascaro's boss, Roig, the OCB's director. Gonzalez has been paid at least $75,000 by taxpayers for his work since 2004, according to federal records.

Mascaro took issue with Martinez's criticism of the show and said that Gonzalez was a well-respected entertainment writer in South Florida. "He is one of the best there is out there," Mascaro said.

The business relationship between Gonzalez and Roig has extended beyond Radio and TV Marti. Gonzalez's pursuits have included publication of La Politica Comica, a newspaper that satirizes South Florida politicians. According to Florida Department of State records, incorporation papers for the newspaper were filed by Roig in 2001.

Roig's business relationship with Gonzalez had nothing to do with the decision to hire him, said Mascaro, himself the nephew of Roig's wife. Roig declined to speak to a reporter, and Gonzalez could not be reached for comment.

Roig, 66, has run the Office of Cuba Broadcasting since April 2003. A historian as well as an attorney, the Cuban-born Roig served in the 2506 Brigade, the exile force in the failed CIA-backed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961.

Mascaro, 37, a private businessman before Roig hired him as his top assistant, said his relation to Roig's wife had nothing to do with getting the job and that it was disclosed before his hiring. "He knew me professionally," Mascaro said. "I'm sure he wanted someone he was comfortable with. We handle a lot of confidential issues here."

Roig, who is paid $138,000 annually, and Mascaro, who earns $111,000, are among 18 OCB employees with six-figure salaries out of about 150 employees, according to payroll records.

Besides the regular payroll, OCB also spends about $2 million per year on contractors, many of whom work other jobs in Miami-area media outlets. Payments range from nominal sums to tens of thousands of dollars annually.

But in addition to buying talent, passing out contracts also mutes community discussion of frequent criticism of OCB by outsiders, such as government watchdogs or members of Congress, said Joe Garcia, a former executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation, a leading anti-Castro exile lobbying group.

"If you're a Cuban-American journalist, there are no other markets to be in. It's a very limited market and they're a big employer in it. That's why people don't criticize it," said Garcia, now senior vice president of the New Democratic Network, a group of centrist Democrats.

Garcia said he strongly supports government broadcasting to Cuba, but believes that Radio and TV Marti have been mismanaged under Republican and Democratic administrations.

Move to Miami

Some observers trace an increase in journalistic lapses to Congress' 1996 decision to allow the Office of Cuba Broadcasting to move to Miami from Washington, out of immediate reach of bureaucratic overseers.

The move came at the behest of the late Jorge Mas Canosa, the legendary founder of the Cuban American National Foundation and the prime mover behind the establishment of Radio and TV Marti. The OCB now operates out of the Jorge Mas Canosa Building in northwest Miami.

Congress authorized government-funded Cuban broadcasting in 1983, with Radio Marti going on the air in 1985 and TV Marti in 1990.

In justifying the move to Miami, Mas said that the stations needed to be closer to their target audiences. But even ardent opponents of the Castro regime, such as Daniel Fisk, now a top White House adviser, questioned the wisdom of relocating.

"Moving the facilities to Miami sacrificed its effectiveness, making it simply another Miami radio station," Fisk wrote in The Washington Quarterly in 2001. "Radio Marti should be relocated and every effort should be made to end its image as a mouthpiece of the Miami Cuban-American community."

Fisk's views "were his own at the time, while working outside government. ... He now serves in this administration" and "his views reflect the president's," said a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, where Fisk is senior director for Western Hemisphere affairs.

In addition to its well-documented difficulties with fairness, the OCB has run afoul of government watchdogs for the way it has handled its budget.

In 2003, the State Department inspector general criticized the office for shoddy contracting practices, including a lack of quality control over programming as well as "violations of government procurement requirements and actions that created the appearance of favoritism."

Extensive contracting began under the Clinton administration after Mas' death in 1997 as a way for Democrats to reward friends, according to Christopher Coursen, a member of the Advisory Board for Cuba Broadcasting from 1991 until 2004. "They didn't trust the people in OCB because, for the most part, they were Jorge's supporters," Coursen said.

But large-scale contracting has continued under Republican control and has made it harder to enforce government broadcast standards, said Coursen, a Republican and a staunch supporter of the need for government-funded, Cuba-focused programming.

"The outsiders are coming in and giving their personal views," Coursen said. "There is no internal oversight within the agency. There's no oversight by the BBG [Broadcasting Board of Governors] or by the administration."

Problems with oversight

Some of that oversight is supposed to come from the nine-member President's Advisory Board for Cuba Broadcasting, but it hasn't met since 1998, according to Coursen.

According to a list provided by the White House, the board currently has seven members, including Charles Tyroler.

Tyroler, an intelligence official in the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, died in 1995.

Also on the White House list is Salvador Lew, who preceded Roig as head of OCB. Lew said he's not on the advisory board and is under the impression that it has been disbanded.

Robert McKinney, who was appointed by President Bush to the board in late 2003, said he's never been contacted about when it might meet.

"In my opinion, they don't want this board to operate," said McKinney, a former chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board. McKinney said he was recruited to the board by Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), a longtime friend.

White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore said she could not explain how Tyroler and Lew came to be included on a list of current members.

But Lawrimore said the inaccurate list did not indicate a lack of interest in how Radio and TV Marti are being run.

"I just know that the president supports [broadcasting to Cuba]," Lawrimore said.

OCB's direct bosses, the seven members of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, are struggling with scandals in other parts of the government's media realm, including a recent State Department inspector general report that Tomlinson, BBG's chairman, had misused his office by, among other things, putting a friend on the government payroll and using public resources "in support of his horse racing operation."

The Justice Department declined to pursue a criminal investigation, but a civil inquiry is underway into Tomlinson's hiring of his friend. Tomlinson disputed the allegations, saying they are "trivial and politically inspired."

In mid-November, he was nominated by Bush for another term at the helm of BBG.

The State Department inspector general also is looking into allegations of cronyism and contract-steering at Al-Hurra, the U.S. government's Arab-language satellite channel, according to a November 2005 story in the Financial Times. A State Department spokesman Wednesday declined to comment.

Under a system of supervision in which individual government broadcast outlets are parceled out for oversight by committees of individual BBG members, Al-Hurra falls under a committee headed by Joaquin Blaya, a Spanish-language media executive from Miami, whose committee portfolio also includes supervision of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting. Blaya declined to comment.

TV Marti tries to take off

More than one-third of the tax money spent on Cuban broadcasting--$213 million--has gone to TV Marti, despite scant evidence that after 16 years it has any audience at all, because the Cuban government blocks its signal.

TV Marti also transmits via satellite and illegal receiving dishes are not uncommon, particularly in Havana. But authorities periodically crack down on possession of them, leaving antenna broadcasting as the best way to reach a Cuban mass audience.

For years, TV Marti transmitted only between 3:30 a.m. and 6 a.m. daily to avoid interfering with domestic Cuban programming on a frequency assigned to Cuba by international telecommunications agreement. For much of that time, TV Marti beamed its signal from a balloon-borne transmitter riding at 10,000 feet above the Florida Keys.

While Tomlinson insists that the Cuban government jams TV Marti "because they fear it," Nichols, of Penn State, said the U.S. is in violation of international conventions because it broadcasts on frequencies reserved for Cuba.

"Let the lawyers argue about that," Tomlinson said.

In an attempt to circumvent jamming