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The Assembly of Cuban Resistance, a coalition of exile organizations and those from inside the island, expressed Wednesday its “deep concern” over the “potential sale” to the Latino Media Network group of two Spanish-language stations “iconic radio stations for freedom in Cuba and respect for fundamental rights.”
“(The stations) Radio Mambí and WQBA have long been important sources of information on freedom, crimes against humanity and social movements in Cuba, both for the Cuban American community and for Cubans on the island,” the Cuban Resistance Assembly said in a joint statement read today during a press conference in Miami.
In the statement, the exile leaders expressed “being extremely alarmed about the imposition of an ideological agenda contrary to the spiritual and moral values of our community.”
They also indicated that this sale “occurs at a critical period for freedom in Cuba, in which Cuban Americans are committed to providing channels of communication and information to activists and citizens of the island so that they can denounce and report crimes against humanity, trials against peaceful protesters, the work of civil society and international solidarity.
The possible sale of Radio Mambí, currently owned by the Televisa-Univision group, is part of a $60 million transaction involving 18 of its most important radio stations in the Hispanic market, according to a statement issued by the Assembly based on publications of “U.S. media”.
The radio station Radio Mambí (WAQI-710 AM), a historic tribune of the Cuban community in Miami, was acquired by Latino Media Network (LMN), a media group headed by Democratic leaders, which was financed by George Soros.
The newly created LMN group is headed by Stephanie Valencia, former director of Latino outreach during the Obama administration, and Democratic activist Jessica Morales Rocketto, who worked for the Obama and Hillary Clinton campaigns, associated with the Democratic National Committee, adds the statement. For its part, Radio Mambí’s website, inserted in Univision’s digital platform, states that “for more than 30 years,” the station “has been a leader in Spanish-language radio in South Florida” with news and opinion programs.
Radio Mambí is the official Spanish-language radio station of the Miami Marlins baseball team and the Miami Heat basketball team.
“The way this economic operation has been done, to the surprise of our community, worries us tremendously,” said Orlando Gutiérrez, spokesman for the Cuban Democratic Directorate and member of the Cuban Resistance Assembly.
“This is a very broad community, very diverse, here there is representation of all parties, of all ideologies, of all thoughts, united in opposition and rejection of communism and socialism,” Gutiérrez added.
“Latino Media Network is a newly founded company that is directed and controlled by social activists who adhere to a progressive left-wing political agenda,” said Silvia Iriondo, of the MAR por Cuba organization.
The press conference included Florida Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez, as well as other political leaders from the state, and former Cuban politicians such as Luis Zúñiga, who spent 19 years imprisoned on the island.
“Our people have suffered for far too long and still continue their heroic struggle,” said the Cuban Resistance Assembly, and warned that they would resist “any attempt to censor the voices of this community represented by these radio stations with all the legal and legitimate resources at our disposal in this great nation, including boycotts, strikes, and protests.”
