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On Wednesday, June 8, six Republican members of Congress signed a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel urging the federal agency to “thoroughly scrutinize” the purchase of 18 Hispanic radio stations — including Radio Mambí — by Latino Media Network, a new media company run by Democratic activists and partially funded by Lakestar Finance LLC, an investor with ties to progressive billionaire George Soros.
The signatories of the letter — Senators Marco Rubio, Tom Cotton, and Rick Scott; and Representatives María Elvira Salazar, Mario Díaz-Balart, and Carlos Giménez — warn Rosenworcel that the acquisition of these 18 Hispanic radio stations could be aimed at censoring media outlets that are uncomfortable for the political aspirations of the Democrats. Such is the case of Radio Mambí, a station characterized by its conservative and anti-socialist editorial line.
“We write to urge the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), within all applicable rules and regulations to thoroughly scrutinize the proposed sale of 18 Spanish-language radio stations to the so-called Latino Media Network (LMN), including Radio Mambí 710 AM in Miami, Florida,” the letter reads.
The congressmen explained that if Latino Media Network is successful, Democrats would achieve a very large influence over a third of Hispanics in the United States.
“Given the importance of the FCC’s stewardship over the limited AM and FM bandwidth available across the United States, we ask that the commission carry out its due diligence and thoughtfully scrutinize the takeover of these stations by a partisan organization only announced last week,” the congressmen request.
In the document, they emphasize the absolute relevance of Radio Mambí, highlighting the station as a pillar within the Hispanic community in Miami.
“Radio Mambí serves a vital role in South Florida, offering listeners critical coverage of the dictatorship in Cuba and local news reporting. In some cases, these are among the last media outlets dedicated to, and staffed by, the local community. The hostile takeover by LMN would destroy those long-standing community connections.”
El American published an exclusive report showing the details of how Latino Media Network offered $60 million to Televisa Univision, outbidding Salem Media Group, a Christian-conservative radio media company that was also interested in the 18 Hispanic stations. The sale of Radio Mambí, in particular, has caused great concern within the Cuban-American community.
Latino Media Network could “silence conservative voices”
In the letter addressed to Rosenworcel, the Republicans explained that there are evident political-ideological intentions behind the purchase of Radio Mambí. They point out that LMN’s board of directors is exclusively affiliated with the Democratic Party and that the financing comes, for the most part, from progressive financiers such as Soros himself.
“The purchase of a conservative Spanish language radio station Radio Mambí by left-wing investors is part of the leftist plan to wipe out Hispanic conservative voices,” said Marco Rubio on Twitter.
The Republicans also recalled in the letter other controversial episodes where Florida Democrats attacked conservative media in Spanish.
“With the collapse of that sale, Democrats are back on the offensive, now pushing to take over 18 different Spanish-language radio stations around the United States. We believe that this blatant, partisan effort to destroy community-based radio and silence opposing voices provides ample reason for the FCC to act with the due diligence with which it has been tasked,” the document reads.
“We also believe that any takeover of this scale and speed, especially when critical questions remain about LMN and its lack of operational experience, must be analyzed with extraordinary scrutiny.”
Emmanuel Alejandro Rondón is a journalist at El American specializing in the areas of American politics and media analysis // Emmanuel Alejandro Rondón es periodista de El American especializado en las áreas de política americana y análisis de medios de comunicación.
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