Translated material
In a single information field
This synchronicity is partly due to the natural human interest Cubans have in each other. Partly due to simple geographical proximity. From Miami, where Nuevo Heraldo is printed, to Havana, where Granma is created, is only 98 nautical miles as the crow flies across the Strait of Florida.
However, the conscious efforts of the American government and emigrant organizations to include island Cubans in a single information space with the United States are also of no small importance. The first subversive radio broadcasts from the United States to Cuba began in 1960 - literally a year after Castro came to power. In 1985, with the blessing of President Reagan, Radio Marti went on the air. In addition to this radio station, which is specifically aimed at the island audience, Cubans enjoy listening to Florida Spanish-language radio stations that broadcast simultaneously to audiences in the States and across the strait. Among these stations, WQBA (La Cubanisima) became famous for its witty political jokes, and Radio Mambi became famous for its political stubbornness.
Inspired by the success of Radio Marti, in 1990 the Americans decided to supplement it with a television project of the same name. On Radio Marti and TV Marti together, the American Congress allocates $27 million a year. However, technical problems have arisen, which have still not been fully resolved. At first, TV Marti broadcast from an antenna raised in a balloon to a height of 5 km above the Straits of Florida. Since 2004, the transmitter-relay was moved to a C-130 cargo aircraft patrolling over the same water area. The effect in both cases turned out to be pale - the TV signal is weak, and the Cuban government easily extinguishes it with the help of a special jammer helicopter flying parallel to the course of the TV station aircraft.
Therefore, in terms of popularity in Cuba, TV Marti is much inferior to the usual Spanish-language TV channels from Miami and other US cities, designed for domestic American audiences. How do these channels get into the homes of ordinary Cubans, since it is prohibited to have satellite dishes on the island? It's prohibited, but you can do it if you want. An article in Granma gives an idea of the extent of the smuggling of satellite dishes onto the island. Recently, the main party newspaper reported an outrageous case: one Carlos Valdez Gozales, a Cuban citizen permanently residing in the United States, was seized at the Havana airport with 28 satellite dishes, 28 receivers, 30 connecting cables, 33 remote controls and 60 batteries for this equipment.
What was unusual about what happened was not the amount of contraband, but the fact that Mr. Valdez was caught. According to Granma, over the previous ten years it made 120 successful flights on the Florida-Havana route. An illegal satellite dish in the house gives the Cuban access to at least 50 foreign TV channels. In Cuba itself there are only three very boring state channels broadcasting. If a Cuban manages to gain access to a satellite television product, he easily stops watching national TV. Moreover, all the important news about Cuba is shown from Miami.