• Submitted by: manso
• Politics and Government
• 09 / 23 / 2010

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MIAMI HERALD. Posted on Wednesday, 09.22.10.A lawyer active in the Cuban American National Foundation is in line to head U.S. government broadcasts to Cuba, sources said.

President Barack Obama has proposed Carlos García-Pérez, a Cuban-American lawyer in Puerto Rico, to head the Radio/TV Martí stations that broadcast to Cuba, sources said Tuesday.

García-Pérez is a leading member of the Cuban American National Foundation,which has harshly criticized the U.S. government Martí stations and acted as an Obama administration sounding board on Cuba.

The two stations were created to break the Cuban government's monopoly on information, broadcast news and entertainment to the island. Havana jams them,but is more successful at blocking the TV signals than the radio signals.

The stations have faced steady criticism over the tiny audiences they reach, political bias, and cronyism as well as the misspending of some of the estimated $500 million they have received from the U.S. government over the years.

Several U.S. government oversight panels have repeatedly reported that the stations did not adhere to required journalism standards and were too blatantly political.

García-Pérez was proposed by Obama but must be confirmed by the Board of Broadcasting Governors, said three knowledgeable people who asked for anonymity because they are not authorized to comment on the issue.

The nine-member BBG supervises all U.S. government broadcasters, including the Martí stations, Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks.

A BBG spokesperson had no comment on the nomination, and García-Pérez's assistant in Puerto Rico told El Nuevo Herald he was busy with a case.

García-Pérez would replace Pedro Roig, a 69-year-old lawyer and registered Republican who resigned Aug. 27 after seven years at the helm of the two stations.

CANF President Francisco ``Pepe'' Hernández complained in February that ``today Radio and TV Martí are not up to their original mission of disseminating objective news and information to the Cuban people.

``Nepotism and political cronyism have ruled the decision-making process,'' he wrote in a column published in El Nuevo Herald, adding a call for an ``immediate and effective restructuring'' of the stations.

Roig, in a column published one week later, denied CANF's complaints and took it to task for failing to lobby Congress to avert a budget cut that forced him to dismiss 22 percent of his staff, the loss of 35 jobs.

García-Pérez is a shareholder in the litigation and trial practice department at Goldman Antonetti & Cordova, one of the largest law firms in Puerto Rico. His practice is focused on commercial law, according to the firm's Web page.

He also has represented clients in acquisitions of franchised businesses in the United States and Latin America, and in negotiations for distribution and franchise agreements in Latin America, the website said.

García-Pérez graduated in 1985 from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, with majors in economics and international relations, and from Hofstra University School of Law in 1988. He was admitted to the Puerto Rico bar in 1990, and Florida's in 1997.

The Senate last week confirmed Dick Lobo, 73, a Tampa journalist of Cuban descent, as head of the International Broadcast Bureau, which provides programming and transmission services to the BBG stations. Lobo headed the Martí stations during the Clinton administration.

In his resignation letter, Roig wrote that under his leadership the stations increased their signal strength, improved their websites and began using satellites and airplanes to broadcast the TV signals.

A survey this spring of Cubans who arrived in the United States in the previous six months showed 43 percent said they had listened to Radio Martí and 6.5 percent said they saw TV Martí, Roig added.

Radio Martí was founded in 1983 and transmits on short wave and AM frequencies. TV Martí, founded in 1990, transmits over-the-air from the Florida Keys, as well as from a commercial satellite.

BY JUAN O. TAMAYO
jtamayo@...

Source: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/message/117942