cobalt pet shortwave / mediumwave weblog

01 August 2006

radio havana cuba's future

I need to tune in to Radio Havana Cuba again soon. This is not just to hear their reporting of Fidel Castro's illness, but also to gauge the future of this broadcaster. I didn't think until today about how brief our RHC experiences could turn out to be.

RHC is a good station to hear, in my opinion, because they are critical of America's political and military actions in a reasonable way. I'm not saying that I agree with everything they say, but at least I can understand their viewpoints. And the announcers keep things interesting and fun. I always enjoy hearing Cuban music as well. These factors keep listeners returning to hear whatever message RHC wants to distribute.

With Fidel Castro in ill health, I wonder about how involved the government of the USA will become in Cuba's future. My recent reception report, part 3 for July 2006, mentions Cuban fears that Castro's death could lead to a forced transition to democracy.

I do not know the whole truth of life in Cuba, and RHC does us no favors in this respect. But it's hard for me to think favorably of any country dictating the government style for any other country.

Assume that a government transition takes place and succeeds in Cuba, what would become of Radio Havana Cuba? I could take the cynical stance and call RHC a promotional tool for communism and for Castro himself. Would they still have anything to say? The blockade story only exists because of Cuba's current communist government. The story of the Cuban Five is important to Cuba's current government. With Radio Havana Cuba funded by its host government, it could either be dismantled or turned into a news outlet for the transition government.

What do you think will happen in Cuba over the next decade?

3 comments:

Dean W. Armstrong said...

Listening tonight had the Ed Newman part of the news concentrating on the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict. Only after the news part did they mention that a number of countries had expressed good wishes for Castro.

weatherall said...

Thanks for the comment. I missed RHC tonight unfortunately!

Dean W. Armstrong said...

Here are two recordings from last night. Keep in mind we had some good thunderstorms during the evening.

http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/~dean/blog/mp3/habana2006-08-03-02UT.mp3

and http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/~dean/blog/mp3/radiohabana2006-08-03-2.mp3