This month, a new media company led by Democrats announced it鈥檚 buying 18 Spanish-language radio stations across the U.S. for $60 million. Two of them are iconic Miami stations: WQBA and WAQI 鈥� known as Radio Mamb铆.
And many Cuban exiles are angry: They fear the buyers 鈥� Latino Media Network 鈥� will abandon the stations鈥� conservative hard line against Cuba鈥檚 communist dictatorship. At a press conference in Little Havana last week, exile community leaders like Sylvia Iriondo warned of a backlash if that happens.
鈥淲e will resist any attempt to censor the voices of this community represented by these radio stations with all legal and legitimate means,鈥� such as boycotts and protests, Iriondo said, reading a statement from the exile coalition Assembly of the Cuban Resistance.
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Other Cuban American Republicans also called the sale of the stations a left-wing plot to censor conservative voices. In Doral, Miami Congressman Carlos Gimenez made this incendiary charge:
鈥淚t is a well thought out plan of how to, in their minds, win the heart and souls of Americans 鈥� to basically destroy America.鈥�
Republican Florida Senator Marco Rubio, also a Cuban American, echoed Gimenez. So did Republican Florida Senator Rick Scott:
鈥淭his is what socialism does, communism does," Scott said. "They want to silence people.鈥�
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Florida GOP communications director Julia Friedland asserted that Latino Media Network鈥檚 Democratic founders have 鈥渧oiced their strong support鈥� for the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. SA国际传谋 asked Friedland for proof of that accusation; she could not offer any.
One of Latino Media Network鈥檚 founders, Democratic activist Jess Morales Rocketto, does hail from the party鈥檚 left wing. One financial backer is liberal philanthropist George Soros. But the investment and adviser group is also bipartisan, including former Florida Republican chairman and Cuban exile Al Cardenas, and the California law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, which has represented prominent Republicans such as former President George W. Bush and Senator Scott.
鈥淭he mission of this company is helping Latinos make sense of the world and their place in it,鈥� Stephanie Valencia, the other Latino Media Network founder, told SA国际传谋.
Valencia was a Latino outreach aide to former President Barack Obama 鈥� and, like just about any Democrat today, she knows her party is losing Latino voters in South Florida. But she said her group has no plans to make WQBA or Radio Mamb铆 liberal stations.
鈥淭here are elements of Radio Mamb铆 that are really important to preserve," Valencia said.
"It has obviously been an important part of the Cuban exile community and experience in Miami. But we also believe in balanced journalism.鈥�
Valencia鈥檚 last point refers to criticism Radio Mamb铆 and other Spanish-language stations in Miami receive for airing right-wing disinformation 鈥� like former President Donald Trump鈥檚 lie about fraud in the 2020 election; the falsehood that President Biden and the Democrats are "socialistas" in the mode of Latin America's left-wing authoritarians; or the claim that the Black Lives Matter racial justice movement is a communist scheme.
When these stations were Republican megaphones nobody ever worried about balance or fairness. Now the Democrats are buying them 鈥� and Republicans are suddenly worried about it?Carlos Saladrigas
This week Cuban exile leaders sent the Federal Communications Commission 鈥� which must still approve the purchase 鈥� a 鈥渓etter of concern.鈥� It urges an investigation of the sale of the Miami stations from the current owner, TelevisaUnivision, to Latino Media Network, and the impact it could have on the community. But, because of the buyers' First Amendment rights, media experts say the FCC won't block the transfer based on political objections.
That's the very point, in fact, that Republicans made to Democrats last year when the latter objected to the sale of Radio Caracol 鈥� one of Miami's only moderate Spanish-language radio stations 鈥� to a media group co-led by conservative Cuban exile attorney Marcell Felipe. (That purchase was voluntarily withdrawn earlier this year when, after Democrats filed a complaint about potential legal problems regarding ownership and the FCC requested further information, the owner pulled out due to the delay and opted instead to have Felipe's group run Caracol programming.)
REPUBLICAN MEGAPHONE
As a result, says Cuban exile Carlos Saladrigas, the Republican and conservative exile furor over the WQBA and Radio Mamb铆 sales "is hypocritical."
Saladrigas is a millionaire entrepreneur and former Republican in Miami who chairs the nonprofit Cuba Study Group. It supports engagement with Cuba, so it鈥檚 often attacked as 鈥�comunista鈥� by stations like Mamb铆.
鈥淸They've] been using these stations, particularly Mamb铆, as a megaphone for Republican causes for years," Saladrigas said.
"Nobody has ever worried about balance or fairness. So now the Democrats found the money to buy them 鈥� and now [the Republicans] worry about it? Give me a break.鈥�
But the controversy raises another question: If Spanish-language radio stations like Mamb铆 are so iconic and beloved in Miami鈥檚 Cuban community 鈥� why did no investors from that community step up to buy the stations themselves?
鈥淩adio Mamb铆 might be iconic, but it doesn鈥檛 mean that it鈥檚 that important," says Guillermo Grenier, a Cuban American sociologist at Florida International University.
"And I think the fact that nobody [in the Cuban community] ponied up serious cash to make a counter-offer is probably the most empirical measure of that 鈥� because there are a lot of rich Cubans out here.鈥�
Grenier directs , a regular survey of Miami鈥檚 Cuban-Americans. He said that even though most of the Cuban community shifted rightward on Cuba and U.S. political issues during Trump's presidency, demographic trends still suggest Mamb铆鈥檚 listener base is aging and shrinking. Younger and more recently arrived Cubans tend to be more moderate 鈥� and are turning to social media like YouTube for news and information instead of radio.
鈥淪o to invest in Radio Mamb铆鈥檚 long-range prospects?" Grenier said. "I think Cuban investors probably looked at it and said, 鈥楴ah.鈥� 鈥�
But if so, that means Radio Mamb铆鈥檚 new owners actually have a bigger problem than losing the old Cuban and Latino audience in Miami.
To stay viable, they'll have to find a new Cuban and Latino audience in Miami.
