U.S. spends $24 million on 'propaganda plane' few can see or hear

[Judi Lynn]

U.S. spends $24 million on 'propaganda plane' few can see or hear
By John Hudson, Foreign Policy
4:20 p.m. EDT, July 29, 2013

WASHINGTON — It's difficult to find a more wasteful government program.

For the last six years, the U.S. government has spent more than $24 million to fly a plane around Cuba and beam American-sponsored TV programming to the island's inhabitants. But every day the plane flies, the government in Havana jams its broadcast signal. Few, if any, Cubans can see what it broadcasts.

The program is run by the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors, and for the last two years, it has asked Congress to scrap the program, citing its exorbitant expense and dubious cost-effectiveness. "The signal is heavily jammed by the Cuban government, significantly limiting this platform's reach and impact on the island," reads the administration's fiscal year 2014 budget request.

But each year, hard-line anti-Castro members of Congress have rejected the recommendation and renewed funding for the program, called AeroMarti. Now, under the restrictions of government-wide belt-tightening, AeroMarti may finally die, but its fate has yet to be sealed.

More:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/digitalunlimited/partners/sns-wp-wp-frgnp-bc-propaganda29-20130729,0,6206067.story

[Mika]

1. This is in violation of international broadcasting treaties. The US & Cuba are both signatories.

Not that the US gov't cares much about US violations of treaties or anything.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Getting ready to leave for a while, but had to mention something creepy, first:

Do you remember during the _Bush presidency, when the gov't accused Cuba of sending short wave radio messages to Iraq, or Turkey, or someplace completely off-the-wall?

Cuba, of course, denied it, the right-wingers tried to build up an international conflagration over it, lotsa shrieking and little fists shaking in the air, etc., and after investigation the US gov't discovered Cuba was TOTALLY in the clear, was NOT sending out any messages to terrifying enemies of the U.S.?

I still feel like barfing from that one. So gross!

It seems there's a new one every year, doesn't it?

[Judi Lynn]

2. Ugly shock learning this:

Since its inception, the U.S. government has spent well over half a billion dollars to fund Marti programming, which first aired on radio in 1985 and on TV in 1990.

That's a little high, by now, isn't it? Good grief.

[Mika]

4. Lots of caviar and champaign to be bought. eom