The former mayor of Miami is confident the station can continue broadcasting, despite a “restructuring.”
EFE (via 14ymedio) Ivonne Malaver, Miami, 8 April 2025 — Former Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado asserted that Radio Martí continues to fulfill its original purpose of promoting freedom in Cuba, and rejected criticism that its existence responds solely to the interests of Cuban exiles in the United States.
In an interview with EFE, Regalado emphasized that Radio Martí will not disappear as a result of the cuts imposed by President Donald Trump, considering that stations like this one are essential to promoting press freedom globally.
“I think there will be a restructuring, but it will remain up in the air. I think the United States realizes it needs to have a voice, that they can’t speak for it,” he explained. Regalado, who also served as director of the Office of Broadcasting to Cuba (OCB)—responsible for operating and supervising media outlets targeting Cuban audiences—affirmed that Radio Martí continues to fulfill its original purpose.
Regalado insists that Radio Martí continues to fulfill its initial purpose.
“Radio Martín was created in the 1980s, at the request of the Cuban exile community, by President Ronald Reagan and the then-Congress. It was said to be the instrument to bring the truth to the Cuban people,” recalled Regalado, 77, who was born in Havana and served as mayor of Miami from 2009 to 2017. “It has always served to guide, inform, and entertain the Cuban people,” he added.
Regalado said that during his tenure at the OCB, during the first Trump administration (2017-2021), he commissioned a survey from the U.S. Embassy in Havana that confirmed the station’s high audience level in Cuba, especially in rural areas.
“That’s why the regime has acted with such rage” and has demanded its closure as a condition for improving relations with the United States, said the now Miami-Dade County property appraiser.
In the face of the criticism that Radio Martí only responds to Cuban exiles, Regalado emphasized that although he has politically supported the station, the priority has always been to give a voice to the opposition within Cuba.
He recalled that at one point they had more than 100 dissidents participating weekly. “In fact, the participation of leaders from the Cuban exile was minimal because they understood that the priority was for the Cuban people to speak to the world,” he added.
He also refuted the perception that the station doesn’t connect with younger generations. He noted that during his administration, they incorporated popular musical content banned by the regime and broadcast Major League Baseball games, which had a huge impact because baseball remains a national passion in Cuba, he stated. The criticisms, he said, are a misguided narrative, promoted largely by the Cuban regime itself.
The criticisms, he said, are a misguided narrative, promoted largely by the Cuban regime itself.
Asked about a possible closure, Regalado stated that “Radio Martí will not cease broadcasting” because Congress and the State Department, led by Cuban-American Secretary of State Marco Rubio, are aware of its importance. He admitted he was concerned when employees were recently sent home, but recalled that in less than a week and a half, they were called back, the transmitters were reactivated, and regular programming was back on the air.
The former mayor of Miami ignored the fact that the workforce has been severely depleted, with only about 50 federal employees returning, while contractors—at least 20 of them— have had their contracts terminated, including technicians .
For Regalado, the future of Radio Martí is linked to strengthening its journalistic content and its presence on digital platforms. It’s not about criticizing governments, but rather telling the truth and letting the people judge, he explained.
He also highlighted the station’s growth on social media, where it generates “millions of views,” especially at key moments like the July 2021 protests in Cuba.
Regalado considers his greatest achievement as director to be rekindling enthusiasm for the station among younger generations with modern history programs. They shared visual content about Cuba’s past on social media, and that, he said, fascinated many young people who were unaware of that past.
“There were young Cubans who didn’t know that Cuba was the first country in Latin America, after the United States, to have television,” he said.
The former director believes that, despite the technological and political transformations in the US, Radio Martí must continue its mission because “it is essential for many people, millions in Cuba, to be informed.”
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