“We are at home and they have kept our salaries until they decide what they are going to cut and what stays,” says a worker at the entity.
14ymedio, Havana, 16 March 2025 — On Saturday, all employees of Radio and Television Martí were put on administrative leave, after a decision by the Trump administration to temporarily suspend the operation of the entity. The media, active since 1985, which seeks to promote democracy in Cuba, has been practically paralyzed.
“They sent us home, but our salaries will continue until they decide who will be cut and who stays,” said an employee who works in the digital division of Martí News. “We hope that this is only temporary and that everything will return to the way it was before, for the good of Cubans,” said the source, who preferred to remain anonymous.
The workers were notified of the temporary suspension of their activities through an email that reached their mailboxes on March 15. According to the electronic message, those affected will not only keep their salary for the time being but will also receive all their benefits until further notice.
The pause of Radio and Television Martí has come just one day after Trump signed an executive order to begin dismantling the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM). The entity in turn manages the Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty, Middle East Broadcasting Network and Open Technology Fund.
Initially, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB), which oversees the Martí group with its radio, television and news website about the Island, was not included in the list of media. But this Saturday, the relief of its employees turned into deep concern after receiving the announcement of the group’s administrative leave.
During the day, the digital platform has continued to publish news but at a much slower pace than before. Readers have also perceived a drop in the use made by the website of press agency images, given that this week the cancellation of USAGM’s contracts with Reuters, AP and AFP was announced.
The decrease in the services of these agencies has caused Radio and Television Martí to have fewer photos, videos and other materials about the reality of the Island, which they used in their coverage and transmissions. According to the CaféFuerte website, the company has “about 100 workers between federal employees and contractors. Of the 46 professional employees registered on the federal payroll, all receive salaries above $100,000 per year.”
An internal source had assured this newspaper that they were not afraid that the Trump administration intended to close the Martí group
Last month, however, workers felt confident in the continuity of the project. An internal source had assured this newspaper that they were not afraid that the Trump Administration intended to close the Martí group.
“Elon Musk walks like a child with a torch in his hand burning left and right and causing concern among federal employees, a group of people who thought their jobs were secure. In the case of Martí, we are in one of the best moments in our history, with numbers that show how well we are doing our work: we exceed one million followers on Facebook; we have millions of views on our social networks from Cuba, and we are expanding audiences on the Island,” he stressed at the time.
Founded 40 years ago on May 20, Radio Martí was for several decades one of the few unofficial sources of information about the Island. In 1990, Television Martí came to light, which can barely be seen inside Cuba, where the radio signal also suffers from strong interference in several parts of the country.
The existence of the stations popularly known as “los Martí” has caused friction between the Cuban and US governments. Havana frequently demands that Washington eliminate transmissions, as happened during the diplomatic thaw led by Barack Obama and Raúl Castro from December 2014.
But the stations have suffered attacks not only from the regime. They experienced an intense controversy after a report commissioned by the federal government that revealed irregularities in the information management of certain topics.
One of its directors, former Miami mayor Tomás Regalado, resigned in September 2019, after a scandal involving his son, also an employee of the entity, who, allegedly, manipulated a news story about the popular riots in Nicaragua.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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