Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Radio Mambi Goes to War

If one listens to Radio Mambi (WAQI) regularly, South Florida's number one Spanish AM radio station, one would become convinced of an imminent war between Cuba and the US.

On this morning's round table program, Ninoska Perez-Castellon, confidently stated that a coup d'etat is "extremely justified" in the case of Cuba. Also in Venezuela and Bolivia, as a matter of fact. I'm sure she meant in the same manner which occurred in Venezuela with the help of the US in 2002. And, this past Friday (Feb. 2) in his regular radio commentary "Tome Nota", Armando Perez-Roura said that the US should review its Kennedy-Khrushchev agreement of non-aggression towards Cuba. Perez-Roura believes that the agreement is null and void since the collapse of the USSR. In Radio Mambi, there is always room for war.

Yet, this sentiment is shared by many Cubans in South Florida. In 2004, Florida International University conducted a poll of 1,202 Cuban-Americans and found that 46.5% favored a "direct US military action to overthrow the Cuban government," while only 29.6 opposed. The same sentiments were seen in Broward county. But, within the Cubans who came AFTER 1985, there was a split of 41.8% in favor of US military action and 43.7% opposed. And, those who came after 1985 made up most of the respondents polled (32.4%).

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