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Cuban media coverage of the military

19 March 2010 at 1100 in Armed Forces, Military, Military & Defense, Nomenklatura, Raul Castro by Armando F. Mastrapa 3d

The Federation of American Scientists has obtained a copy of an Open Source Center six-page report from late February 2010 on Cuban media coverage of the military, which has been positive. OSC assesses:

President Raul Castro was atypically visible and engaged during a Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) exercise in late 2009, but more commonly he presents himself as a civilian rather than military leader. Current senior military officers maintain a largely ceremonial presence in state media, where the military receives limited but overwhelmingly favorable coverage.

Also, OSC observed:

  • Senior defense and military officials maintained a limited and largely ceremonial presence in state media.
  • The most visible military leader is FAR Vice Minister and Corps General Leopoldo Cintra Frias.
  • Cuban military officials also received prominent coverage during the “Bastion” exercise, but otherwise they generally are only seen attending anniversary celebrations or military ceremonies and graduations.
  • More generally, state media portray the military as a model of collective and individual performance, but regularly find fault with civilian agencies and workers.
  • Coverage of the military is generally limited and silent on the subject of FAR involvement in the Cuban economy.

To read the rest of the report in its entirety, click here.


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Journalist appointed new ambassador to Venezuela

13 August 2009 at 1117 in Diplomacy, Government, International Relations, Venezuela by Armando F. Mastrapa 3d

Via Universal (Venezuela):

The Cuban government appointed journalist Rogelio Polanco as the new ambassador to Venezuela, announced in an official statement. The position was occupied during 15 years by sociologist Germán Sánchez. Polanco, the editor of newspaper Juventud Rebelde, one of the two state-run nationwide newspapers, “has accomplished important missions linked to Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution” over the past five years, according to the statement published in the Cuban official newspaper Granma. The political career of the new ambassador began with the Union of Young Communists (UJC), where he was a member of the National Bureau (1994-1998) and of its National Committee (1994-97). In 1997, Polanco organized the World Festival of Youth and Students held in Havana, AFP reported.

While in Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela, the government has a growing monopoly on the media.  According to the U.S. Intelligence Community’s Open Source Center (OSC), which said in a new assessment (pdf): The Venezuelan government of President Hugo Chavez “is moving forcefully to silence critics by introducing a Media Crimes bill that would give it sweeping authority to jail journalists, media executives, and bloggers who report on anything that the government considers to be harmful to state interests.”

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