With loss of a blimp over Keys, TV Marti takes another hit
By DAVID ADAMS
Published August 26, 2005
MIAMI - Controversy and ridicule have long marred the effort of the U.S. government to broadcast uncensored news into Cuba.
Now it's really taking a beating - thanks to hurricane season.
When Hurricane Dennis passed near the Florida Keys on July 9, among the damage were two large U.S. Air Force blimps, one of which is used to transmit TV Marti, the government station broadcasting to Cuba.
Known as "Fat Alberts" after the cartoon character, the blimps are burly, remote-controlled balloons tethered in the sky at 10,000 feet over an Air Force facility in the Florida Keys. One handles the TV Marti signal, while the other is part of the continental U.S. air defense network, or NORAD, using radar to monitor suspected drug flights and other potentially harmful activity.
"The warning for the storm came up late and we couldn't deflate them in time," said Sgt. Patrick Murphy, a spokesman for the Air Combat Command in Virginia, which operates the blimps.
The helium-filled aerostats are so light they are hard to control in strong winds. Maintenance staffers were able to remove the valuable payload from both blimps - radar equipment and the TV Marti transmitter - before Dennis arrived. But winds of 113 mph shredded the blimps' fabric skin.
While Air Force spokesmen say they hope to quickly replace the NORAD balloon, it could take months to get TV Marti fully operational again. One of the balloons is being examined by the manufacturer to see if it can be repaired. There are only eight Fat Alberts in the U.S. aerostat fleet. They cost about $1.3-million new.
"There's no time frame, but the last time we lost one it took many, many months to get a new one," said Joe O'Connell, spokesman for the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, which runs TV Marti as well as its radio counterpart. The OCB is a branch of the government's broadcasting agency, which also runs Voice of America.
The loss of the blimp will drastically cut TV Marti's 30 hours of weekly broadcasts. For now, its signal is broadcast by satellite four hours a week. For another four hours every Saturday afternoon - weather permitting - a modified U.S. military airplane, known as Commando Solo, also transmits TV Marti's signal from a mobile platform over the Straits of Florida.
Severely reduced transmission time is unlikely to affect operations at TV Marti's Miami offices. Staff members are used to their work not being seen because Cuba has successfully jammed the signal since it began broadcasting in 1990. Radio Marti is more widely heard on the island and is not affected by the blimp problems as its signal is sent from another location.
Critics here and in Cuba call the station, "No se ve TV" ("No see TV.") The station includes regular news bulletins covering international events as well as topics of special interest to Cubans, current affairs debates and cultural shows.
It was five weeks before the media noticed that its signal was off the air, an indication of how few people watch. While the blimp transmission is easily blocked, the signal from the C-130 plane is much harder to jam because it is constantly moving. The satellite broadcasts also have good penetration, but to no effect because satellite dishes are banned in Cuba.
TV Marti's $11-million annual budget has been challenged in Congress as a particularly wasteful bit of pork-barrel politics for Miami's influential Cuban exiles. Critics of the United States' Cuba policy in Miami and in Congress have also attacked its programming for political bias in violation of its official mandate for fair and accurate reporting.
But TV Marti's supporters say it plays an important role in bringing democratic values to the island.
Cuba says the broadcasts violate international law protecting the island's sovereignty, a charge the United States denies. Cuba claims the broadcasts interfere with local frequencies.
Cuban exile groups in Miami have lobbied Congress to improve transmissions, and are seeking $10-million to purchase a C-130 exclusively for Cuba broadcasts.
This is not the first time bad weather has damaged the Fat Alberts. One aerostat broke loose from its tether during a storm at Cudjoe Key in 1984. A Navy jet had to shoot it down.
After that, experts built remote control devices to guide the blimps. A few years later a TV Marti aerostat broke loose and drifted west. Technicians in a helicopter gave chase, dumping the blimp's helium until it collapsed in the Everglades.
David Adams can be contacted at dadams@sptimes.com