Radio Martí, part of the Voice of America service, begins broadcasting to Cuba.
Radio Televisión Martí is an American state-run radio and television international broadcaster based in Miami, Florida, financed by the federal government of the United States through the U.S. Agency for Global Media (formerly Broadcasting Board of Governors, BBG), which transmits news in Spanish to Cuba. Its broadcasts can also be heard and viewed worldwide through their website and on shortwave radio frequencies.
Named after the Cuban national hero and intellectual José Martí, it was established in 1983 with the addition of TV Martí in 1990. The 2014 budget for the Cuba broadcasting program is approximately US$27 million.
Radio y Televisión Martí is overseen by the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB) with Jeffrey Scott Shapiro, the current director.Radio Televisión Martí is an element of the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB). The sister elements in the IBB are Voice of America (VOA), Alhurra/Radio Sawa, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Farda, and Radio Free Asia (RFA). The IBB and the Broadcasting Board of Governors are independent federal entities spun off from the now defunct United States Information Agency.