The Cuban government has prevented the distribution of shortwave radios that had been intended for Cuban listeners of RNW. The prevention of the import and distribution of the radios in Cuba was unexpected, says RNW Director-General Jan Hoek. “We are disappointed. The Cuban embassy was fully aware of our initiative, with which we planned to reward listeners who participated in a story competition with a world receiver. Up to now, the embassy had not indicated there would be any difficulties. The worst part is that our listeners cannot have something that we promised them.”
RNW has a large audience in Cuba. It was decided to offer the radios as prizes to make listening easier. Through poor economic circumstances, many Cubans do not have radios, and sets that can receive foreign stations are difficult to get.
In January 2007, in partnership with Radio Canada International, RNW ran a story competition in which listeners were asked to write about their country. A total of 945 entries were received, and 500 radios would be distributed among the most talented authors.
According to José Zepeda, Head of the Latin American Department at RNW, the Cuban authorities fear that the distribution of the radios will directly benefit the Americans. As they see it, President Bush is carrying out a campaign of disinformation to destabilize the country, and the US would welcome the distribution of world receivers for that purpose. But RNW stresses that there is no connection between this writing competition and US government policy.
RNW hopes that its Cuban listeners will eventually be able to get their prize when the circumstances in Cuba permit.
(R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)