he continues to be the only sane voice on Cuban radio in Gusanoville. I found a bio on him earlier today you might be interested in.
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Francisco G. Aruca founded Radio Progreso in 1991 as an alternative to the specific characteristics of Miami and their limiting effect on freedom of expression, diversity of opinion and objective information through the mainstream media. Our primary goal has been to bridge the cultural and bilingual gap in our diverse community. We started our first radio program “Ayer en Miami” (“Yesterday in Miami”) in Spanish in January of 1991. It immediately filled a void that existed in Spanish-language media in Miami for over 40 years. The success and usefulness of the program in Spanish prompted the launching of our English-language program, “Babel’s Guide” in June of 1999.
In order to understand the characteristics of Miami, you must first look at the Cuban-American community. The Spanish-language media in Miami has traditionally been dominated by a very powerful, hard-line, segment of the Cuban-American exile community, which has managed to prevent the free flow of information and ideas in relation to the Cuba issue. This extreme segment of the Cuban-American community has used, as a pretense, the thesis of affecting change in Cuba. However, as their power in Miami increased politically, economically and socially, the leaders of the hard-line exile community successfully extended what amounted to real censorship on any area that affected their interests here in Miami, such as local corruption, interracial and international relationships in this region. They depend on the image of a homogeneous Cuban-American community with regard to almost every issue that serves their narrow interests in order to ensure their continued power and influence here in Miami. While dominating the media with messages of fighting for freedom in Cuba, this extreme segment has used its power in Miami to accomplish everything EXCEPT freedom for ALL of us, Cubans and non-Cubans alike, here in Miami.
Freedom of expression in the Spanish-language media is virtually non-existent. Those who have expressed views and opinions differing from the hard-line position have done so at the high risk of physical, political, financial and/or social repercussions. They have violated one of the most important principles guaranteed by our Constitution, freedom of expression. Even today, if you analyze El Nuevo Herald, the only major Spanish-language newspaper, you will find not only that the news is presented with extreme bias and inaccuracy, but that not one single columnist writes an opinion different from the traditional exile position, portraying the false image that there is no diversity of opinion within the Cuban-American community.
Radio Progreso emerged precisely to provide an alternative source of information that was being denied to the Spanish speaking community in Miami, as well as an outlet for the expression of opinions that differed from the ones sponsored by that powerful segment of the Cuban exile community. What began mostly as a “Cuba” and “Cubans” related program developed into a program dealing also with Miami, our problems, our contradictions and our difficulties in facing up to our community’s needs in its complex political, racial and national diversity. A large measure of this is due to the enormous and undemocratic influence, and often intimidation, of the exile leadership. We also realized that this negative influence is amplified by the fact that news coverage and opinions are consciously presented in a different way in English than in Spanish.
A true policy of divided market is in existence here in Miami, particularly the role of our daily newspaper, The Miami Herald and its Spanish counterpart, El Nuevo Herald. This “bilingual scam” as we call it, has very negative consequences on our community and often caters, or panders to the hard-line exile leadership. As a way to contribute to fight the consequences of this “bilingual scam” we started our English-language program in the belief that in order to understand the differences in our communities, we must see the differences in information each is being provided with.
The attention received by both of our programs is a true measure of the void Radio Progreso has filled and hopes to continue filling.
Francisco G. Aruca is the President of Radio Progreso, Inc. and the host of both radio programs; “Ayer en Miami” and “Babel’s Guide”. Mr. Aruca was born in Cuba in 1940 and came to the United States as a political exile in 1962. He graduated from Georgetown University with a BA in Economics in 1968 and obtained a Masters in Economics from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. in 1970. He was a professor of Economics at both George Mason University and the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez and was an economist for the U.S. Department of Labor from 1976-1979.
In 1979, as a consequence of his conviction that engagement, and not isolation, should be practiced in relation to Cuba, Mr. Aruca founded Marazul Tours in the New York area; a totally diversified travel operation, very well established and recognized in the area of “interest tourism”, particularly in relation to Cuba. He then established Marazul Charters, Inc. in 1985, which specialized in charter flights to Cuba, including direct flights from New York to Havana, although it also handled charters to Nicaragua from 1985-1986.
http://www.rprogreso.com/
His other company, Marazul Charters, has a pretty decent embargo/travel ban history timeline.
http://www.marazulcharters.com/history/
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