Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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USAGM Pick to Lead Cuba Broadcasting Draws Criticism from Senator

VOA News

   The appointment of an award-winning journalist to lead the Office of
   Cuba Broadcasting was criticizedthis weekby a U.S. lawmaker who
   suggested she does not have a strong enough track record of promoting
   liberty for Cuban citizens.

   The U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees the OCB and other
   independent networks including Voice of America, announced Wednesday
   that veteran media and communications executive Sylvia Rosabal will
   bethedirector of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting.

   Rosabal is the latest network head to be hired byKeluChao, a former VOA
   executive who took over as acting chief executive when former CEO and
   Trump nominee Michael Pack resigned hours after President Joe Biden
   took office.

   Chao was a whistleblower named in a court case brought against Pack and
   his aides that claimed editorial interference at the news network.

   Rosabal, a former senior vice president of the news division at
   Telemundo Network, has won numerous awards during her 30-year career at
   Spanish-language networks in the U.S., including an Edward R. Murrow
   award for journalistic excellence.Shealsoworkedon media logisticsfor
   the2020Democratic National Convention Committee.

   The longtime South Florida resident was born in Puerto Rico to Cuban
   parents.

   Rosabal will fill the director position at the Office for Cuba
   Broadcasting that has been vacant since Jeffrey Scott Shapiro resigned
   in late January, shortly before Chao fired the other USAGM network
   heads who were installed by Pack in his last weeks as CEO.

   Pack's leadership drew bipartisan criticism from members of Congress,
   including Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairBob Menendez and
   others who said his moves undermined the agency's editorial
   independence.
   FILE - Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., the ranking member of the Senate
   Foreign Relations Committee, talks to reporters on Capitol Hill in
   Washington, June 12, 2018.

   In a statement Wednesday, Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, said he
   did not believe Rosabal "is the right person to lead the OCB." Menendez
   said the office should be led by someone "with a track record of
   staunchly promoting liberty for all Cuban citizens."

   The USAGM's Office of Cuba Broadcasting is headquartered in Miami,
   Florida, where it oversees Radio and Television Marti,
   martinoticias.com, and its social media platforms.

   Radio and Television Marti provides unbiased news and information via
   satellite television and radio to people in Cuba, who have limited
   access to independent news.This week a bipartisan group of Florida
   lawmakers wroteto the Biden administration asking it [1]to increase the
   Office of Cuba Broadcasting'sbudget to $30 million next year. OCB's
   budgetin 2020 was $12.9 million.

   Cubaranks 171stout of 180 countries, where 1 is themost free, in the
   [2]World Press Freedom Index compiled by media watchdog Reporters
   Without Borders.

   Menendez,whoseCubanparents immigrated to the United Statesbefore he was
   born,said he respected Rosabal's journalistic credentials but that he
   planned to seek information on how the new directorplansto promote "the
   principles of a free press and of free speech in Cuba."

   "I am concerned that she is of the view of accommodation with the Cuban
   regime rather than of challenging its human rights violations and
   denial of democratic freedoms to itspeople," Menendez said.

   USAGMhas not responded toVOA'squestions about Menendez's criticisms.

   Rosabal is the final network director to be named by Chao during a
   90-day window Congress included in the December COVID-19relief bill
   that gave the head of USAGM power to make hiring and firing decisions.

   New provisions included in the National Defense Authorization Act
   [3]will now come into effect that contain more restrictionson the
   appointments of network heads.

References

   1. https://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/d9918862-3811-4e12-b645-8dae778f67ca/9D775572F4DC8A8C738E13447B453B03.cuba-ocb-and-cuba-esf-4.2021.pdf
   2. https://rsf.org/en/cuba
   3. https://www.voanews.com/press-freedom/major-covid-19-and-defense-spending-bills-target-usagm-powers

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