Book Review: AN AIR WAR WITH CUBA by Daniel C. Walsh

AN AIR WAR WITH CUBA – The United States Radio Campaign Against Castro

by Daniel C. Walsh

McFarland & Company Inc., North Carolina, 2012

303 Pages, softcover

Cuba and it’s rebellious ‘heroes’  (Fidel Castro, Ché Guevara, etc) have always held a fascination for me. That nation’s modern history of US domination up until late 1958-early ’59 when Castro’s revolution swept across the country, and the period directly following the successful rebel takeover makes intriguing reading. In addition, the range of responses by successive US governments is also quite enlightening!

An Air War With Cuba looks at how the United States and Cuba have dealt with both their own broadcasting agendas and the targeting of their respective audiences across the strait. In addition, there are some wonderful insights into the machinations of the US political system and the many interest groups that played important roles in shaping the US response to the Cuban ‘threat’. Indeed, it is astonishing to read about the great emphasis certain US politicians placed on Cuba, much of it pressured by Cuban exiles (such as the Cuban American National Foundation) in Florida and Washington.

Much of the book’s focus is on Radio Martí and its sister station, TV Martí. The operations of this broadcasting organisation are detailed in terms of its pro-American propaganda content – which changed on more than a few occasions when it was eventually realised that very few Cubans were actually listening to its broadcasts! Also, something that is probably not widely known is the failure of TV Martí to reach its intended audience via terrestrial signals – due to the limitations of line-of-sight signal transmission (the curvature of the Earth) at VHF frequencies – and then the not-so-successful ‘solution’ of relaying the transmissions via an airplane over the ocean. There is considerable insight given to the influence that anti-Castro Cuban exiles had on programming. The technical operations of its shortwave and mediumwave outlets are also mentioned but perhaps not in as much detail.

In the first part of the book, mention is made of Radio Rebeldé’s early history in the jungles. The short-lived Radio Swan also comes in for some brief commentary. But these stations are not the focus of this book. It would also have been nice to read more about the aims and role that Radio Havana played during the time frame covered in the book.

The fear that Castro might start up powerful mediumwave stations on frequencies that could cause interference (with potential jamming problems) to local US broadcasters caused US politicians to scramble for solutions. It is clear that there was much jockeying of positions between the US and Cuban governments.

There is some broad commentary on the whole Cuban exile ‘problem’, including stories of the balseros (in English – rafters), the brave people who attempted to leave Cuba by any means of floatation they could find. Many lives were lost, but some survived the often-treacherous journey across the strait. The book also covers with great thoroughness the behind-the-scenes realities of underhanded politics! This may not be to every reader’s interest or taste, and certain sections of the book could be skimmed over if you find the detailed writing becoming a little tedious.

The author, Daniel C. Walsh holds a Ph.D. in mass communications from the University of South Carolina and his dissertation on Radio Martí forms much of this book’s content.  He is an assistant professor at Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina, in the Department of Communications.

An Air War With Cuba is well written for the most part, although there is an occasional tendency to jump from one topic to another without apparent connection, causing the reader to lose the thread of the conversation. However, that aside, this book is well worth the effort for those readers interested in International Relations, US politics, Cuban history and radio broadcasting in the region. I found it an enlightening and informative treatise and can recommend it.

For further information on Radio Rebelde, see my recent blog post Radio Rebelde – Some Interesting Historical Perspectives. 

Rob Wagner VK3BVW

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