The Office of Cuba Broadcasting directs the operations of Radio and TV Martí, which broadcast accurate and objective news and information on issues of interest to the people of Cuba.

In accordance with the Broadcasting to Cuba Act of 1983 (Public Law 98-111), Radio Martí follows Voice of America journalistic standards and guidelines.

Radio Martí broadcasts news and a variety of feature and news analysis around the clock on shortwave, AM, and the Internet (www.martinoticias.com).

TV Martí produces eight hours of original programming daily, including two 30-minute newscasts. The station broadcasts commentary and information about events in Cuba and elsewhere to promote the free flow of information and ideas in that country.

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS:

• In August, when Russia invaded Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia, RFE/RL increased broadcasts to the region, dispatched correspondents and offered listeners interviews with high ranking officials. International media frequently cited RFE/RL's in-depth coverage of the Russia-Georgia conflict such as its correspondents’ blogs from two Russian-occupied cities with some of the only up-to-the-minute reporting from those locations.
  
• When Radio Farda, RFE/RL's Persian Service, launched a new roundtable program in April inviting listeners to freely express their views on social and political issues, the first group of callers criticized the Iranian government for mismanaging the economy. In December, one of four student protestors arrested and subsequently released by authorities credited Radio Farda's extensive coverage of their plight for helping secure their release.
  
• RFE/RL responded to the unprecedented global interest in the U.S. presidential election by providing comprehensive, multimedia coverage from the Iowa caucuses to the party conventions to the victory and concession speeches. Much of the coverage was live with simultaneous translations. Reporting gave audiences comprehensive explanations of how the American election process works starting from the party primaries and continuing through the transition. Experts in RFE/RL’s target countries provided analysis of what to expect if either candidate won.
• In February, Radio and TV Marti provided comprehensive coverage of Fidel Castro’s announcement that, after 49 years in power, he would not seek or serve another term as President of the State Council and Commander in Chief, as well as the Cuban National Assembly officially designating 76-year old Raul Castro as his 81-year old brother’s successor.
• In April, Havana blogger Yoani Sanchez won the prestigious Jose Ortega y Gasset Award, given each year by the Spanish newspaper El Pais. The award is considered to be the foremost prize in journalism for the Spanish language. Radio Marti broke the story and interviewed Yoani Sanchez, who despite Cuban government attempts to block, writes the best-known blog coming out of Cuba.
• Also in April, Radio Marti News broke the story of a peaceful protest in Havana by the group Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White). Via cell phone, live from Revolutionary Square in Havana, two protesters joined the early morning Radio Marti newscast and explained the protest was calling on the government to release political prisoners and that they were delivering a letter to head of state Raul Castro calling for respect for human rights in the island.
• Hurricanes Gustav and Ike bombarded Cuba in September and October. Radio Marti implemented its emergency coverage, and became the leading source of news for Cubans on the hurricanes. During the first day after Hurricane Gustav left the Isle of Youth and parts of the province of Pinar del Rio without communications, Radio Marti was the first media to have extensive reports on the damages in the region. TV Marti provided a special program series including relief efforts based in Miami.