
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 28, 1990                   TAG: 9003280239
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: From The Washington Post and The Associated Press
DATELINE: MIAMI                                LENGTH: Medium

CUBA PROTESTS AFTER U.S. SIGNS ONTO ITS TV CHANNEL

TV Marti, the controversial government-funded television station, beamed baseball highlights and rock videos to Havana early Tuesday, but its signal was promptly jammed by the Cuban government, which accused the United States of violating its sovereignty.

Cuban officials, who had warned the United States that they would jam attempts to broadcast into Cuba, called TV Marti's debut a "crisis of incalculable consequences for the already deteriorated bilateral relations" between the two countries.

"Cuban authorities have warned that the beginning of these transmissions may form part of a larger maneuver and Washington may be looking for a pretext to unleash military aggression," said Prensa Latin, Cuba's official news agency.

Administration officials in Washington said the broadcasts would continue and stressed that they are legal and necessary to provide Cubans with information not readily available there.

"We regret that Cuba has refused to permit the free flow of information and ideas," State Department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler said.

The five-hour test broadcast began at 1:45 a.m. and was jammed within 23 minutes, by the U.S. account, or within 10, according to the Cuban version. When the signal was jammed, TV Marti was broadcasting a test pattern featuring its blue-and-white logo.

At 3:45 a.m., TV Marti began showing several programs, including rock videos from MTV, an episode of "Kate and Allie," a situation comedy about two divorced women who share an apartment with their children, a travelogue about New Mexico and highlights from the 1971 World Series, featuring Puerto Rican sports hero Roberto Clemente, a Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder who died several months later in a plane crash.

The telecast ended at 6:45 a.m. A spokesman for Voice of America said the signal was completely blocked in downtown Havana but seen in some outlying areas, although with interference.

The jamming produced 50 to 100 wavy horizontal lines across television screens, according to reports from viewers in Cuba.

Prensa Latin called TV Marti's debut "nothing impressive," adding that "the biggest technological power on Earth could not prevent its invading signal from being destroyed over the target area." State-run Radio Rebelde dubbed TV Marti, named for Cuba's 19th-century national hero, Jose Marti, "TV Menti," meaning TV Lie in Spanish.

The Cuban government charged that the broadcasts are illegal because TV Marti occupied a channel reserved by international broadcast conventions for Cuban use. U.S. officials disagreed. Tutwiler said international broadcast regulations do not prevent one state from televising into another state.

Frank Calzon, who heads the Washington office of Freedom House, a pro-democracy group, blasted TV Marti's show selection.

"The programs stink," said Calzon, a Cuban exile who is a longtime TV Marti supporter. He said the debut should have featured the opening of the Berlin Wall and the Chilean and Nicaraguan elections.

by CNB