MONTHLY REPORT--KEY WEST BUREAU--JANUARY 1986

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP87-01104R000100070013-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 22, 2012
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: February 21, 1986
• Content Type: MEMO

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FOREIGN BROADCAST INFORMATION SERVICE
KEY WEST BUREAU
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FBIS
NAVAL AIR STATION
MAIN P.O. BOX 1056 TRUMAN ANNEX BLDG. 1355
KEY WEST, FLORIDA 33041-1056 OFFICE: [phone]
[phone]
[phone]
TELEX: 803046
MFL-6004
21 February 1986
MEMORANDUM T0: Director, Foreign Broadcast Information Service
THROUGH: Chief, Operations Group
SUBJECT: Monthly Report--Key West Bureau--January 1986
By the end of the month foundation work on the FBIS housing
project on Truman Annex was near completion. Further delays
were encountered when it was discovered the grade of fill being
used did not meet specifications. The Navy's local project
officer estimates housing is about 20 percent complete and, now
that above-ground work has been initiated, it should move
forward quickly from this point. A set of photos of the site
taken 3 February has been forwarded under separate cover.
Progress on restoring the damage caused by the collapse of
one of our TV towers has been slower than anticipated. The
damaged sections of the tower have been replaced, preassembled
and weatherproofed prior to scheduled erection on/about 18
February when contractor plans to install new regulation
concrete base and anchors. The contract for repair of operations
building roof was awarded 23 January upon receipt of a check
from Dynalectron Corp.'s insurer in amount of $15,700.
Contractor estimates he will initiate work in mid-March and will
need 7-10 workdays to complete project. As main operations area
will be unusable during construction, plans have been worked out
to set up temporary monitoring positions elsewhere in bureau.
An interesting article in the 29 January Washington TIMES,
entitled "Castro Appears To Be Frail in a TV Film of His
Speech," reporting on a videotape of a Castro 28 December speech
to the National Assembly, obviously was based on a tape supplied
by this bureau, either to headquarters or Radio Marti (copy of
article attached).
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A. Monitorial/Editorial
January was a comparatively quiet month, with little
news monitored on preparations for Third Congress of the
Communist Party of Cuba, scheduled for 4-7 February.
Cuba hosted a "Pedagogy 86 -- Educators for a Better World"
Congress, held at Havana's Karl Marx Theater from 29 to
31 January and attended by 1,900 representatives from around the
world. Fidel Castro delivered a lengthy closing speech to the
congress, which was processed in its entirety by Key West as it
was not broadcast on Havana's international frequencies.
A Cuban-USSR-Angolan communique was issued 30 January
following talks held by the three parties in Moscow and
processed from Havana Domestic Service. Other events of interest
included Cuban Foreign Minister Malmierca's "extended" stay in
Lesotho due to events in southern Africa, reaction to UNITA
leader Savimbi's visit to U.S., and the condolences issued by
the Cuban Government on the Challenger tragedy at Cape
Canaveral. Cuban television carried extensive video footage
supplied by CNN on the accident.
Continued strife in Haiti, Jamaica and the Dominican
Republic highlighted news from other areas of the Caribbean.
A trial subscription to the COMPUSERVE information network,
accessed via modem and the IBM PC, has proved to be a
significant boon to keeping our monitors and other staff more
fully informed of worldwide and national developments with
periodic readouts of news briefs from the AP wire, USA TODAY,
and other news services. The Executive News Service option, an
electronic clipping service, scans all news data bases and '`?`"~
~?
~,.
stores items in mailboxes according to preset parameters, such
as names of countries in bureau's coverage area. Other benefits
include access to special interest groups (SIGs) dedicated to
the IBM PC, Lotus, computer hardware and software reviews,
public domain software, airline and hotel guides, etc. We plan
to explore other databases in the near future as time permits.
The University of Miami's database on Cuba, funded by Radio
Marti, is scheduled to be online very soon.
Our CANA and NOTIMEX circuits suffered 20 and 48 hours
of outages respectively due to continued problems on dedicated
feeds via landline.
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Our primary AUTODIN communications paths have been
remarkably trouble-free ever since NAS Naval Communications Unit
installed its new MODE I computer. However, all outgoing
traffic must still be handled manually at headquarters due to
slow progress on getting a requested software change through the
military bureaucracy. Latest word is that the request is now
awaiting DCA approval, having moved successfully but slowly
through the lower echelons.
Cruising
Much effort was expended observing Haitian and
Dominican Republic radio behavior due to deteriorating political
situations in both countries. Unfortunately, the bureau's
primary antenna for those areas had to be dismantled temporarily
due to construction on ad3oining NSGA property through which the
antenna passes. A close watch was kept on Catholic-sponsored
Radio Soleil in Port au Prince which would likely start
reporting local developments once government censorship is
lifted. Several recordings of Haitian broadcasts in French and
Creole were forwarded to headquarters for evaluation.
A mini-survey was conducted at a potential remote antenna
site at Boca Chica Naval Air Station, 10 miles from the bureau,
to determine extent of interference to target broadcasts by
periodic radar blips on all wavelengths every 12 seconds.
Evaluation of recordings shows radar noise not to be an
impediment to processing of either weak or strong signals. Next
phase of survey will be conducted after erection of a temporary
2,400-ft longwire antenna, hopefully by late February.
In a continuation of a low-keyed "war of the airwaves,"
Cuba again attempted to block local reception of anti-Castro
stations broadcasting from south Florida. A review of available
frequency data shows that all operating frequencies for
mediumwave transmitters of 25 or more kilowatts in southern
Florida and along the Gulf Coast are now also used by at least
one Cuban transmitter emanating from central and western Cuba.
In response to an inquiry from the American Embassy in
Port au Prince on 16 January regarding possible FBIS monitoring
of Haitian Creole broadcasts, it was advised of our inability to
provide such service. Its request to USINT/Havana for data on
Havana and Moscow broadcasts to Haiti was referred to Panama
Bureau and headquarters.
On 25 January the BBC Newsburo requested immediate filing
of significant political reaction to an 11-week tour of the
Caribbean by an English cricket team. The BBC later sent a
message of appreciation for responsive items filed by bureau.
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At the request of VOA/Radio Marti's Research Department,
the cruising monitor recorded and mailed six consecutive
broadcasts of Radio Havana's program to the Americas in Spanish
carried at 2300-2315 GMT for purposes of evaluating differences
in program content from that carried by Havana domestic
services. It would seem Radio Marti does not trust FBIS'
evaluation as we "only perform spot checks of Cuban broadcasts."
The overall design and technical details of the
bureau's TV antenna system, which is to replace the damaged log
periodic array for channels 7-13, were worked out with personnel
from Scala Electronic Corporation in Medford, Oregon (Scala
produces the "Cadillac" of the TV antenna world!). The new
antenna array, to be delivered in early February, will consist
of two pairs of
single-channel
horizontally stacked, high quality,
10-element Yagis, one each for channels 9 and
13
carrying
the two Cuban TV networks transmitted via relays in
Matanzas
Province.
Should these Yagis produce the expected
improved
reception,
more may be ordered for the secondary
channels
monitorable
in Key West (CH 2,5,6). We would then
remove the CH 2-6 log periodic array on our second tower, not
only for reception but also for safety reasons as the tower was
not designed to support the weight of the array.
A headquarters-supplied Jerrold VIP-307 VHF TV/FM antenna,
which was mounted on the second tower immediately after the
November accident, was fitted with a heavy duty Hy-Gain HAM IV
rotor and control unit. A second locally procured Jerrold
broadband TV antenna of the same type was installed on the 70-ft
wooden pole near the northeast corner of the operations
building. A new preamplifier, lead-in, and rotor control cables
were also installed. This assembly replaced a heavily corroded
and partially damaged antenna system installed on the pole 7
years ago. The temporary broadband TV antennas have
significantly improved reception quality of Havana telecasts.
We are now getting 5X5 color and audio about 80 percent of the
time, with monitorable reception almost 100 percent of the time,
whereas previously color came in only 20 percent and monitorable
video only 70 percent of the time. In this regard, the tower
accident could be termed "a blessing in disguise!"
The 750-ft longwire antenna oriented toward the eastern
Caribbean, which had been dismantled due to nearby construction,
was reinstalled on a priority basis on 31 January in view of
breaking developments in Haiti.
Because of continuing problems with a Sony VCR tape stacker
combination used to obtain some 18 hours of unattended Havana TV
recordings on weekends, four locally procured Sony SL-10 VCR's
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were mounted in a custom-made rack in the TV monitoring area.
Patch panels and cables in the TV signal distribution rack were
reconfigured to accommodate the additional recorders.
A list and diagrams of bureau antennas with detailed
descriptions and azimuthal information on a Key West-centered
equidistant projection chart were forwarded to MOD at its
request.
After much frustration in procuring the needed technical
advice, we were finally able to come up with the right
combination of switch settings on our two IBM PC's so as to
utilize the Superdrive and Superspool features of the AST boards
supplied with the units. A "full house" of 640K ram is
necessary, but worth the expense. The RAM drive and print
spooling features have greatly improved the speed and ease of
use of both Lotus and MultiMate software programs used by the
bureau. The RAM-resident "Spotlight" program, with screen
overlay of calendar, notepad, phone directory, calculator, etc.,
has also proven to be most useful.
Deputy Chief/Operations Officer) (has
officially put in for retirement after 27 years federal service,
to be effective no later than 2 January 1987.
Part-time teletypist) (received a
well-deserved promotion to GS-5 effective 19 January.
B. Building & Grounds
A contract was signed with a local landscaping company,
From Earth & Sea, to resod ops building compound and improve
plant beds in front of bureau. They will also provide regular
maintenance thereafter, including mowing of antenna fields and
controlling weeds along sides and rear of building. Work will
be accomplished in mid-February.
1. Former DRD editor and wife visited the
bureau on 14 January while on pr vate travel in Key West.
2. A three-man team of FCC field operations specialists
from Fort Lauderdale, led by Enforcement Division
Engineer-in-Charge Robert C. McKinney, visited bureau on
28 January for briefing and discussion of Cuban interference
with U.S. stations in south Florida.
STAT
STAT
STAT
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3. Paul Schleisman, director of technical operations for
VOA/Radio Marti, visited bureau 23 January for followup
discussion on installation of separate equipment rack for Havana
TV recordings for Radio Marti.
Chief, Key West Bureau
Attachment:
Washington TIMES article
Production Report
cc: C/Panama, C/Paraguay Bureaus
STAT
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~yelunegh~~~m~S~mee a, ro.
Castro appears to be frail
inn a TV film of his sueech
Roer Fontaine
TON TIME?
In the 27 yearn since Fidel Castro came to power,
Cuba's voluble, publicity-seeking leader has always per-
fortned to a Nveaudience. But his last public appearance
on television wan pre-recorded and heavily edited -
revlving rumors that he !s seriously ill.
A film of Mr. Castro's Dec. 28 speech to Cuba's con-
greaa,made available to The Washington Times, showed
hlmgrny-faced, thin and tired. The Cuban leader slurred
h1a words, hesitated often and appeared to suffer from
memory lapses.
Those who saw the tape were struck by the contrast
2 to Mr. Castro's previous diatribes. Unlike the geriatric
Soviet leaders who subsidized his Cuban revolution, Mr.
Castro had always mesmerized his people with mar-
athon speeches marked by colorful verbiage attd much
showed less of A-1r. Castro than an announcer reading
l
th
eng
y extracts of his speech. It a~as interspersed with
one- and two-minute segments of Mr. ('astro giving his
country's version of a State of the Uttion address -but
,. - - _. _
~a
Cuban Premier Fidel Castro appeared hale and robust
In this picture taken Ihree years ago.
that the edited portions of the speech would stave re- Jan. 1 is exceeded in importance In the Cuban pollti-
vealed an even more fragile Cuban dictator. As it was, cal calendar only by July 26, the anniversary of Mr.
IVir. Castro was seated ~- a rare event in itself -and the Castro's attack on the Moncada barracks in Santiago -
camera avoided close-ups. considered b the re ime as th b 1 f h C
Y
b
B e egtnn ng o t e an
u
Cuba watchers wlto have seen the tape caution that revolution.
? no hard conclusions can be drawtt.l'Itere have long been Although Mr. Castro hae not made a speech in public
rumors that Mr. Castro suffers front emphysema aqd since Dec. 28 he has met with foreign visitors. A test of
lung cancer. his health and endurance will be the Cuban Communist
2 The lung disease theory was first advanced here Party's third congress, which is scheduled to begin in a
when the American news media reported two months week.
~ agothatMr.Castrohadgivenupcigarsmoking-ahabit Ordinarily, he would make a speech at the final sea-
of his for nearly 45 years. sion of the congress, scheduled Feb. 7. But his absence,
Mr. Castro will be 60 next August. His December or an abbreviated appeat?attce, before hundreds of re-
appearance, compared to a film clip of a speech he had porters will increase doubts about Itis ability to run the
2 made ht Nicaragua 10 months earlier, showed that Mr. country, and further fuel rumors that he may resign
Castro had aged considerably. He was thin and holiow? from one of his posts, according to some c bservera.
'checked. Hla Soviet-style military uniform seemed too Mr. Castro is now president and primp minister as
big for him while his beard and hair had turned almost well as party leader and commander-in chief of the
entirely gray. armed forces. If he gives up one of these positions, it
Only at the end or the speech, when he criticized the will continue a pattern of top Cuban leaders who in the
United States and Its relations with Latin America, did past year have resigned their government posts but re-
Mr, Castro show some of his former fire. But the mo- tained their party slots.
ment was brief -less than 30 seconds of sustained, Old-line Castro confidantes such as the minister of
reasonably high-powered oratory. the interior, Ramiro Valdes, and Minister of Health Ser-
Rumors of Mr. Castro's illness, particularly at the gio del Valle were all removed from their government
beginning of a new year, are not' new in Cuba or In the lobs last year.
exile community. But this time they were given added One State Department official pointed out that ac-
impetus by reports of his performance at the national cording to the Cuban constitution at least one man must
assetnbfy, and his unexplained absence from the public hold both the presidency and the premiership.
eye on Jan. 1, when he usually makes a speech marking Amending the constitution, he said, should have oc-
the 27th anniversary of hla victory over dictator Ful- curred at the national assembly, but it did not, reducing
gencio Batista. the likelihood of Mt: Castro dropping one of his poste.
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TOTAL PUBLISHABLE WORDAGE FILED DURING MONTH: 1521110
TOTAL NON-PUBLISHABLE WORDAGE FILED DURING MONTH :14Q,26O
TOTAL NUMBER OF PUBLISHABLE ITEMS FILED DURING MONTH 619_
BROADCAST PRESS AGENCIES PUBLICATIONS
II. INPUT OF REGULAR COVERAGE: 2,575 14,700 21
tPUBLISHABLE WORDS PER WEEK MIN MIN ISSUES
III. OUTPUT FRAM ALL SOURCES:
(PUBLISHABLE WDRDS PER MONTHI
BAHAMAS
Nassau Domestic Service
in English
Nassau THE TRIBUNE
in English
1,440
BARBADOS
Bridgetown CANA
in English
Bridgetown ADVOCATE in English
Bridgetown SUNDAY ADVOCATE
in English
BELIZE
Belize City Domestic Service
__,_`570
in English
CUBA
Havana Radio Progreso Network
__,^61740
in Spanish
Havana Radio Reloj Network _____,_8,x650
in Spanish
Havana Radio Rebelde Network _ _ 610
in Spanish ~~~
Havana Radio Periodico Del Aire .~_ 21.580
in Spanish
7.116 5 0
__ 11420
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CUBA
Havana Tele-Rebelde Network
in Spanish
Havana Television Cubana Network
in Spanish
Havana Television Service
in Spanish
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Santo Domingo Cadena Brea Pena
in Spanish
Santo Domingo LISTIN DIARIO
in Spanish
JAMAICA
Kingston Domestic Service
in English
Kingston DAILY GLEANER
in English
Kingston SUNDAY GLEANER
in English
MEXICO
Mexico City NOTIMEX
in Spanish
NETHERLANDS ANTILLES
Bonaire Trans World Radio
in English
THE NETHERLANDS
Hilversum International
in English
OTHER SOURCES:
BELIZE
Belize City THE BELIZE TIMES
in English
5ANT0 DOMINGO
Santo Domingo Radio Mil
in Spanish
Santo Domingo Radio Commercial
in Spanish
SURINAME
Paramaribo International Service
in English
16U
^11574
760
-0-
,__2 5 L5 3 U
_4,460
670
150
1 "bOO_
79u
____11350
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