Radio and television broadcasting to Cuba: U.S. communication policy and the International First Amendment

Abstract

This paper examines the international legal, regulatory, and policy questions raised by U.S. government broadcasting over Radio and TV Marti. The paper also argues that the U.S. broadcasts to Cuba are the latest in America's attempt to establish a type of international First Amendment using Article 19 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights.

The U.S. attempt to use Article 19 to justify broadcasting to Cuba is based on that part of the international legal framework which has least support from the world community. Justification for the broadcasts is even more tenuous because they violate the legally binding and more widely accepted regulations of the International Telecommunications Union.