Trump orders the dismantling of Radio and TV Mart, and employees are placed on leave

By Nora Gámez Torres Updated March 15, 2025 5:18 PM|

President Donald Trump has ordered the dismantling of the parent agency of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, which oversees Radio and Televisión Martí, a Reagan-era effort to promote democracy and the free flow of information to Cubans on the island. In an executive order late Friday to “continue the reduction of the federal bureaucracy,” Trump mandated the U.S. Agency for Global Media and six other small agencies to “reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law.” On Saturday, all full-time employees and some contractors at the Martí stations, which are based in Miami-Dade County, were placed on administrative leave with full pay and benefits, according to sources familiar with the decision. “During the period that you are on administrative leave, you are not to enter USAGM premises,” the email obtained by the Miami Herald said. ”Since you will not have any official business during this time, on request, you will be immediately expected to surrender your official USAGM identification badge, press pass, telephone devices, and other equipment.” The executive order also affects other U.S. government media outlets overseen by the U.S. Agency for Global Media, including Voice of America. According to media reports, the agency also placed all VOA full-time staffers, including journalists with the Haitian Creole service, on leave and ended all contracts for the private nonprofit broadcasters it funds, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks. The Office of Cuban Broadcasting had an annual budget of $12 million, after reductions in recent years. Previously, it received more than $20 million annually from Congress.

Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article302141299.html#storylink=cpy