Like Café Cubano or cafecito, an espresso shot of caffeine and sugar that Elon Musk could power SpaceX with, Radio Mambi, WAQI 710, is part of the fabric of Miami. It is a Spanish-language radio station in a city where many neighborhoods are 80% or more native Spanish speakers. Like telenovelas, it is somehow always there, in the background, part of the pulse of this very much alive American city.
On its airwaves, decades of Latin American Marxist dictators and other Communist charlatans and fellow travelers have been given a dose of that most American of things: free speech. Each has been roasted more times than a turkey on “San Givin,” as the local Cuban wags might put it. Spanish speakers sometimes have the experience of being questioned by an English speaker on hearing their conversation. What on earth were you two arguing about? Arguing? We were just talking! Well, Radio Mambi is just talking! Talking in a community that likes to talk and likes to give its opinions and likes its freedom to do both.
You might hear Cuban voices with the husky sound of a thousand cigars and good Rum, Venezuelans, Colombians, and more. The theme is freedom, and the theme isn’t just freedom in other countries. And for George Soros and his political cronies on the Democrat far-left, this radio station is “talking a little treason” about left-wing ideology. Of course, that’s an Irish phrase describing what you do at the pub when you argue over the fate of the world. And for a time, that was treason in Ireland. It still is in much of Latin America. In the United States, talking freely should never be treason.
Being the billionaire that he is, Soros has joined in on an $80 million venture to buy up large chunks of existing Spanish language media, including TelevisaUnivisión. The goal is to jump-start the Latino Media Network. Is this a business venture or a blatantly political act by leftist leaders? They are terrified that the Latino vote is slipping away from them. Biden supporters still blame Radio Mambi and other Spanish-language media outlets for Biden not winning Florida. They think simple-minded Latino voters were somehow deluded by what they heard. They want to stop the bleeding of these voters quickly.
Enter Soros and his cronies, who believe ownership is the shortcut to controlling the narrative. In the tradition of Marcus Arileus’s saying, “He who eats my bread, does my will,” it is cheaper to buy a political constituency through media manipulation than engage in fair-minded political debate. If so, the FCC should look very carefully at this as an attempt to purchase and then shut down profitable media outlets that oppose the White House’s agenda.
A soldier who fought for Cuban independence in 1898 was called a Mambi. And now, Radio Mambi is carrying on that fighting spirit. Rather than relying on the political neutrality of the FCC, some hosts at Radio Mambi have banded together to take matters into their own hands. Despite being offered $120,000 bonuses to stay on until the FCC approval process is complete, many hosts are ready to walk rather than take Soros’ money. This could destabilize the station’s revenue stream, in effect bankrupting the station’s balance sheet. Since this is a package sale, the FCC could hold up the final license approval for the entire package, which could be completed before the November elections. Are Soros and company a match for a group of devoted patriots at a regional radio station?
As Twitter is finding out, it is hard to stop a billionaire intent on taking over a business. But if your former country was lost because of false narratives, you tend to fight hard against promoting false narratives. In fact, you tend to see all narratives as pretty much false. In other countries, narratives are called propaganda. Here they are called public relations. It’s mindless spin, designed to fool people, any way you look at it. And if enough employees at Radio Mambi want no part of George Soros’ attempt to promote mindless spin to the Latino community, he may find this cafecito way too hot to swallow.
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