Cuba blasts satellite dishes as U.S. hikes transmissions

Aug. 9, 2006, 9:18PM
Cuba blasts satellite dishes as U.S. hikes transmissions

Associated Press

HAVANA — TV satellite dishes are a "germ-filled stew" which receive
subversive propaganda, Communist officials told Cubans Wednesday as
Washington increased transmissions of its TV channel to the island while
Fidel Castro recovers from surgery.

The Communist Party daily Granma also alluded to Miami news programs and
talk shows that have been filled in recent days with speculation about
Castro's health and the island's future. The shows are received on
illegal dishes, highly popular here among those who can afford them.

There may be as many as 10,000 of the dishes in Cuba, each one linked to
perhaps hundreds of televisions by cables, Reuters reported.

"In the case of Cuba, a good part of the programming received this way
has content that is destabilizing, interventionist, subversive and
encourages, more and more, the carrying out of terrorist activities,"
Granma said.

The U.S. government this week scaled up transmissions by its TV Marti,
which features anti-Castro programming.

The government's attack on satellite dishes comes as Cubans' uncertainty
over the health of the man who has ruled them for 47 years begins to ease.

State-run media Wednesday ran messages of support for Castro, who turns
80 Sunday.

Most Cubans interviewed said they had not seen the latest transmissions,
but one man in western Havana said he saw some of Monday night's
broadcast before it was jammed by the government.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/4106646.html