Radio and TV Martí have roles to play as Cuba enters a new era

[Commentary] When the Berlin Wall came down, Eastern Europe liberated itself and the Soviet Union collapsed, the role of US international broadcasting was universally recognized.

In the wake of these world-changing events, Václav Havel, Lech Walesa, Boris Yeltsin and other new leaders insisted that Radio Free Europe (RFE), Radio Liberty (RL) and the Voice of America were central to the peaceful democratic transitions in their countries. Western broadcasts provided essential information to all those dedicated to change and helped accelerate that change. Cuba is approaching such a moment, and once again the United States has a powerful instrument in place to help shape the outcome: Miami-based Radio and TV Martí.

[A. Ross Johnson, a fellow at the Wilson Center and the Hoover Institution, was director of Radio Free Europe from 1988 to 1991. S. Enders Wimbush was director of Radio Liberty from 1987 to 1993 and a member of the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors from 2010 to 2012.]