The decision of the Bush administration to use C-130 Air Force military

planes to increment subversive broadcasts to Cuba raises the temperature of

already heated bilateral relations. Although all the new destabilizing measures

are aggressive, use of a warplane is especially alarming due to the real risk of

incidents on the maritime frontier between the two countries. US invasion of

Cuban radio-electronic space began in 1960 with 20-hour a day programming that

was a virtual weapon, including messages to secret agents and saboteurs to carry

out terrorist actions on the Island. The situation escalated under Ronald

Reagan, who initiated powerful transmissions by the misnomered Radio Marti;

ill-named because Cubans are particularly offended by use of national hero Jose

Marti´s name in such connection, as Marti repeatedly warned of the dangers to

Cuba and Latin America from "the monster of the North." George Bush

Senior added to the insults with TV Marti broadcasts in Spanish, but the Cuban

government has limited itself to technically impeding the signals and denouncing

the invasion to international organizations and at world fora, particularly the

International Telecommunications Union. In this context, Cuban analysts have

warned of the danger of C-130s flying in anti-Cuban actions, including the risk

of a mechanical difficulty or other accident that could provoke an unforeseeable

outcome.