The media and coverage of the virus with Frank Burke, author & businessman

The media and coverage of the virus with Frank Burke, author & businessman 03/20 by Silvio Canto Jr | Politics:

Guest: Frank Burke, author, businessman.....We will talk about the media and the coverage of the Coronavirus...and other stories.......

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Friday’s video: Trump and the media.....

Friday’s video:  

Trump and the media.....

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‘Down goes the peso, down goes the peso’

Down Mexico way, the peso is dropping and dropping fast.  It is not a devaluation, such as in 1976 or the one that I lived through in 1982.  It is more like 1994, when the peso floated and crashed over a week.

Nevertheless, it is a problem.  

This is from Mexico News Daily:  

The bad news continues for the Mexican peso, which fell to a record low of more than 24 to the United States dollar early Wednesday morning before recovering slightly.

According to financial data and media company Bloomberg, a single greenback was trading at 24.11 pesos at about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday. Just after 9:00 a.m. CT, the peso had recovered to 23.75 to the U.S. dollar.

In banks, the U.S. dollar was selling for 24.12 pesos on Wednesday morning, the newspaper El Financiero reported.

The peso problems are not really related to the coronavirus.  As we have reported, there is a business slowdown south of the border.  My friends tell me that the slowdown is a lack of confidence on President Andres Lopez-Obrador.

What does this mean for us, especially in this crisis?  

The virus will stop Americans from traveling to the resorts and that will cripple the peso even further.

The weak peso will create more capital flight — at least I saw that in the past.  

The current economic problems, plus the weak peso, will probably drive people north.  Sadly, the biggest beneficiaries will be the cartels who have dollars in their pockets and will likely use them to recruit people.

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.

2017: Making Radio Marti great again

President Reagan created Radio Martí in 1983. It was intended to bring real news to Cubans. The broadcasts became popular because they made for more than just news. They included baseball round tables, music charts, movie reviews, etc. It was a Miami station but broadcasting to Cubans.

Radio Martí was reaching so many people that the regime would conveniently shut off the lights to censor the broadcasts.  In Cuba, you could hear Radio Martí on an AM frequency.  I used to hear the short wave broadcasts.  Later, TV Martí was added to the package, and that was successful as well.

I remember a Cuban saying something like this: “Why do the lights always go out at 8 p.m.?”  Then he answered, “Radio Martí.”

Down in Miami, a number of Cuban-Americans want Radio Martí to get back to talking “freedom for Cuba.”  This is from news reports:

A Miami-based group that takes a hardline in opposition to Castro government has funded a television campaign calling on Florida residents to call the White House and urge President Donald Trump to name a new director of the U.S. broadcasting operation directed at the Cuban people. 

The Inspire America Foundation – which supports Cuban dissidents and pro-democracy groups while conducting polls and preparing policy proposals – is running the ads on America Teve, a Spanish-language TV station in Miami.

We support the change in leadership.

During the Obama years, Radio and TV Martí switched from promoting freedom in Cuba to President Obama’s engagement policy.

How did that engagement work out?  It’s the same old regime that attacks dissidents and has its hands in all of the hard currency in the country.

We call on President Trump to make Radio and TV Martí great again.  They should go back to telling the Cuban people the truth about their regime and how it treats dissidents.

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.