Following the announcement that a left-leaning group of investors is buying Radio Mambí, the longtime talk-radio station of choice for Miami’s exile community, conservative media and Republican politicians seem to agree: George Soros is trying to take over Cuban radio.
Soros, a global philanthropist and substantial Democratic Party donor, has been name-dropped by members of Congress opposed to the deal, which Fox News has labeled a “Soros Takeover.” Some of Mambí’s hosts have cited his links to the sale in their decision to resign.
And this month, an unsolicited text blast from a conservative media startup warned that “the international socialist billionaire” Soros is “trying to silence conservative Spanish voices with the purchase of” WAQI-710 AM Mambí.
The fixation on Soros — the frequent subject of internet conspiracies — is rooted in fact: A company involved in the financing of the purchase of Mambí is linked by corporate management to Soros Fund Management, the principal asset manager for the organization through which Soros has distributed billions in funding to political and social causes around the world.
But Soros and the company purchasing Mambí say the assertion that he will exert editorial control over Miami’s Spanish-language radio is false — illustrating how, in a medium dominated by controversy over misinformation, the line between fact and fiction can be difficult to find.
“Scapegoats are really easy to come by and manipulate. So you just grab one issue and twist it as much as you can and repeat it,” said Julio Ligorría, a vice president at the public relations firm Balsera Communications who specializes in crisis communication and monitors misinfomation. “That’s why radio is so effective, because you have this 24/7 mechanism for repeating information that has a very active portion of the electorate who’s going to listen.”
So far, what is known publicly about Soros’ financial involvement in the privately funded deal comes from the information volunteered by Latino Media Network, the media startup purchasing Mambí and 17 other radio stations across the country in what has been described as a $60 million, all-cash deal with TelevisaUnivision.
Latino Media Network publicly stated on the day of the announcement that it had secured financing for the sale “from a diverse set of investors,” and debt financing from Lakestar Finance LLC, the investment entity affiliated with Soros Fund Management.
LMN has otherwise declined to answer questions about Lakestar Finance. But both LMN and Soros deny assertions that he’ll decide how the station will be run, or what is said on its shows. “Mr. Soros was not personally involved in the transaction,” his personal spokesman told the Miami Herald.
Still, critics of the deal say Soros’ financial ties to the deal are important, given the way he influences policy with money. They also note with umbrage that Mambí’s hosts have been accused of spreading misinformation, and that some of the investors in the company purchasing Mambí have been among the foremost voices warning that manipulated messaging in Spanish-language media is influencing Latino voters.
“We are legally alerting the conservative Hispanic media audience to the realities of the Soros takeover of Radio Mambí on multiple platforms,” Jorge Arrizurieta, the president of Americano Media, said of the Soros text blast sent as part of an effort to promote the outlet. “We will continue with this marketing campaign.”
Who will own Radio Mambí?
Mambí continues to be operated by TelevisaUnivision, and its sale must be approved by the Federal Communication Commission.
To be sure, some of LMN’s equity partners are supporters of Democratic causes. But information filed with the FCC shows that Soros is not among them.
Stephanie Valencia, a co-founder of Latino Media Network and former special assistant to President Barack Obama, is a 55% owner of LMN. Another co-founder, Jess Morales Rocketto, who led Hillary Clinton’s 2016 digital fundraising strategy, is a 37% owner. Both are associated with EquisLabs, which conducts focus groups and polling among Latinos in the U.S. and has built a reputation as an authority on disinformation in Spanish-language media.
Minority owners, also listed in FCC documents, include Republicans and Democrats, but not Soros or Lakestar Finance LLC.
Soros and politics
Soros’ seed money has made him controversial around the globe for decades.
A Holocaust survivor who was born in Hungary in 1930, Soros built his wealth through hedge fund investment and currency speculation, and since the 1980s has funneled billions into NGOs and social causes. In the U.S., Soros has been a major contributor to Democratic candidates and progressive causes, including criminal justice. Last September, he personally contributed $125 million to a political committee called Democracy PAC II.
His money, often funneled through his Open Society Foundations organization, has earned him enemies, who sometimes portray Soros as a global puppet master and a villain. In 2018, Soros was among the people who received a pipe bomb in the mail from a South Florida man and Trump supporter now known as the MAGA bomber.
Eduardo Gamarra, a politics and international relations professor at Florida International University, said Soros has been the target of right-wing groups and white supremacists since the 1980s, when the Open Society Foundations tried to look for alternative ways to fight the war on drugs. Conspiracies about Soros aren’t confined to English-language media, he said.
“If you tune into any social media outlet in Latin America, you’ll find George Soros,” he said.
Gamarra and many others see anti-Semitic overtones in the frequent mentions of Soros, a Jew who as a teenager survived the Holocaust in Hungary by keeping his true identity secret. State Sen. Annette Taddeo, a Jewish Democrat from Miami running for Congress, called on Republicans to “stand up and say, ‘This is not OK.’”
“So many people say they’re pro-Israel but yet don’t say anything about the anti-Semitic attacks, including what’s spread about George Soros,” Taddeo said.
But critics of the deal say that Soros speaks with his money, and promotes ideals that don’t align with Miami’s political and social beliefs.
“I know we talked a lot about freedom for Cuba, we need to start worrying about freedom for America with these voices that coming, especially being funded by George Soros,” Republican U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez said last month during a press conference to denounce the sale of Mambí.
Lourdes Ubieta, a former Mambí host who resigned and now hosts a program on Americano Media, told the Herald that Soros “would never give money if he was not involved ....”
Whatever Soros’ involvement, Gamarra said he doesn’t see what all the fuss is about.
“What are they accusing George Soros of? Of buying a radio station in the United States to promote a liberal agenda?” said Gamarra. “What’s the difference between that and the creation of Americano Media?”
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