CBS President Visits Castro
Media Monitor | By Reed Irvine and Cliff Kincaid | September 10, 2001
“The moguls mixed fun with work, hitting the beach, visiting jazz clubs and drinking ‘a lot of white rum,’ according to a subsequent press report.”
The liberal media's love affair with Communist Cuba and its dictator Fidel Castro continues. CBS President and CEO Leslie Moonves and other television industry officials recently traveled to Cuba and had a private dinner with Castro. It appears the executives may have broken the law.
Tim Johnson of the Miami Herald reported, "The moguls mixed fun with work, hitting the beach, visiting jazz clubs and drinking 'a lot of white rum,' according to a subsequent press report." That subsequent report was from the New York Post, which quoted one member of the group as saying, "None of us had ever been to Cuba before. We went to the beach. We went to a lot of jazz clubs. And we drank a lot of white rum ... Cuba is the most romantic, soulful and sexy country I've ever been to in my life."
Johnson said the media delegation included a high-powered assortment of television, music and film executives. Others included MTV chief executive Tom Freston, who controls 64 domestic and international channels; William Morris talent agent Jim Wiatt; Vanity Fair magazine editor Graydon Carter; and independent producer Brad Grey, whose credits include the HBO hit The Sopranos.
The visit has received some unwelcome publicity from comedian David Letterman, host of the "Late Show" on CBS. Moonves told the Hollywood Reporter that Letterman has carried jokes about the trip "a little longer than I'd like." On one program, Letterman featured a skit titled "Lunch with Les and Fidel." An actor playing Castro said, "Les, throughout the decades, to insure a strong dictatorship, I have starved my countrymen and tortured and murdered my political opponents." Moonves' character then confessed to his own sin, taking responsibility for the ill-fated Bette Midler show. "Some of it is funny and some of it isn't," Moonves said about Letterman's jokes.
The Treasury Department doesn't find it funny either. Johnson reported that the department, which monitors travel to Cuba, is "seeking details about what the entertainment executives did — and whether their activities were covered by a license allegedly issued by the Treasury Department before the trip." Johnson explained, "Under the 1963 Trading with the Enemy Act, U.S. travel to Cuba is sharply restricted, although certain categories such as business executives, journalists, religious activists and others may visit the island with a Treasury Department license. Spokesmen for the entertainment executives said they obtained permission before flying to Cuba. They voiced puzzlement over the additional questioning from the feds."
The travel has been restricted as part of the effort to put pressure on Castro to move away from his Communist dictatorship. Tourist dollars help Castro's regime. The travel ban is part of the general economic embargo of the island. President Bush said on July 13th that he was tightening enforcement of the embargo. In order to be legitimate, the visit by the media moguls had to be journalistic in its orientation. But the stories about rum and wild parties suggest there was another motive as well. They have made fools of themselves while aiding a Communist dictator.
Reed Irvine is the former Chairman of Accuracy In Media and Cliff Kincaid is the Editor of the AIM Report.
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