March 16, 2025 (EIRNS)—Decades-old, CIA-run, official U.S. government propaganda outlets around the world just took a big hit. In a move dubbed “Bloody Saturday” by those affected, a late-night Executive Order issued March 14 by President Trump decreed that the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which operates Voice of America (VOA) and the Office for Cuba Broadcasting (i.e., Radio y Televisión Martí), “shall be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” In other words, only those functions specifically mandated by law will be allowed to continue. The personnel and functioning of the entire USAGM were slashed, effective immediately, with more than 1,300 full-time journalists, producers and other staffers at VOA and the Cuban network notified that they have been put on leave as of Saturday morning, March 15.
The funding for the whole gang of so-called “private” international media networks funded through USAGM—Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks—has likewise been cut, and they are screeching. RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus issued a statement on March 15 raving that “the cancellation of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s grant agreement would be a massive gift to America’s enemies. The Iranian Ayatollahs, Chinese communist leaders, and autocrats in Moscow and Minsk would celebrate the demise of RFE/RL after 75 years. Handing our adversaries a win would make them stronger and America weaker.” Capus made clear he hopes a bipartisan bunch of nutcases in the U.S. Congress might still come to the rescue.
