MONTHLY REPORT--KEY WEST BUREAU--DECEMBER 1987

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-00733R000100070001-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 13, 2012
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: January 6, 1988
• Content Type: MEMO

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/13: CIA-RDP88-00733R000100070001-6
ROUTING AND RECORD SHEET
SUBJECT: (Optional)
Monthly Report -- Key West Bureau
Chief, Operations Group
TO: (Officer designation, room number, and
building)
C/Ops
3.
C/E&PS
DD/FBIS
PO/RA
SA/CD
C/AS
C/AG
Admin Staff C
.cow-S
14. G/~7PrQ
C/BE1F
15.E ~4/ i
,/ ec. Reg.
61 O USE PREVIOUS
FORORM EDITIONS
79
2z
W)
OFFICER'S
INITIALS
a
r
STAT
COMMENTS (Number each comment to show from whom
to whom. Draw a line across column after each comment.)
r~`s.~LI /
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/13: CIA-RDP88-00733R000100070001-6
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/13: CIA-RDP88-00733R000100070001-6
L rr
FBIS
MAIN P.O. BOX 1056
KEY WEST, FLORIDA 33041-1056
NAVAL AIR STATION
TRUMAN ANNEX BLDG. 1355
OFFICE: [phone]
[phone]
[phone]
TELEX: 803046
FBIS-4202-88
6 January 1988
MEMORANDUM TO: Director, Foreign Broadcast Information Service
THROUGH: Chief, Operations Group
SUBJECT: Monthly Report--Key West Bureau--December 1987
Our production figures soared this month to 214,350
words--our highest count ever, surpassing July's previous all-time
peak of 202,600 words. Out of this number, Haiti continues to
represent over twenty percent of our output.
A. Monitorial/Editorial
1. A Cuban Central Committee Party plenum, the National
Assembly session, reaction to the prison riots in the United States,
and the ever talkative Fidel helped heap the work load on our
monitors. On the lighter side, Fidel seemed to show up about every
other day at the dedication of another child care center, one time
even posing on a teeter-totter with some bewildered looking local
official.
2. Although events in Haiti were not as dramatic this month
as in November, our contractor continued to closely listen to what
the various factions were saying as the country remained at
loggerheads over the next stage in the presidential elections. She
also found time to keep us up to date on the radio behavior of the
various stations that were temporarily knocked off the air following
attacks on the eve of the elections in late November. Through her
own initiative, she also provided a complete rundown of TV
operations in Port-au-Prince.
chief and chief engineer visited the
n
Radio Relay Facility in Miami 17
pros that surfaced during our ASCII "Alpha
Tests" in October. A memo on the trip was sent to Chief/Operations
Group, Chief/FED, and Chief/ADD.
FOREIGN( BROADCAST INFORMATION SERVICE
KEY WEST BUREAU
STAT
STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/13: CIA-RDP88-00733R000100070001-6
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/13: CIA-RDP88-00733R000100070001-6
C. Technical
1. our intrepid PC problem buster,
overcame some initial memory problems--computer, not human--and
installed our BACH 2.0 on 30 December. Thanks to some tips from
and Logicon contractor we were able to
start the new year off right with the latest automated system.
2. Our high-rope antenna troubleshooters defied some of south
Florida's exciting winds this month to complete almost all of our
current round of maintenance. In the process, they reoriented our
6.0 dipole on Managua, repaired the cruising monitor's rotary
antenna, and relocated an experimental Yagi antenna to what we hope
will be a better position to bring in Cuba's Channel 5.
3. We received four Comscribe III C printers this month and
were so impressed with their versatility that we would like to
substitute them on our commo lines for the Okidata printers, which
we would then reserve for our PC work stations.
D. Cruising
1. As part of our effort to provide backstop coverage to
Panama, we discovered we have good reception of the Mexican
Morelos 1 satellite. A local dealer arranged for a demo at a
favorite Polynesian restaurant where he had installed some of his
equipment. Because of the low price and good picture, headquarters
gave us the go-ahead to buy the dish for $1.2K.
2. Bureau Broadcast Monitor received an
unexpected gift this month when FED sent him a CUBIC 3030 (V)
receiver for evaluation. The fancy receiver can be preset for up to
100 frequencies that can be recalled by pressing two digits. It is
also capable of scanning a group of channels or sweeping a band of
frequencies. Our report is due in mid-February.
STAT
STAT
STAT
STAT
1. Our lengthy monitorial TDY program with Panama Bureau
ended this month with the departure of on the 18th. RTAT
Much of our month's enormous word count can be traced to who STAT
indefatigably churned out take after take of Fidel's utterances.
Despite her long hours, left Key West dragging and kicking STAT
since she enjoyed her sta an had become an honorary Conch. We
also said good-bye to who passed the communications STAT
responsibilities on to who arrived mid-month with STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/13: CIA-RDP88-00733R000100070001-6
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/13: CIA-RDP88-00733R000100070001-6
her husband If we get , our teleops in waiting, STAT
aboard soon, we will be out of the woods and will reluctantly
consent to let 0 go home again. STAT
2. Key West artist and erstwhile bureau STAT
cleaner-upper, returned to work on the 22nd. We were STAT
kept neat and tidy durin maternity leave by another local STAT
artist, STAT
B. Buildings and Grounds
We purchased and set up two metal sheds this month--one at
the bureau and one at the housing site--to help stow some of the
storage room spillover and to get our lawnmowers/garden tools out of
the weather.
IV. VISITS
From the bureau:
Bureau Chief and Chief Technician
to Miami, STAT
The bureau entertained its many Navy friends at a champagne and
canape Christmas party on 11 December. The occasion also provided
us the opportunity to show the many wives who attended that we
really are not the villains responsible for the occasional lousy TV
reception here in Key West.
STAT
Chief, Key West Bureau
Attachments: Newspaper article on Florida
Nonexpendable Property Report
Production Report
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/13: CIA-RDP88-00733R000100070001-6
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/13: CIA-RDP88-00733R000100070001-6
Idy4wc Pti Florida
Has a Few Surprises
For Winter Visitors
Flying Cockroaches, for One,
Termites That Eat Metal
And Toads That Kill Dogs
By KEN SLOCUM
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
MIAMI-This is a story for those of you
who can't afford a Florida vacation this
winter. It is about why you wouldn't have
had a good time here anyway.
As most people know, much of Florida
is a balmy, palmy subtropical land that
long has offered a soothing escape from
Northern winters. What people sometimes
overlook, however, is that -human beings
aren't the only things that are attracted to
balmy, palmy subtropical lands.
So are exploding trees, walking catfish,
poisonous toads the size of footballs and
termites that penetrate metal. Those and
other dubious Florida arrivals have been
joined recently by the Asian cockroach,
which made Its Western Hemisphere debut
in central Florida two years ago. It flies,
travels in herds, doesn't shy from people-
and, at the rate it is spreading, may well
be in your neighborhood before long.
"This," warns University of Florida en-
tomologist Philip Koehler, "could be the
end of the outdoor barbecue."
Such news doesn't change the fact that
Florida is an exceedingly nice place in
winter. Most tourists don't meet the
weirder wildlife except on trips to such
places as the Everglades, and natives have
grown accustomed to life with snakes and
alligators and grasshoppers- the size of
Tampa cigars.
But this story Isn't intended to be fair.
It's supposed to make you feel good about
spending your winter shoveling snow. So
let's move on.
To killer toads.
They are known as Bufo marinus. They
come from South America, but many now
call Florida home. A Bufo (Latin for toad)
is normally about the size of a softball, but
it can approach football dimensions if it
has regular access to back-yard pet feed
bowls, a favorite source of food.
Bufo Threat to Fido
When threatened, a Bufo secretes a
toxic substance from glands on its neck.
Among the creatures that regularly
threaten it are small dogs. A lot of small
dogs have died that way. U. John West,
wildlife inspector for the Florida Game
and Fresh Water Fish Commission, says
the victims include a valued pair of York-
shire terriers owned by his friend.
Next, termites.
The good news in Hallandale, Fla., just
south of Fort Lauderdale, is that the local
termites are being rum off. The bad news is
they are being pushed out by something
meaner: the Formosan termite.
'Mike domestic varieties that confine
t. .selves mostly to untreated deadwood,
Formosan termites eat 16 varieties of live
trees as well as utility PAN and railroad
ties. They even penetrate soft metals like
copper and lead. The average colony con-
tains up to three million termites, 10 times
the number in an average native colony.
The extra-strength bugs are found in
other parts of Florida, as well as in Texas
and Louisiana, but they have taken a spe-
cial liking to Hallandale. Nan-Yao Su, as-
sistant professor of entomology at the Uni-
versity of Florida, estimates that they
have moved into 75 i'c of the high-rises in
Hallandale and says that in a one-acre
area, a single colony of termites has encir-
cled four high-rises. Though buildings can
be treated against the pests, before or af-
ter infestations, chemicals to destroy a col-
ony would contaminate the water supply,
Mr. Su says. "With present technology,
they'll be there forever," he concludes.
Which brings us to trees.
The biggest plant pest in Florida may
be the Melaleuca, an Australian tree that
crowds out everything in its path and
thrives on fire. "The Melaleuca forms a
canopy so thick t6efe'a-nthing but Mela-
leuca, no native piants`and very little wild-
---- --- - ---- -
lif " says Mardi lRo6eoa, ;1Pfertit~ game
bi isL The &m" e we dens as
"reltea, MsM t Je" aM~ are
allergic td t) a tree, bioMpistseM Is a
constant battle to keep the tree from tak-
ing over parks and the Everglades.
Eerily, when ignited, the.tree literally
explodes, feeding the flames with a volatile
fuel In its leaves, biologists say. Fire
doesn't kill the tree, but it provokes re-
lease of millions of seeds, which remain vi-
able for 10 years and spread the tree over
nearby areas where the fire has destroyed
other varieties.
"I could not imagine how I would
change the design of thistree to make it
worse for us," complains Ronald Hofstet-
ter, a University of Miami biologist.
The Catfish Menace
One way would be to adapt it to attract
catfish.
walkitng catfis
h, as every tabloid reader
kssws, have been making their way up the
Florida peninsula for some time. That up-
sets the state's Important ornamental, or
tr Ical, fish Industry, as walking catfish
eat ornamental fish. At Thomas Kitts's fish
fain near Palm Beach, a 16-inch-high
fete encircles 50 pools to keep out the
marauders.
+`They're carnivorous and voracious
eaters, and they're so prolific they crowd
o14 everything," Mr. Kitts says.
When the catfish decide to change terri-
toy, they simply heave themselves out of
the water, supported by their fins and pro-
pefied by their tails. They can cover con-
siderable territory that way. Although they
are vulnerable to sun and cold, a walking
catfish lived 80 days out of water in an ex-
periment at the state's Non-Native Fish
Research Lab in Boca Raton, says director
Paul Shafland.
"Americans have a real stigma about
cockroaches," says a University of Florida
extension agent, Jemy Hinton. "It's like
asking them If they have the mange."
It "Pad
No Is save bow CS O ,` new-
16, Alow "sOt here,
est
but it was first reported in a six-sgnare-
mile area near Lakeland in 1985. The infes-
tation now is put at 5,000 square miles,
having been confirmed as far away as Fort
Myers on the west coast. And It is spread-
ing fast.
"We assume it's already in Miami and
will be reported within a year when num-
bers are built up," says Richard Patter-
son, research leader at the U.S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture's Insects Affecting
Man and Animals Laboratory at Gaines-
ville, Fla. Researchers expect It eventually
to spread beyond Florida, with potential
distribution in all of the South, the West
Coast from Mexico throu Washington
state, std the slim 'bls tat Is-
land.
The MR E Pam eh llse't A d1nificant
health or agricultural hazard. However,
Mr. Patterson says, it "aeetieticalily is
more of a nuisance" than the old variety
"because instead of hiding in a crack it
flies and is visible-it lands on walls, lamp-
shades and people."
Researchers report populations of 250,-
000 per acre, or about six per square foot.
At rest during the day, the cockroaches be-
come explosively active at dusk and move
around all night, making camping, among
other things, almost impossible. They
adapt nicely to indoor living. They cross-
breed easily with the common German
cockroach, a variety that is immune to
most pesticides-yielding an "offspring
that flies and is resistant to pesticides,"
Mr. Koehler notes. "We have the worst of
everything," he adds.
Well, not everything. Despite the wild-
ness of its wildlife, there is reason to tough
it out in Florida. Today, for instance, while
much of the country is covered with snow
and ice, Florida will be balmy as usual,
and the forecast in Miami is for sunny
skies and high temperatures in the 70s.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/13: CIA-RDP88-00733R000100070001-6
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/13: CIA-RDP88-00733R000100070001-6
1. TOTALS FROM ALL SOURCES:
TOTAL PUBLISHABLE WORDAGE FILED DURING MONTH= 214,350
TOTAL NON-PUBLISHABLE WORDAGE FILED DURING MONTH : 42,500
TOTAL NUMBER OF PUBLISHABLE ITEMS FILED DURING MONTH : 613
BROADCAST PRESS AGENCIES PUBLICATIONS
II. INPUT OF REGULAR COVERAGE: 2,575 14,700 21
(PUBLISHABLE WORDS PER WEEK MIN MIN ISSUES
III. OUTPUT FROM ALL SOURCESs
(PUBLISHABLE WORDS PER MONTH)
BAHAMAS
Nassau Domestic Service
in English
Nassau THE TRIBUNE
in English
BARBADOS
Bridgetown CANA
in English
Bridgetown ADVOCATE
in English
Bridgetown SUNDAY ADVOCATE
in English
BELIZE
Belize City Domestic Service
in English or Spanish
Belize Times
in English
CUBA
Havana Radio Progreso Network 3,450
in Spanish
Havana Radio Reloj Network 13.000
in Spanish -
Havana Radio Rebelde Network 19.320
in Spanish
Havana Radio Periodico Del Aire -0-
in Spanish
-0-
34.61q_
-0-
-0-
-0-
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/13: CIA-RDP88-00733R000100070001-6
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/13: CIA-RDP88-00733R000100070001-6
KEY WEST BUREAU PRODUCTION REPORT FOR DECEMBER 1987
CUBA
Havana Domestic Service
in Spanish
Havana Tele-Rebelde Network 19.290
in Spanish
Havana Television Cubana Network ! 15,310
in Spanish
Havana Television Service
in Spanish
,_45,170
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Santo Domingo Cadena Brea Pena
in Spanish
150
Santo Domingo Radio Mil Network ___2,250
in Spanish
Santo Domingo LISTIN DIARIO
in Spanish
HAITI
Port-au-Prince Radio Nationale 12,570
in Creole
Port-au-Prince Radio Nationale - 2,190
in French
Port-au-Prince Radio Antilles _ 660
Internationale* in French
Port-au-Prince Radio Haiti-Inter -0-
in Creole
Port-au-Prince Radio Haiti-Inter -0
in French
Port-au-Prince Radio Lumiere Network in Creole
Port-au-Prince Radio Metropole
in Creole
x,690
-0-
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/13: CIA-RDP88-00733R000100070001-6
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/13: CIA-RDP88-00733R000100070001-6
KEY WEST BUREAU PRODUCTION REPORT FOR DECEMBER 1987
Port-au-Prince Radio Metropole __..15,390
in French
Port-au-Prince Radio Soleil ^ 13,000
in Creole
Port-au-Prince LE NOUVELLISTE
in French
JAMAICA
Kingston Domestic Service
in English
Kingston DAILY SLEANER
in English
Kingston SUNDAY GLEANER
in English
MEXICO
Mexico City NOTIMEX 2,810
in Spanish
NETHERLANDS ANTILLES
Bonaire Trans World Radio
in English
1.500
THE NETHERLANDS
Hilversum International Service in English
9URINAME
Paramaribo International Service 5,960
in English
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Santo Domingo Radio Popular
in Spanish
760
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/06/13: CIA-RDP88-00733R000100070001-6