The Cuban TV connection: spanning the globe.

How can expatriates or descendents from Cuba, a tiny island in the Caribbean the size of Florida, dominate Latin American television? There isn't a corner of the Latin TV universe that is not under the influence of a...Cuban!

Programs originated, controlled or influenced by Cuban executives and talents are now a regular TV staple in more than 90 countries, worldwide. In the U.S., all the Hispanic TV networks are controlled or run mostly by Cubans from Miami and New York.

Deeply religious, Cubans have also shaped the television industry in Venezuela, Argentina, Columbia, Peru, Puerto Rico and many other Latin countries as if they were on a divine mission.

It all started with the late Goar Mestre who, in 1950, built CMQ, Cuba's first TV station. It was Latin America's third TV station, after the one in Mexico (built by another Cuban) and, subsequently the one in Brazil. By 1954, CMQ-TV had expanded into a sevenstation network, making Cuba the second country after the U.S. to provide a national TV broadcast network. The proximity to the U.S. and its association with NBC made CMQ-TV a learning ground for Cuban and other Latin American TV executives. CMQ quickly became known as the most innovative TV operation in the whole world: First to introduce color TV in the region and first to exploit the concept of telenovelas.

It is recalled when, in 1955, Mestre commissioned to the Cuban Felipe Rodriquez, then a Pan Am Airlines employee and now an executive with Brazil's Globo-TV, to send two airplanes on a circle pattern between Florida and Cuba so that the aircrafts could receive and re-transmit TV signals for the first live telecast of a baseball game. Before that, the exposed film of the game would have to be developed en route inside the plane, thus permitting a two-hour delayed broadcast. When, in 1959, Castro's dictatorship forced Mestre to flee Cuba, he expanded his activities with TV stations in Puerto Rico (WAPA-TV), Buenos Aires, Lima and a TV network in Venezuela plus, production and distribution companies in Argentina and Peru.

Mestre also converted Argentina's largest motion picture studios into the largest television production center in Latin America. During a 43-year career, Mestre built a total of 28 TV stations in Latin America.

Another Cuban TV "visionary" was the late Don Diego Cisneros who left Cuba for Venezuela in 1928 where he built an empire centered around his Venevision TV network. Plus, the late Telemundo Puerto Rico's president, Belin Ruiz. And what about the late Desi Arnaz, considered the father of U.S. syndication with his Desilu show I Love Lucy?

Today, all of Venezuela's internationally acclaimed telenovelas from both Venevision and Radio Caracas originate from "Mestre's CMQ style." Mexico and Argentina novelas are also of the CMQ-type or "novelas rosa."

In addition to Venezuela, which has the largest concentration of Cuban TV executives, the U.S. has Cubans in key posts at both Univision and Telemundo TV networks. Also Cuban was the late Jose Menendez, the founder of Live.

Below is a partial list of Cubans and individuals of Cuban descent considered "who's who in the international television industry."

Barba, Carlos - Univision Bauer, Steve (Ricky Eschevarria) - Actor Beltran, Hector - Venevision Int'l Blanco, Tony - Blanco & Travieso Caballero, Edward - Spanish Media Cancela, Jose - Telemundo Cisneros, Carlos E- Venevision Cisneros, Gustavo - Venevision Corez, Manuel - Venevision Cruz, Celia - Actress Cuzco, Enrique - Marte TV/HBO Estefan, Gloria - Singer Fiallo, Delia - Telenovelas writer Font, Pedro - Protele Fuentes, Daisy - MTV Latino Galan, Nely - E! Entertainment Garcia, Andy - Actor Goizueta, Roberto C. - Coca Cola Co. Nunez, Armando Sr. - ITC Nunez, Armando Jr. - Viacom Perez, Benjamin - Venevision Int'l Perez, Mike - NBC (formerly) Pupo, Mayo Gustavo - News Director Rodriguez, Felipe - Globo TV Rodriguez, Mano - Univision Rodriguez, Rey - Univision Rodriguez, Rodolfo - Venevision Suarez, Carlos - Venevision Torano, Raul - Univision Vaillant, Jorge Jr. - Ch. 13 Argentina Vasquez, Rafael - Venevision Int'l