Soros-backed group’s takeover of Miami’s conservative Radio Mambi ‘is about power,’ Jorge Bonilla says
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EXCLUSIVE -- Conservative radio star Lourdes Ubieta has quit Miami’s iconic, Spanish-language conservative talk station Radio Mambi ahead of a planned takeover by a George Soros-linked liberal group and will move to upstart Americano Media on a full-time basis.
Radio Mambi, which is historically linked to the Cuban exile community and offers an anti-communism view, would be controlled by a group of liberals partially funded by Soros, a far-left billionaire, if the $60 million deal is approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
"I would never cut a deal with these people," Ubieta told Fox News Digital. "Never, never, never."
Latino Media Network, a new network set to be made up of 18 Hispanic radio stations including Radio Mambi, was partially financed by Lakestar Finance, an investment group affiliated with Soros Fund Management. The stations, currently owned by Univision, would be controlled by Jess Morales Rocketto, a former Hillary for America and AFL-CIO employee, and Stephanie Valencia, a former Obama White House staffer, if the venture receives FCC approval.
Conservative radio star Lourdes Ubieta has quit Miami’s iconic, Spanish-language conservative talk station Radio Mambi.
Ubieta called the looming takeover a "stab in the heart" of her community and declared she wanted no part of it. "That’s why I left," she said.
Univision declined comment when reached by Fox News Digital. Valencia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ubieta, an outspoken critic of the planned takeover, says she turned down a significant offer that included a non-disclosure agreement to remain at Radio Mambi. Instead, she quit the station on Friday.
"They told me that I will receive half the money as soon as they get the FCC approval and then the rest of the money when Soros people take over," she said, noting that she felt like an asset the Soros-linked group was attempting to acquire.
"I don't want to be part of the deal," Ubieta continued. "I’m not going to sign the papers and I quit."
Insiders from Radio Mambi told Fox News Digital that other on-air staffers have declined to sign but continue to work at the station.
"Nobody has signed," another prominent Radio Mambi host told Fox News Digital.
Ubieta will now focus on the Miami-based Americano Media, where she has been hosting a show, in addition to her afternoon drive role at Radio Mambi, since the company launched in March. She has been pulling double duty, as Radio Mambi reaches the local Cuban exile community, whereas the national Americano Media seeks to attract all Spanish-speaking conservatives across America.
"I was very happy doing both, but then the situation came along with the selling of the [Univision] stations," she said. "I’m focused 100% on Americano."
Radio Mambi staffers are furious that their station could soon be controlled by the liberal group and Media Research Center director of MRC Latino Jorge Bonilla has blasted the move as a power grab by the left.
"This is about power, this is about control. This is not about free speech. This is not about this misinformation. This is about controlling the flow of information to a specific community for political purposes, and that is what makes this deal, I think, so controversial," Bonilla previously told Fox News Digital.
A group bankrolled by liberal billionaire George Soros is set to purchase 18 Hispanic radio stations across 10 different markets in the United States. (Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Many expect other conservative personalities from Radio Mambi to follow Ubieta to Americano Media.
Americano Media is currently available on SiriusXM channel 153 and through its app, but the company has plans to expand its reach to television in the near future.
Ubieta currently hosts a mid-morning show on Americano Media, but she expects her role at the company to grow significantly, and she is expected to help with programming and the news desk in addition to her hosting responsibilities. In the meantime, she is concerned that her passionate group of fans used to listening to her on a regular basis on Miami’s Radio Mambi will feel "lost" without the conservative voice to which they grew accustomed.
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"You are not lost. You are not in the middle of nowhere. I’m here, I’m going to stay here, and we are going to fight. You just have to go to the app to Americano, or to Sirius," she said.
Conservative radio star Lourdes Ubieta said she would "never cut a deal" with a group tied to George Soros. (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP)
Americano Media CEO Ivan Garcia Hidalgo is thrilled that Ubieta will solely focus on his venture.
"We at Americano, the first national conservative media network in Spanish, are very happy to have her as part of our great lineup of hosts every day," Hidalgo told Fox News Digital. "Lourdes has proven to be an insightful interviewer and a dedicated host and she is a key member of the Americano team. We hope her fans and followers will join her and the rest of our lineup as we look at those issues and people that are affecting our Hispanic brothers and sisters every single day."
Americano Media aims to represent "a counterrevolution and the entry onto the scene of the only non-progressive national media outlet created by and for the Hispanic American community, a community tired of being treated as a victim of its past, played with emotionally and that the other networks in the country only offer him fear as his present and uncertainty for his future," according to its website.
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Fox News’ Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.
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