Newsmax Radio LLC has agreed to purchase two of Miami’s best-known Spanish-language radio stations, WAQI Radio Mambí and WQBA, from Latino Media Network, the organization whose 2022 acquisition of the stations sparked outrage among Cuban and Cuban-American listeners. Radio industry outlets reported the deal this weekend, and Newsmax confirmed it on Monday.
According to FCC filings cited by Radio Insight, Newsmax will pay $1.26 million for WAQI (Radio Mambí) and $540,000 for WQBA. Latino Media Network had bought both stations in 2022 as part of a larger $60 million package covering 18 stations nationwide.
For decades, Radio Mambí served Miami’s heavily Cuban and Cuban-American Hispanophone audience as a platform for anti-communist talk radio and conservative commentary. WQBA shared a similar legacy. Groups advocating for a free Cuba had praised Radio Mambí as a pillar of Miami’s political life and warned that a takeover by an organization with left-wing ties could mute or eliminate that voice.
Those warnings largely proved accurate. WQBA stopped producing original programming altogether in 2025, switching instead to content from Radio Martí, the U.S. government-backed Cuban-American news service. Radio Mambí lost much of its popular talent after the 2022 sale, and while a plan to scrap its Spanish-language conservative talk programming in 2025 was not fully carried out, the station kept only limited original content — a fraction of its former influence.
Newsmax, which produces radio programming but has not previously owned stations of its own, says it intends to reverse that decline. In a Monday statement, the network called the purchase “a significant investment in South Florida and a renewed commitment to serving one of America’s most vibrant and influential Hispanic communities,” and said it would work to “restore and enhance” the stations and expand their reach into “the national conversation.”
“Radio Mambí is an institution,” said Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy. “For decades, it has been the voice of a community that understands the value of freedom because it has fought to preserve it. We are honored to continue that tradition and ensure Radio Mambí remains a trusted source of news, information, and conversation for generations to come.”
How the stations changed hands in 2022
Latino Media Network’s original purchase made national news and provoked particular anger in Miami. Many of the stations involved, including Radio Mambí and WQBA, had previously belonged to Univisión-Televisa, whose left-leaning editorial direction had already alienated some longtime listeners after it took over in 2017.
Latino Media Network was founded by Stephanie Valencia and Jess Morales Rocketto, both veterans of the Obama administration with extensive backgrounds in Democratic politics. The network raised roughly $80 million for its 18-station purchase, with funding that reportedly included Lakestar Finance, an investment vehicle linked to Soros Fund Management.
At the time, Valencia framed the purchase as a response to misinformation in Spanish-language media. “Latinos are constantly trying to navigate the ocean of information. In some cases that is disinformation, in some cases that is very one-sided communication,” she told Florida public radio station WLRN-FM in 2022. “In the Latino community radio still plays such an important part, and in places like Florida it obviously plays a critically important part.” Valencia indicated the stations would move toward what she described as “balanced journalism” rather than conservative talk.
The announcement triggered protests from listeners who pressed the FCC to block the sale. Cuban-American community leaders held a press conference denouncing the deal.
“Latino Media Network is a newly formed business venture led and controlled by social activists who espouse a leftist progressive ‘woke’ political agenda,” said Silvia Iriondo, head of Mothers Against Repression in Cuba. “We have genuine grounded concerns over the silencing and marginalization of radio stations that have historically stood as voices of advocacy for freedom in Cuba and in denunciation of the crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Communist regime in our beloved island.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also opposed the sale at the time, running advertisements on the affected stations criticizing it. The FCC nonetheless approved the transaction, and Radio Mambí went on to lose much of its talent while WQBA eventually dropped original programming entirely.
With the Newsmax purchase now moving forward, the two stations’ long-term direction is set to change again, though Newsmax has not yet detailed a programming lineup or timeline for the transition.
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