The Miami Herald
March 16, 2001

Emilio Milián, broadcaster who denounced terror, dies

                                      BY LIZ BALMASEDA

                                      Emilio Milián, who distinguished himself as a voice of independence
                                      and tolerance in a turbulent exile era, died at home Thursday after a long
                                      battle with kidney and heart ailments. He was 69.

                                      Miami's unsinkable broadcaster, the victim of a 1976 terrorist bombing for
                                      which his assailants were never arrested, Milián proved to be
                                      courageous in the face of hostility, hype and political agendas.

                                      As a radio commentator, Milián was known for his
                                      willingness to denounce as terrorists and common thugs
                                      those exiles who intimidated, even bombed, anyone who
                                      opposed anti-Castro tactics.

                                      ``He was committed to the truth. He refused to submit
                                      himself to terror or intimidation,'' said his son, Alberto Milián.
                                      ``He was very committed to the well-being of this
                                      community. His passion was not only to see democracy
                                      work here, and to that end he always spoke out against
                                      injustice and intolerance, but he also dreamed that one day
                                      Cuba would be a free country.''

                                      At the height of his popularity in the mid-1970s, Milián
                                      frequently denounced terrorist bombings, saying the
                                      bombers were not patriots, but criminals. Milián enjoyed
                                      skyrocketing ratings and a hero's status among some exiles
                                      who applauded his courage.

                                      But he also was the subject of constant death threats. A
                                      virtual state of siege existed at the Milián home, where his
                                      children had been warned about opening mail packages and
                                      talking to anonymous callers.

                                      His outspokenness may have nearly cost him his life. On
                                      April 30, 1976, a car bomb ripped off his legs outside the
                                      studios of WQBA, where he was news director.

                                      The bomb proved powerful beyond the physical damage to
                                      Milián.

                                      Even now, as the 25th anniversary of the bombing
                                      approaches, no one has been prosecuted, even though the
                                      investigations of several agencies and witness testimony
                                      pointed to three suspects.

                                      DETAILED CASE

                                      At the time, investigators compiled a meticulous case
                                      against the men they believed placed the bomb beneath
                                      Milián's company car.

                                      After an aimless start, investigators and prosecutors from
                                      the city and county police departments, the Miami-Dade
                                      state attorney's and U.S. attorney's offices convened
                                      weekly. A federal grand jury was called.

                                      Retired Miami Police Detective Osmond Austin, who was
                                      tapped months after the bombing to lead the police probe,
                                      said a strong admiration for Milián's principles helped drive
                                      his investigation.

                                      "He's a man who paid the ultimate price for freedom of
                                      speech,'' Austin said Thursday. The case, he said, was
                                      solved.

                                      Former U.S. Attorney Atlee Wampler obtained a four-count
                                      grand jury indictment on April 30, 1981, just hours before a
                                      five-year statute of limitations would lapse. But the suspects
                                      -- exiles Gaspar Jiménez, Gustavo Castillo and an unnamed
                                      third person -- were never arrested. For reasons that remain
                                      unclear, Wampler's successor, Stanley Marcus, dismissed
                                      the indictments.

                                      DEEPER MEANING

                                      Meanwhile, Milián came to know the deeper meaning of
                                      exile, as he became an exile within exile. As he recovered
                                      from the bombing, undergoing 11 operations in five months,
                                      the suspects in his case enjoyed fervent support from the
                                      Cuban extreme. Milián's former radio station became a
                                      fundraising vehicle for the men, who faced extradition to
                                      Mexico for the attempted kidnapping of a Cuban diplomat.

                                      In a speech before the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith
                                      nine months after the bombing, Milián spoke about the
                                      powerlessness of watching his suspected assailants act
                                      with impunity:

                                      ``The man that speaks before you today is a mutilated one,
                                      the result of exercising his right to oppose terrorism. . . . For
                                      this I have been condemned to death without a trial, without
                                      the right to defend myself -- the jury has given its verdict in
                                      darkness and without my presence. The execution could
                                      come at any time. For me there is no opportunity to appeal
                                      my case or defend my rights.''

                                      Even today there are fundraising efforts for Jiménez, one of
                                      the Miami exiles detained in a Panama jail last year for a
                                      supposed plot against Fidel Castro.

                                      WALKED AGAIN

                                      Milián managed to rebuild his life. Even more remarkably, he
                                      managed to walk again. He returned to the airwaves in 1989,
                                      on WWFE-Radio Fe. Opening his microphones to voices
                                      that had been banned and blacklisted, Milián drew a
                                      grass-roots audience of diverse opinions. The daring,
                                      sometimes irreverent, content brought him battles with exile
                                      power-brokers, legal and financial hassles.

                                      Milián's devotion to radio came early. When he was 15, he
                                      hosted a youth program at a station in his hometown of
                                      Sagua la Grande, in Cuba's Las Villas province. A foray into
                                      medical school at the University of Havana was cut short
                                      when he decided to quit and return to radio full time, gaining
                                      a reputation as a competent newsman.

                                      In 1965, he left Cuba with his wife, Emma Mirtha, and their
                                      three young children. After some months in Mexico, they
                                      landed in Miami, where Milián bought a print shop and
                                      worked part time at WMIE, a local station that offered some
                                      hours of Spanish-language programming.

                                      Milián rose at the station, which eventually became
                                      WQBA-La Cubanisima. His popularity surged in daily
                                      commentaries and what would become his trademark show,
                                      a vox pop program he called Habla el Pueblo -- The People
                                      Speak.

                                      He pitched a line that proved risky, being fervently
                                      anti-communist and also critical of terrorist acts committed
                                      in the name of a free Cuba.

                                      EAGER TO RETURN

                                      During an interview at his home in January, shortly before he
                                      was hospitalized for several weeks, Milián talked about his
                                      life, his work, his eagerness to return to the station. At times
                                      too hoarse to continue the conversation, he smilingly nudged
                                      his wife, Emma Mirtha, to complete his sentences.

                                      ``She's my voice,'' he said in a calm whisper.

                                      His health had been declining rapidly in the past year, as he
                                      struggled with diabetes, a heart condition and most recently
                                      the hoarseness.

                                      He lost his voice the same day his second son, Alberto, a
                                      former Broward prosecutor, lost his bid for Dade state
                                      attorney. Since that day, the younger Milián has filled in for
                                      his father at 670 AM -- La Poderosa, on his two daily radio
                                      programs, The People Speak and What Is Your Opinion? In
                                      the last few months, Emilio Milián's faithful callers often
                                      prefaced their comments with prayers that he return to the
                                      airwaves.

                                      ``Not only did my father fight for the truth as a journalist but
                                      he never harbored any hatred,'' Alberto Milián said. ``And
                                      despite all the adversity, he never succumbed to cynicism.
                                      He lived and he died an idealist.''

                                      On Thursday afternoon, Emilio Milián slipped away.

                                      He is survived by his wife; sons Emilio Jr. and Alberto;
                                      daughter Mirtha; grandchildren Daniel and Sofía; and sisters
                                      Alida Ruiz and Fahir Milián.

                                      Viewing will be from 3 p.m. to midnight today at Vior Funeral
                                      Home, 291 NW 37th Ave. in Miami. There will be a memorial
                                      Mass at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. John Bosco Catholic
                                      Church, 1301 W. Flagler St., Miami.