During Nicolai Ceauescu's brutal and oppressive reign as President of Romania from 1965 to 1989, he permitted little opposition among his citizens, but he had one enemy he could not control as much as he tried. Radio Free Europe was a radio network controlled by United States intelligence operatives that beamed Western entertainment and news coverage into a number of different Soviet block countries during the Cold War, and listening to their broadcast was a common act of defiance among the Romanian people. While many Romanian intellectuals were later appalled to realize that they were dependent on a C.I.A. propaganda vehicle for reliable news prior to Ceauescu's death, Radio Free Europe helped bind together the Romanian people who opposed their president, and Ceauescu is said to have been so angered by RFE that he tried to hire notorious assassin Carlos the Jackal to kill its top officials. Filmmaker Alexandru Solomon offers an idiosyncratic view of Radio Free Europe and its impact in Romania in the documentary Cold Waves, in which RFE staff, loyal listeners and former government officials determined to keep the broadcasts out of Romania talk about its content and impact. Cold Waves was an official selection at the 2008 London International Documentary Film Festival.
by Mark Deming
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