La Voz del Cuba Independiente y Democratica

Fidel Castro has been dead for about three months now.  So I was wondering about the state of the anti-Castro pirate radio stations. There are some in Miami, but those are local to Miami. They usually lack the power to reach the island of Cuba.  But there was only one remaining still active outside the USA: La Voz del Cuba Independiente y Democrática (CID).

Today they also have a nice website http://www.cubacid.org/ Comically they bought their domain through the U.S. company Godaddy, and it appears to be hosted on Amazon Web Services. The URL was set up in 2006 via ValueWeb. (ValueWeb, a member of Affinity Internet, Inc., used to advertise in PC Mag back in the 2000s.)  Their two main data centers back then were in Fort Lauderdale, FL and El Segundo, CA. [There's that Florida connection again.] So while their domain registry is "secret" it's American origins are not. It's CIA funding is harder to prove.

As clandestine broadcasters go, they always seemed to have a big budget. A note on the use of the word "clandestine" as opposed to "pirate."  Pirates are usually just self-funded enthusiasts. Clandestine broadcasters are government funded. They are propaganda outlets. Neither is legally licensed, but clandestine stations may be tolerated by a regulatory agency government as they may be operated or funded by another branch of the same government. More here.

La Voz del CID was first reported in to be operating from a horse ranch in Miramar, FL back in 1981. It was an unusually professional operation with two Heathkit transmitters rated at 490 watts housed in a van. The FCC still shut it down that year, remarking "This outfit has some big money behind it, they even buy time from stations in Venzuela and other countries (Dominican Republic)..." Today the same group claims a slightly different origin:

 "In October 1980 the CID was founded in Venezuela with the support of the government of that country and its two major political parties: Acción Democrática (Social Democrats) and COPEY (Christian Democrats). The Congress was attended by hundreds of Cubans and Venezuelans who approved the Caracas Declaration in which the organization commits itself to: 'fight for the establishment in our country of a society devoted to freedom and human dignity, totally democratic and sovereign, socially balanced and Fair."

The Miami Times states plainly [SOURCE] that Radio CID was founded by exile leader Dr. Haber Matos Garsault. To their credit he is a long time member of it's executive committee whose names at least used to be on their website.  The copyright notice at the bottom gives it away "Publicado por Huber Matos Araluce en 07" CID is rumored to be operating from Guatemala, at other times it may have broadcast from Nicaragua, Venezuela, Honduras, Costa Rica and/or El Salvador. At different times the political climate in any of these nations (or jamming from Cuba) may have required their relocation so any or all of those may be true. CID hints at some of that in the below:

 "From its beginnings, the CID strategy consisted in an effort of political persuasion aimed at the population, the Armed Forces and members of the Castro regime in order to create among all Cubans a climate of national reconciliation and faith in the future of Cuba. In 1981, with the support of the Venezuelan government, the CID began to transmit to Cuba La Voz del CID. The schedule was continuous 24 hours a day, seven days a week. During his more than 10 years of uninterrupted work he achieved a large audience in Cuba." 

They were off air in 1982 but returned 1983 with a set of well-produced programs.  Their shows were re-broadcast on both Radio Rumbos in Venezuela and Radio Clarin in the Dominican Republic, in addition to their own transmitted located "somewhere" in Central America.  According to SWL DXer and writer, Gerry Dexter CID claimed that its annual production and broadcasting costs exceeded US$750,000 - which came from "American foundations, businessmen in Latin America and individual contributions" According to Lawrence Soley in the book Clandestine Radio Broadcasting (1986) During the war in Nicaragua, La Voz del CID cooperated with CIA-backed Radio Quince de Septiembre. This is probably where the suggestions that they broadcast from Nicaragua or El Salvador originated. (Matos lived in Costa Rica which may be where that rumor originates.)

Everything changed for CID in June of 1994. CID began to purchase airtime over Miami-based shortwave station WRMI... then stopped. WRMI owner Jeff White spilled the beans. "Nobody will admit it, of course, but there are a lot of rumors here in Miami that La Voz del CID has long been funded by the CIA and that their funds were cut off several months ago... They've been appealing for money publicly here in Miami among the Cuban-American community to keep the station on the air" More here.

After a few weeks, it returned to its usual 9941.65, 6305, 7340 and 11940 kHz frequencies but in August 1997, it went silent again. Rumors circulated again that it was suffering from financial problems. CID returned in December 1997 and reappeared on WRMI. At the same time, CID member Enrique Encinosa was hosting a half-hour talk show on 1140 WQBA-AM. CID has not broadcast on WRMI since at least 2015 and their own signal was last heard on 6305 kHz. Perhaps they feel the future is now assured, and their clandestine radio station is no longer needed or perhaps it was actually the death of Haber Matos in 2014 that was more pivotal than even the retirement of Fidel.

Radio Guantanamo Bay

 

It is a somewhat awkward fact for the news reels that there has been a U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for more than 100 years. The centennial anniversary of the base was actually in 1998 while Bill Clinton was president. The United States first seized Guantanamo Bay and established a naval base there in 1898 during the Spanish-American War. In 1903, the United States and Cuba signed a lease granting the United States permission to use the land as a coaling and naval station.

Side Note: In 1934 The USA and Cuba signed a treaty in 1934, granting the United States a perpetual lease. It can only being voided by the US abandoning the area or by mutual agreement between the two countries. (I am pretty sure that is not legal.) Incidentally, when Fidel Castro came to power in 1959 he continued to accept those checks, but after the Bay of Pigs in 1961, he stopped cashing them. More here.

You may be aware that the US military base at Guantanamo Bay happens to have a radio station. While in past decades information on that might have been hard to come by, today it's so open that it has a Facebook page. [LINK] Of course so does the base itself. [LINK] Their page reads "AFN Guantanamo Bay, Cuba provides news, command information, and entertainment on three radio stations and seven channels of AFN clean feed television." Currently they operate three radio stations: Voiceline on 1340, the Mix on 102.1 and the Blitz on 103.1.  The Blitz is a rock station that uses the tag line "Rockin' in Fidel's Backyard." More here. The bay also has a ham radio club. More here. Their call signs begin with "KG4" unlike local Cuban ham signs with start with "CL", "CM", or "T4." 

References to the Guantanamo stations from it's early days are few. The station has been there for almost 100 years. It was referred to in Popular Radio Magazine in 1928. It also appears in Radio Magazine, (though not by name) in 1922.  That station was the Naval base navigation station NAW. It operated on 600 kHz.  A paper from the US Hydrographic Office form 1917 specifies it's towers and transmitter shack were then located "on a neck of land within Corinaso Cove behind Fisherman Point." But it also mentioned "A radio station, which is not in use, is situated on North Toro Cay, at Wireless inlet. It has three towers." you read that right: In 1917 there was already an "old" radio station at the base. That station at Wireless Inlet was the original wireless station, and may have been started by Commander Charles C. Rogers. Once source dates it to the seemingly impossible date of 1906. [SOURCE]

Regardless, US broadcasting in Cuba was just part of the local radio band for decades. In 1938, Cuba held a Regional Radio Conference. it's goal, among other topics was to better coordinate with US broadcasters to avoid interference. In 1942 the Cuban minister of Communication suspended two radio stations for interfering with the Guantanamo base radio station. In the 1950s, unionized Cuban citizens worked at the station under the Batista regime. This became as issue as union broadcasts at CMKS were critical of their treatment and pay of Cuban employees. To say that things degenerated would be an understatement.  At a Radio Conference under the ITU in 1979 Cuba swung the other direction entirely, stating that the US use of radio frequencies on the base constituted a violation of Cuba's sovereignty over the frequencies.

Stupid DJ Tricks Part 3

Remember a couple posts back when I explained the anti-Castro politics of Miami talk radio? I was not exaggerating. Nobody crank calls the Ayatola Kohmeni, nobody crank calls George Bush. (Dad dosent let him use the phone yet) But these guys dogged not one, but two presidents of latin american nations.

The crap began on January 6 in 2003. Noboday at breakfast thought two DJs that morning would try to cause an international incident . Enrique Santos and Joe Ferrero from WXDJ-FM 95.7, a tripical music radio station in Miami, FL called Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez. In the call they pretended to be Cuban President, Fidel Castro. Chavez is not amused. WXDJ was fined $4,000 for airing a caller without their knowledge. The Audio is here: http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/fidel/castro-chavez.wav

Six months later, having had no penalty for harassing the leader of a soverign nation, they decide to top it by cranking on Fidel Castro on June 18. Enrique Santos and Joe Ferrero of WXDJ-FM this time impersonate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and call up Fidel. Castro got pissed. The audio is here: http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/fidel/chavez-castro.asf
Its in spanish of course so I understand nada. What I do understand is that they were fined ANOTHER $4,000 for airing a caller without their knowledge. No extra penalty for mocking the leader of a foreign nation. I understand Dick Cheny plays this tape for a laugh before bed.

Here is a transcript from the climax of their stunt:

Ferrero: "Your agents that were with you in Argentina must make an extensive and detailed search. And the people that are responsible for this must be told. Are you informed that this is a number one issue?"
Castro: "I am informed and absolutely in agreement."
Ferrero: "So you agree with the shit that you have done to the island, assassin?"
Castro: "What?"
Ferrero: "Enrique Santos and Joe Ferrero from Miami, El Zol 95.7. You fell just like Hugo Chavez."
Castro: "What did I fall for come mierda (shit eater)? ¨
Ferrero: "Enrique Santos and Joe Ferrero from Miami."
Castro: What did I fall for maricón (faggot)?"
Ferrero: "All of Miami is listening to you."
Castro: "What did I fall for, mariconzón (big faggot)?"
Ferrero: "What do you have to say?"
Castro: "ni cojones (no balls)"
Ferrero: "What do you have to say?"
Castro: "I haven't said anything, (vete para el coño de tu madre) go screw your mother."
Ferrero: "All of Miami is listening to you, Fidel Castro."