{"id":66468,"date":"2026-06-30T02:40:59","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T06:40:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=66468"},"modified":"2026-06-29T02:45:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T06:45:59","slug":"shortwave-memories-castro-calling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2026\/06\/shortwave-memories-castro-calling\/","title":{"rendered":"Shortwave Memories — Castro Calling"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RHC<\/a>by Karl D. Forth<\/b><\/p>\n

On mediumwave, Cuba was a heavyweight, with many high-powered transmitters all over the dial, exceeding the already generous allocation agreed to by the North American nations in 1941.<\/p>\n

In 1971, Radio Havana Cuba broadcast on shortwave with Spanish to the Americas, English, French, Portuguese, and a few other languages.<\/p>\n

Later, I saw a magazine ad from the 1960s. The ad was for Hallicrafters, a Chicago maker of shortwave radios and communications equipment. The ad showed a menacing-looking caricature of the Cuban dictator speaking and posed the question:<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you ever actually heard<\/i> this son of a bitch?\u201d<\/p>\n

Fidel Castro\u2019s understanding of radio was no accident. He studied its use in other Latin American countries and in previous coup attempts, and used it shrewdly in his own rise to power.<\/p>\n

One program seemed to a 15-year-old to cross the line. The Voice of Vietnam was an English language program aimed at the United States that was broadcast from Havana, not Hanoi. This program seemed strident and objectionable, which may have been the goal.<\/p>\n

Today, Cuban broadcasting is in a shambles. Hurricane Rafael flattened its largest shortwave transmitter site. Ongoing problems with the power grid and shortages of fuel have led to nationwide power outages. Many AM stations are off the air. Technicians from China who kept things running have reportedly left the country.<\/p>\n

Karl D. Forth has been interested in radio and DXing for more than 50 years. This story was included in the book\u00a0Radio Nights and Distant Signals<\/a><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Please note: all Amazon links are affiliate links that support the SWLing Post at no cost to you.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Karl D. Forth On mediumwave, Cuba was a heavyweight, with many high-powered transmitters all over the dial, exceeding the already generous allocation agreed to by the North American nations in 1941. In 1971, Radio Havana Cuba broadcast on shortwave with Spanish to the Americas, English, French, Portuguese, and a few other languages. Later, I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,305,288,7566],"tags":[11102,1396,5751],"class_list":["post-66468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-nostalgia","category-radio-history","category-radio-memories","tag-karl-d-forth","tag-radio-havana-cuba","tag-shortwave-memories"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-hi4","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":59503,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/04\/carlos-shortwave-art-and-recording-of-radio-havana-cuba-april-12-2024\/","url_meta":{"origin":66468,"position":0},"title":"Carlos\u2019 Shortwave Art and recording of Radio Havana Cuba (April 12, 2024)","author":"Thomas","date":"April 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0contributor and noted political cartoonist,\u00a0Carlos Latuff, who shares\u00a0his radio log art of a recent Radio Havana Cuba broadcast. Carlos notes: News bulletin from R\u00e1dio Habana, Cuba, on 11760 kHz, heard in Florian\u00f3polis, Brazil. https:\/\/youtu.be\/ZZIlo-r-DV8?si=UAfBDp57x41wT3rF","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/art-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Carlos-Latuff-RHC-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Carlos-Latuff-RHC-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Carlos-Latuff-RHC-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Carlos-Latuff-RHC-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Carlos-Latuff-RHC-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Carlos-Latuff-RHC-1.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":58014,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/10\/carlos-shortwave-art-and-recording-of-radio-havana-cuba-october-14-2023\/","url_meta":{"origin":66468,"position":1},"title":"Carlos\u2019 Shortwave Art and recording of Radio Havana Cuba (October 14, 2023)","author":"Thomas","date":"October 16, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0contributor and noted political cartoonist,\u00a0Carlos Latuff, who shares\u00a0his radio log art of a recent RHC broadcast. Carlos\u2019 goal is to vividly illustrate the broadcaster\u2019s message in his own unique artistic style and is not a reflection of his own beliefs or those of the\u00a0SWLing Post. His objective\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/art-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Carlos-Latuff-Palestine-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Carlos-Latuff-Palestine-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Carlos-Latuff-Palestine-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Carlos-Latuff-Palestine-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Carlos-Latuff-Palestine-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4565,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/video-a-look-inside-radio-havana-cuba\/","url_meta":{"origin":66468,"position":2},"title":"Video: A look inside Radio Havana Cuba","author":"Thomas","date":"October 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Thanks to Marc for passing along this video which takes you inside Radio Havana Cuba: https:\/\/youtu.be\/YwTny_4AeNY Click here to view on YouTube.","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/YwTny_4AeNY\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7439,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/09\/radio-progreso-signing-on-at\/","url_meta":{"origin":66468,"position":3},"title":"Starting tonight, Radio Progreso on shortwave","author":"Thomas","date":"September 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"According to Arnie Coro at Radio Havana Cuba, the Cuban medium wave broadcaster Radio Progreso will begin an \"experimental\" shortwave broadcast on\u00a04,765 kHz from\u00a000:30 till 04:00 UTC on October 1st, 2013.\u00a0For those of us living in North America, this broadcast will begin at 08:30 PM EDT tonight. I will attempt\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Radio-Progreso-Cuba","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Radio-Progreso-Cuba-300x89.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":18645,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/more-on-the-55th-anniversary-of-radio-havana-cuba\/","url_meta":{"origin":66468,"position":4},"title":"More on the 55th anniversary of Radio Havana Cuba","author":"Thomas","date":"May 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor,\u00a0David Iurescia (LW4DAF), for sharing the following feedback yesterday: Today, the 1st of May, is the 55th anniversary of Radio Havana Cuba. Here is\u00a0the link about this on their website: http:\/\/www.radiohc.cu\/en\/especiales\/comentarios\/91190-radio-havana-cuba-55-years-broadcasting-the-truth-to-the-world I haven't heard if RHC has any special programs or contests going on this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Radio-Havana-Cuba-QSL-Front","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Radio-Havana-Cuba-QSL-Front-1024x714.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Radio-Havana-Cuba-QSL-Front-1024x714.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Radio-Havana-Cuba-QSL-Front-1024x714.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":65927,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/shortwave-memories-go-go-radio-moscow\/","url_meta":{"origin":66468,"position":5},"title":"Shortwave Memories — Go Go Radio Moscow","author":"Thomas","date":"May 1, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Karl D. Forth Radio Moscow didn\u2019t seem confrontational. We\u2019re here, their attitude seemed to be, and we\u2019re going to offer our opinion on things, which you may or may not like. Looking at the World Radio-TV Handbook in the early 1970s, Radio Moscow was on dozens of frequencies from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Radio-Moscow-graphic.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Radio-Moscow-graphic.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Radio-Moscow-graphic.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66468"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66471,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66468\/revisions\/66471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}