Radio Libertad - A REAL Mystery Station
September 1969 Electronics Illustrated

Ha, when I first saw this "Radio Libertad - A Real Mystery Station" in a 1969 issue of Electronics Illustrated magazine, I though it said, "libtard." Not being a Spanish speaker, it did not strike me as the Spanish word for "liberty." Libertad is also the name of a coin minted - both in silver and in gold - by Mexico. There is also currently a Radio-Libertad (RL), which is a group of exiled Cubans in south Florida that broadcasts messages (31 m, 9955 kHz) to their families and brethren still captive on the Communist-controlled island. It is similar to Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and Voice of America (VOA). Radio Libertad's mission back then was the same as it is today, the difference being we know from where the transmissions originate. Rumor had it the CIA was behind the original RL. This particular story references Radio Swan, which was a pirate radio station run by the CIA, similar to its operations in Swan Islands and the airborne Blue Eagle incident. This video shows a Lockheed Constellation as being the aircraft from which it was broadcast, but the declassified CIA document claims it was a Navy version of the Douglas DC-6 (R6D). It's hard to believe that Fidel Castro was in control of the island for 45 years.

Radio Libertad - A REAL Mystery Station

Remember Radio Swan and Radio Americas? Then there was also the Blue Eagle incident! All had something in common. They were radio stations operating with an aura of mystery. Trouble is, these mysteries were more imagined than real. Both R. Americas and R. Swan said they were on Swan Island - it was just that nobody believed them.

Now we do have a mystery station. Called Radio Libertad, La Voz Anti-Communista de America, this station is a rarity because no one in the DX community knows much about it. Who operates it, who supports it, where the transmitter is located and what the purpose of the station is - all this is unknown.

Radio Libertad first appeared on the short-wave scene in October 1961, shortly after the Bay of Pigs fiasco, and almost at the same time that R. Swan was transformed into R. Americas. Initially two frequencies were used by Libertad - 7318 and 6999 kc, the latter having been used by R. Escambre Libre, a one-shot transmission aired by the CIA at the end of the Cuban invasion. R. Libertad added a third outlet on 15050 kc in December of 1961 and by mid-December of 1962 - after the worst of the Cuban missile crisis had past - they were working a full schedule on five frequencies (15050, 7318, 5067, 4005, with MW broadcasts on 1556 - later replaced by 1404).

During this period R. Libertad's anti-Communist propaganda operation was in full swing. Since then, however, it has been a downhill affair. By March 1967 the outlets were reduced to two SW transmitters, and presently Libertad can be heard only on 15050 kc. As opposed to R. Americas (which had a 50-kw station) R. Libertad's signals have always been of low power. Best guess would place transmitter strength at 5 to 15 kw, if that. Signal quality has deteriorated during the last two years and now the 15050-kc outlet is scarcely recognizable. Obviously, this is not a station out to make headlines.

On the Track of RL

That R. Libertad is a mystery is an understatement. Your reporters have been unable to meet anyone who could provide even the slightest wisp of first or secondhand information about its operations. In the Miami area alone, where over 100,000 Cuban refugees now make their home, a number of attempts were made (by the distribution of printed material and through private sources) to contact someone having any kind of information about the station. No luck. Not one person came forward.

In June 1962, the station announced that it was broadcasting from the studios of a Eugenio Fernandez Ortega. However, no location was given. The station first gave a mailing address in November 1962. This was Box 135, Miami, Fla. Shortly afterwards this was changed to 2113 Ocean View Drive, Miami Beach. A check of the latter address revealed that there is no such street. There is an Ocean Drive but it ends in the 1400 block. Other addresses were given: Box 2113, Ocean View Branch, Miami Beach; and as of December 1964, Box 5650 (sometimes 5650E), Caracas, Venezuela. By April 1966 the Caracas address was given along with a new address (Box 2214) in Miami.

As far as we know, no one ever received a QSL card or letter from any of these addresses, though one DXer is reported to have received a QSL from RL in Caracas. However, QSL cards have been received from NTS, a Free Russia underground station which is anti-Communist and operates (using low-powered, mobile equipment) somewhere in Europe. The illustration of its QSL card shows the transmission to have been sent via R. Libertad. It is reported that NTS is the only non-Spanish speaking rebel group using R. Libertad's facilities, but just what the relationship is between the two stations, nobody knows.

Programs have been broadcast in Spanish, English, German and even Russian (for the benefit of Cuban-based Russian missile technicians). They always have had a hard-line anti-Communist subject matter and have been, in fact, much stronger than the CIA inspired programs broadcast by Radio Americas. No holds are barred when it comes to talking about the dangers of Communism.

Where and Who?

Just where is R. Libertad located and who is behind it? Theories fly as thick as gnats, but names and locations are meaningless when you have no data to back them up. The easiest and quickest solution has been to blame the CIA or even the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency, a separate entity from the CIA and more hush-hush). One cannot be 100 per cent sure, but we feel this is too easy a way out - even though respected names in the DX community are willing to stake their rigs on the theory of CIA support.

The fact that R. Escambre Libre used 6999 kc before Libertad appeared on that frequency means little. In fact, this could have been a clever way to put the CIA on the spot. The major evidence against direct CIA participation is that one of your reporters managed to get a look at a CIA short-wave monitoring report (marked confidential!) which guessed that the station was located in Venezuela and being operated by a group calling itself the Eleven. This is inconclusive, but it is doubtful that such a report would be distributed to government agencies if the CIA were actually behind the station. (However, this could make sense if some other agency - DIA, NSA, etc. - were involved.)

Direction finding has been undertaken by individual DXers, DX clubs and some of our sources who have access to government-owned DF equipment. These studies tend to place R. Libertad in the Caribbean, near the coast of South America; the best guesses being either the Venezuelan off-shore islands, Venezuela itself, or the Netherlands Antilles.

QSL card from NTS for their transmission over R. Libertad. NTS is a Russian underground operation devoted to anti-Communism. They broadcast from Europe with mobile rigs.

The Netherlands Antilles seem particularly attractive since our sources with the govern-ment-owned DF equipment have pinpointed Bonaire as being Libertad's home base.

Of course, there are differing views. Other reports have mentioned the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and smaller islands such as Andros, S. Caicos and Vieques (which harbors a naval base). Also, much copy has flowed about the possible use of airborne relays and ships that move up and down the coasts of Central and South America. Inaccurate monitoring is probably at the root of the majority of these since no information corroborates any of them. The use of different frequencies at different locations is a possibility, however.

Independent Entity

Since R. Libertad's programming is basically anti-Communist and not simply anti-Castro we lean toward the opinion that we are dealing with a totally independent operation which is financed overseas and staffed by non-Cubans. This might explain the connection with NTS in Europe.

It is worth noting that it would be in the interest of wealthy people to help prevent the spread of Communism in Latin America. Many are fearful of the future. They are especially frightened by any kind of guerrilla activity inspired by Castro's Cuba. In the United States, an example would be the activities of H. L. Hunt, wildcat oilman and head of Hunt Foods & Industries, Inc., who uses a substantial portion of his fortune to subsidize radio programs that conform to his right-wing philosophy. (These programs are currently subscribed to by 331 radio stations in the U.S.)

It is interesting that while Fidel Castro has made a number of violent speeches against Radio Americas / Swan (including one in the United Nations), he has never taken on R. Libertad nor has he ever attempted to jam its broadcasts. Apparently he doesn't consider the station a threat.

Where does R. Libertad go from here? Who knows? The station may die a natural death before DXers find out what it is - or was - A Special EI Report Compiled by C. M. Stanbury II, Tom Kneitel, K2AES/KS4CH, and Jim Phillips.

Posted August 24, 2023