Circuito Nacional Cubano

Circuito Nacional Cubano
Havana; Cuba;
Broadcast area	Cuba
Frequency	See Frequencies
Branding	CMW
Programming
Language(s)	Cuban Spanish
Subchannels	See Frequencies
Affiliations	See Frequencies
Ownership
Sister stations	See Frequencies
History
First air date	March 1, 1954
Last air date	January 12, 1959
Former names	RHC-Cadena Azul; (1939-52); Cadena Azul de Cuba; (1952-54)
Call sign meaning	CMW (AM); COCY (SW)
Technical information
Power	See Frequencies
Translator(s)	See Frequencies
Repeater(s)	See Frequencies

Circuito Nacional Cubano (English: Cuban National Network), was a radio station broadcasting from Havana, Cuba,^[1] owned by several shareholders, including Fulgencio Batista (the President of the Republic of Cuba), it is heard on 590 kHz AM in Havana and region, being retransmitted throughout Cuba. The station broadcast for 4 years, between 1954 and 1959, until it was confiscated by the new government after being used as propaganda by the deposed President Fulgencio Batista in the civil war.

Batista gained the majority of his shares in February 1955 and was the main owner in 1958, which he had secretly tested in favor of the children of his first marriage. Its president was Antonio Pérez Benitoa, who was related to the president and served as his foreman in numerous businesses. Other shareholders were Jaime Villanueva Bernaza (who represented the interests of the «Succession of José L. Piedra»), César Alberto Sotolongo, Alberto Gil Izquierdo and José Franco Cortés.

História

Before of 1954

The radio station had its origins in the RHC Cadena Azul and Radio Repórter Musical, which Batista bought after March 10, 1952, through a corporation headed by his biographer Edmon Chester. Previously, it had belonged to a corporation controlled by the ousted president Carlos Prío Socarrás.

1954 a 1959

The RHC-Cadena Azul station closed on March 1, 1954, due to debts incurred by its owner^[2] and is now called Circuito Nacional Cubano (located at Calle O No. 216 in the El Vedado neighborhood, Havana).

Between 1957 and 1958, the CNC broadcast a unique fictional simulation under the title El Dictador de Valle Azul (English: The Dictator of Valle Azul) written by Francisco Pazos, produced and directed by José Arbesú, starring Rolando Leyva (in the role of Taguary), who Many have heard about the events during the Cuban civil war (at that time, there was no term "Cuban Revolution") against Fulgencio Batista, accused of ruling Cuba in a dictatorial manner since the 1952 coup d'état.^[3]

1959: End of CNC

On January 12, 1959, by Resolution of the Minister of the Interior, Commander Luis Orlando Rodríguez, the new government installed after the Civil War, the Circuito Nacional Cubano (CNC) and the 12 national radio stations were intervened due to the actions of this national radio network we will belong to 98% of the deposed president Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (who fled the country 12 days before).^[4]

The designated interveners were the members of the July 26 Movement, Armando León Acosta and Francisco Vilalta Cañadilla, workers of the CNC who were responsible for the cells of the Movement during the insurrectionary struggle on this national channel.^[4] From that day on, all CNC stations will start rebroadcasting to Radio Rebelde (which aired on 24 February 1958 in the mountains of the Sierra Maestra, located in Eastern Cuba) for one month, when Radio Rebelde assumed the entire CNC network. In practice, the new government allowed a station considered pirate to use a legalized station.

This was the first action in relation to the media, which generated an indisposition on the part of the media magnates in the face of the new measures after the triumph of the revolution, against the monopolistic interests accumulated over previous decades, which led to the confiscation of all private radio and TV stations in 1959 and 1960.

Frequencies

The Circuito Nacional Cubano (CNC) covered most of Cuba through broadcasters that retransmitted their signal in cities and regions directly from Havana until its end.^[1]

Location	Call sign	Power [kW]	Frequency
La Habana (Havana)	CMW	25000	590
La Habana (Havana)	COCY	1000	11740
Pinar del Río	CMAN	1000	840
Matanzas	CMGF	250	930
Jovellanos	CMGN	500	960
Santa Clara	CMHI	10000	570
Ciego de Ávila	CMJM	500	840
Camagüey	CMJN	5000	960
Holguin	CMKV	10000	600
Santiago de Cuba	CMKN	1000	930
Guantánamo	CMDN	250	1000

References

^ ^a ^b "No Title" (PDF) (in Spanish). National Radio Club. 1958. Retrieved 18 Sep 2024.
^ Norma Ferrás Pérez (22 Aug 2022). "¡La radio cubana cumple cien años!" (in Spanish). Tribuna. Retrieved 18 Sep 2024.
^ Luis Hernández Serrano (26 Dec 2012). "El dictador de Valle Azul" (in Spanish). Juventud Rebelde. Retrieved 18 Sep 2024.
^ ^a ^b Ismael Rensoly (5 Feb 2024). "Recuerdos del aire: Frente Independiente de Emisoras Libres (80)" (in Spanish). Radio Rebelde. Retrieved 18 Sep 2024.

Bibliography

Jiménez Soler, Guillermo. Las empresas de Cuba 1958. Editorial de Ciencias Sociales. 5ta edición. La Habana. 2014.

[nationalradioclub-1] "No Title" (PDF) (in Spanish). National Radio Club. 1958. Retrieved 18 Sep 2024.

[2] Norma Ferrás Pérez (22 Aug 2022). "¡La radio cubana cumple cien años!" (in Spanish). Tribuna. Retrieved 18 Sep 2024.

[3] Luis Hernández Serrano (26 Dec 2012). "El dictador de Valle Azul" (in Spanish). Juventud Rebelde. Retrieved 18 Sep 2024.

[radiorebelde-4] Ismael Rensoly (5 Feb 2024). "Recuerdos del aire: Frente Independiente de Emisoras Libres (80)" (in Spanish). Radio Rebelde. Retrieved 18 Sep 2024.

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