Radio Swan - History

History

In 1960, a Central Intelligence Agency cover called Gibraltar Steamship Company (which didn't own any steamships and whose president was Thomas Dudley Cabot) owned and established Radio Swan on Swan Island, a covert black operation to win supporters for U.S. policies and discredit Fidel Castro.

The radio station began acting as a regular commercial broadcaster with sponsors such as Kleenex, Phillip Morris Co., and others lined up, operating with a 50,000 watt transmitter on AM 1160 and on shortwave with a power of 7,500 watts on 6000 kHz. The importance of this island was in its location and proximity to the island of Cuba, because on March 17, 1960, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower had approved covert action to topple the regime of Fidel Castro in Cuba. As early as October 30, 1960, the Castro government sent reconnaissance flights over Swan Island and the Caribbean Coast of Guatemala (CIA 11-3-1960).

Swan Island was claimed by the governments of both the United States and Honduras, although the island was in the de facto hands of personnel acting on behalf of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). A Mr. Sumner Smith of Boston also claimed ownership. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) claimed that it had no jurisdiction over the station.

The AM transmitter in use by Radio Swan had been used by Radio Free Europe and it was taken to Swan Island by U.S. Navy personnel. At first all broadcasts of this pseudo-commercial radio station were in the Spanish language and it was announced on air as Radio Swan, la Voz Internacional del Caribe, with its initial commercial programming coming on tape recordings from anti-Castro political groups in exile.

Cuba responded to the broadcasts by setting up a jamming station to block the transmissions of Radio Swan and initiated La Voz de INRA, or The Voice of INRA which represented the National Institute of Agrarian Reform with an anti-American message. This action was followed on January 3, 1961, by a break in diplomatic relations between both countries that had been initiated by the USA. Following this action, Cuba commenced broadcasting to the USA and to the world, with a new international service called Radio Havana Cuba.

In March 1961 Radio Swan announced that it would no longer sell its airtime for political programming and the station changed to an all-news format while infusing its broadcasts with coded messages. The station described itself as assisting those who are fighting Castro within Cuba and it began transmitting on fourteen frequencies. The CIA issued a press release claiming its anti-Castro broadcasts were now being beamed by seven radio stations as well as Radio Swan.

A station identifying itself as Radio Swan briefly resumed broadcasts in 1975-1976 on 6185 kHz. The station used a mailing address in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and referred to itself as "La Primera Voz Democratica de Latinoamerica" ("The First Voice of Democracy in Latin America"). Since San Pedro Sula is located on the Honduran mainland, it is possible that these broadcasts originated there rather than on Swan Island, though no positive verification has been determined.