| Circuito Nacional Cubano | |
| City: | Havana |
| Country: | Cuba |
| Area: | Cuba |
| Frequency: | See Frequencies |
| Branding: | CMW |
| Languages: | Cuban Spanish |
| Subchannels: | See Frequencies |
| Affiliations: | See Frequencies |
| Sister Stations: | See Frequencies |
| Former Names: | RHC-Cadena Azul (1939-52) Cadena Azul de Cuba (1952-54) |
| Callsign Meaning: | CMW (AM) COCY (SW) |
| Power: | See Frequencies |
| Translators: | See Frequencies |
| Repeaters: | See Frequencies |
Spanish; Castilian: italic=no|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.
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.
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]
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.
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 |