103rd Anniversary of Cuban Radio: Sound to See

This August 22nd, 2025, Cuban Radio celebrates 103 years of history, identity, and resilience. The date, officially recognized as its founding, pays tribute to the notable musician and mambí Luis Casas Romero, who, along with his children, managed to establish the first systematic, public, and sustained broadcasts in the country. Those broadcasts not only marked the beginning of organized programming but also shaped radio as a cultural and social institution.

But the enthusiasm and creativity of Cuba’s radio pioneers were not limited to Havana. In Caibarien, starting in 1917, the Asturian Manolín Álvarez, a self-taught technician and visionary, made experimental broadcasts that captivated local audiences. His early contribution consolidated the role of radio as an emerging medium in the daily lives of Cubans.

What was essential, what was truly transcendent, was the initial impulse of its founders. Those first attempts at radio in the first decade of the 20th century laid the foundations for a profound mark on the history of national communication.

Radio became a platform for ideas, resistance, and memory, chosen by figures such as José Antonio Echeverría, Eduardo Chibás, and the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, as a key tool in the ideological and revolutionary struggle.

It was also a platform for art and culture. Great voices and talents found in radio the ideal space to consolidate a sense of identity, popular consciousness, and belonging. A witness and protagonist of historical events of national significance, the radio connected listeners with the local, national, and international environment, reflecting every stage of the country’s life from multiple perspectives over time.

Perhaps the most defining moment came with Fidel’s vision of the “great Rebel Radio,” which, after the revolutionary triumph of 1959, acquired its true public and community vocation. Playing an essential role in the formation of values, culture, history, and education.

Today, more than 100 stations make up the Cuban radio system. Let us celebrate these 103 years as a living legacy of those first sonic dreams that, more than a century ago, made sound possible in every Cuban home.

With information from Radio Cubana

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