An introduction to the subject of Pirate Radio can be found under that heading.

Swan Island (Gulf of Mexico)

1960: Radio Swan commenced unlicensed transmissions in May as a commercial radio station operating with a power of 50,000 watts on AM 1160 and on shortwave with a power of 7,500 watts on 6000kHz. The importance of this island was in its location and proximity to the island of Cuba, because on March 17 1960, President Eisenhower had approved covert action to topple the regime of Fidel Castro in Cuba.

Swan Island was claimed by the governments of both the United States and Honduras, although the island was in the defacto hands of personnel acting on behalf of the USA-CIA (Central Intelligence Agency.) The person who claimed ownership in the press was Sumner Smith of Boston. He was both the president of Abington Textile and Manufacturing Works and a stockholder in Gibralter Steamship Company of New York City.

While the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) claimed that it had no jurisdiction over the station, the address of Radio Swan was in care of the Gibralter Steamship Company in New York, which was a CIA proprietary company. The station later claimed to be owned by Vanguard Service Corporation. Its president was Thomas D. Cabot, a former president of the United Fruit Company and a US State Department executive in the Truman Administration. The station also used a post office box in Miami, Florida.

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 International 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.

During the Bay of Pigs Invasion it became obvious to all concerned that the purpose of the station was to assist in the landings. But following the aborted invasion of the Bay of Pigs, Radio Swan suddenly changed format again. While its tone remained anti-Castro its programming did not promote an uprising against the Cuban government. Then the station changed not only its format, but its name.

1961: Radio Swan became Radio Americas and it remained on the air until May 1968 when the station closed down and its AM transmitter was transported to South Vietnam to assist in the wars of South-East Asia.

One of the loyal sponsors who advertised on both Radio Swan and Radio Americas was Herbert W. Armstrong with The World Tomorrow radio program. This curious footnote is interesting because The World Tomorrow broadcast was also carried on several other radio stations around the world which also appeared to have a proprietary connection to the CIA.