To DXers, the 1980s have been the era of the Central American
clandestines: Radio Veneremos, Radio Quince de Septiembre, Radio
Farabundo Marti, Radio Liberacion, the list seems endless. The
political situation never seems to really change, and the stations
are there month after month to be logged. Optimally, a political
clandestine station gets its job done fast, and then leaves the
air, victorious. For that type of success, today's stations have
a role model in Central America's first political clandestine. In
1954, the granddaddy of them all came on the air, overthrew a
government almost single-handed, and then left the air just two
months later. Its story is not well known. But perhaps at night,
on the mountainsides and in the jungles of Central America, the
announcers at Radio Venceremos or Radio Quince de Septiembre sit
around the fire and talk about La Voz de la Liberacion.
Assumedly it was Ubico's violent one-man rule, not his shortwave
hobby that led to his overthrow in 1944. Following massive
protests by schoolteachers and students, Ubico was forced to resign
and hand over the government to several left-wing army officers,
headed by Colonel Jacabo Arbenz. In 1945, elections were held and
rule of the country was turned over to a civilian government.
During the next elections, in 1950 Arbenz, just 37 years old, ran
for the presidency and won handily. His role in the coup of 1944
had not been forgotten.
In the 1950s, most of the countries of Latin America were controled
by right-wing military dictatorships. Many liberal civilian
politicians were not allowed to live freely in their own countries.
One of Arbenz's first acts was to open Guatemala's doors to
political exiles from all over Latin America. However, not only
were liberal politicians allowed in, but so were hundreds of exiled
Communists and revolutionaries. Although Arbenz said that this was
because he believed all men had the right to live freely,
regardless of their beliefs, not everyone believed him.
Meanwhile, in the Guatemalan congress, Arbenz was supported by a
fifty-one member coaltion which included the four Communist Party
representatives. As part of the coaltion, Guatemalan communists
were given several minor posts in the Arbenz government, mainly in
the Agriculture Department. With McCarthyism at its height in the
United States, Washington began to keep a watchful eye on
Guatemala.
Arbenz's disagreements with United Fruit did not stop there. A
priority of his government was to give land to Guatemala's hundreds
of thousands of landless peasants. There was no question where
much of that land would come from: the country's biggest landowner
was the United Fruit Company. The company held over a half a
million acres, 85% of it was uncultivated. In mid-1952, Arbenz
issued a decree that all uncultivated land in the country was
subject to government seizure, so that it could be given to
landless peasants. In early 1953, about 200,000 acres of
uncultivated United Fruit land was confiscated. Arbenz did plan
to pay for the land. Showing that he had a sense of humour, he
offered to pay United Fruit exactly what the company said the land
was worth - according to the value that the company declared on
its tax reports. Arbenz was well aware that the company had been
cheating on its taxes for years by declaring the land at only
about four percent of its true value. United Fruit was furious.
The CIA had quite a job ahead of it; very few Guatemalans were
actually trying to overthrow Arbenz. Because of his land reform
program and support for trade unions, the peasants and workers were
generally behind him. The middle class, which had neither gained
nor lost under Arbenz, was at least willing to tolerate the
president until the 1955 elections. Following the 1944 coup, the
army had gradually been purged of conservative officers, so that
those who remained either supported Arbenz, or were neutral. Those
Guatemalans who did oppose Arbenz were generally free to do so
within the established political system. They saw no reason for
violence.
Considering all these factors, it's a wonder that "Operation
Success" wasn't named "Operation Failure" instead. But then the
CIA had a deep bag of tricks to reach into, and out of it they
pulled a World War II propaganda technique called "The Big Lie".
Radio would play an important part in this battle.
The key to the plan was psychological warfare. The Guatemalan
people had to be convinced that Arbenz no longer controled the
country. This would be accomplished by clandestine radio
broadcasts and propaganda leaflet airdrops. Meanwhile, a small
military force would be raised to invade Guatemala from a
neighboring country. Propaganda would be used to convince the
country that this invasion was only a small part of a much larger
force of exiled Guatemalans opposed to Arbenz. Other dirty tricks
would be used to further confuse and demoralize the population.
It was no secret that the US government was unhappy with Arbenz.
For example, the United States Information Agency planted over 200
anti-Arbenz articles in the Latin American press during this time.
But Operation Success had to be done covertly, without any apparent
connection to the US government. Not only would such a connection
be politically embarassing to the US, but the Guatemalans might
realize what was happening, and not buy the propaganda. The
operation had to take place outside of the United States, and as
discreetly as possible.
By early 1954, Operation Success was well underway. Nicaraguan
dictator Anastasio Somoza, a staunch enemy of Arbenz, readily
agreed to let his country be used as a training base. Guatemalan
Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas was brought in to head a rebel "Army
of Liberation". Castillo Armas had been exiled after organizing an
unsuccessful military coup in 1950. Since then, he had been making
a living as a furniture salesman in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. His
"army" consisted of about 150 men, a mixture of Guatemalans opposed
to Arbenz, and Hondurans, Nicarguans, and American soldiers of
fortune, in it for the excitement and the money. Americans and
Nationalist Chinese pilots were recruited for the rebel air force.
Covert action specialist E. Howard Hunt (now well-known for his
involvement in the Watergate scandal) was brought in to head the
propaganda campaign. David Atlee Philips was appointed his deputy,
and made head of the radio station. For actual on-air announcing,
five Guatemalan men and two Guatemalan women were recruited. The
Guatemalans were lead by announcers Mario Lopez Otero and Jos�
"Pepe" Toron Barrios.
In early April, 1954, the group was brought together in Florida for
technical training at the U.S. military base in Opa Locka. To keep
the announcers happy, the men's girlfriends were even flown in for
a weekend visit from Guatemala. Their end of training was
celebrated with a night on the town in Miami, courtesy of Howard
Hunt's expense account. In mid-April, they flew to Managua and a
few days later they were out at the radio camp - a barn for the
transmitters and studio, and an old "shack" to live-in. They had
two weeks to finish setting up the station, begin to record
programs, and to get ready for the hard two month's work ahead of
them.
Programs were designed to appeal to patriotism and the base values
of the society. The slogan "Trabajo, Pan, y Libertad", or "Work,
Bread, and Country" was adopted, to identify with these values. To
appeal to all sectors of society, special programs were produced
for women, youth, workers, soldiers, army officers, and the elite.
The last two groups were especially important. Without insuring
that they would at least be neutral and inactive, the invasion
would be doomed to failure.
A few days before the broadcast, half-page ads were placed in each
of Guatemala's daily newspapers. The ads were for a special
holiday broadcast from Mexico on shortwave. The program would
feature some popular Mexican singers, a famous actress, and well-
known Mexican comedian Cantinflas. Of course, the program's time
and frequency were included.
When the listeners tuned in, they found the program to be not quite
what was advertised. The famous stars were there all right, but on
record. Mario and Pepe apologized and explained that the lie was
their only way of letting the public know about the initial
broadcast. The listeners didn't mind; political intrigue can be a
lot more fun than Mexican singers. Here was a station that not
only denounced the president, but it claimed that he would soon be
overthrown by rebels.
Of course, after just one broadcast, very few people took La Voz de
Liberacion seriously. Still, the following day Arbenz made a
speech on Radio Nacional, TGW, denouncing the station. Any doubts
people had as to the seriousness of the rebels were dismissed when
the CIA jammers turned on and drowned out Arbenz's speech.
Starting day two, La Voz de Liberacion had a regular audience.
Even Arbenz, himself, tuned in daily!
To carry this out La Voz de la Liberacion had to convince the
Guatemalan people that Arbenz could not effectively control the
country. One way La Voz de Liberacion did this (and also covered
up their true identity) was by announcing that the station was
broadcasting from the mountains outside Guatemala City. After
all, as Mario and Pepe pointed out to the listeners, if Arbenz's
army can't find and close down a little clandestine radio station,
how can they stop Castillo Armas when he invades the country?
To validate this claim, one night gunshots and screams, interrupted
the broadcast. The announcers shouted "They've found us," and took
off out of the studio, just as soldiers burst through the door
yelling "Hands up!". Of course, since the station was in
Nicaragua, the Guatemalan army was nowhere near it. But the ruse
worked so well that Guatemalan officials monitoring La Voz de
Liberacion believed it. Later that evening, the government radio
station, TGW, announced the army had found and closed down La Voz
de Liberacion. Now there was no question, either in the eyes of
the populace, or the foreign press, that La Voz de Liberacion had
really been broadcasting from the Guatemalan mountains. Afterall,
the government radio station itself had said so.
The next day the station returned to the airwaves. Mario and Pepe
said thanks to the bungling of Arbenz's soldiers and the bravery of
the rebels guarding the station, they had narrowly escaped the
trap. Now the station was broadcasting from a new and more secure
site. However, because of the imminent danger that they might be
caught again, the women announcers would no longer be working at
the station.
The station started airing programs praising and telling about
courageous Soviet pilots who defected by flying their planes to the
west. No direct (pleas - appeals?) were made to Guatemalan pilots,
but it worked. On June 5th, Air Force Colonel Rodolfo Mendoza
Azurdia defected, flying his plane to nearby Nicaragua.
Soon after, Mendoza was brought out to the station for a visit. He
was asked to do a special broadcast and call for his fellow pilots
to defect. Not wanting to cause any hardships to his family, which
was still in Guatemala, he refused. Mario and Pepe told him that
was OK, they understood, and invited him to share dinner and a
bottle of scotch with them that evening.
Mario and Pepe made sure that Mendoza drank more than his share of
the scotch. Soon the pilot was drunk. Praising his bravery, the
two announcers said it was a shame he couldn't give a speech on
their station. But if he did, what would he say, how would he say
it? With the persuasion of the bottle to support him, the
intoxicated aviator launched into a impassioned speech, putting
Arbenz down & and telling his fellow pilots how and why they should
defect. Each time he started to falter and lose interest, Mario
and Pepe asked him more questions, so that he continued in his
heated discourse. Finally though, Mendoza was talked out. The
scotch took over and he began snoozing on the floor. Mario and
Pepe went over to an old sofa and took out the tape recorder they
had hidden under the cushions. Back in the studio, it just took a
little work to cut out their questions and splice the pilot's
comments into a coherent, but lively, speech, ready for broadcast
the next morning.
It worked perfectly. Arbenz was convinced that given the chance,
more of his pilots would defect with their planes. He ordered the
Air Force grounded - and not a single Air Force plane was permitted
to take off for the duration of the crisis.
Even more tension was created when Arbenz decreed a nightly
blackout in Guatemala City. The official reason for the blackout
was to prevent rebels from bombing the city, had been threatened
on La Voz de la Liberacion. Some thought Arbenz was really trying
to make it harder for people to listen to La Voz de Liberacion.
If so, it wasn't a very well thought-out plan, since many
Guatemalans had either battery radios, or their own electrical
generators.
Regardless of Arbenz's reasoning, Mario and Pepe found ways to use
the blackout to their advantage. Listeners were requested to place
lighted candles on their patios, to help the rebel air force find
Guatemala City at night. It was explained that this was necessary
if the pilots were to be able to orient themselves in their supply
drops to the rebels in the hills. Many listeners believed this,
and thousands of candles were placed on patios.
The following day, the Arbenz government announced that lighting
candles was prohibited. Mario and Pepe still weren't finished,
however. The next night they were on the air, thanking listeners
for helping the rebels by lighting candles. This would make the
pilots' job very easy, they explained, when the rebels decided to
bomb the military bases. Since their supporters were everywhere,
the military bases were the only places without candles. All the
pilots would have to do would be to look for the dark areas and
bomb those. The next night candles blazed all over the city -
including the army camps!
However, what might have been a good idea to start with, turned
into a disaster when Howard Hunt and David Atlee Philips found out.
The rebel air force was called on to drop leaflets over Guatemala
City and other large towns, saying that this was an insult to the
army, and that it was just the first step of Arbenz's plan to
destroy the army and replace it with a civilian militia. Fearing
for their future, army officers began to wonder what Arbenz was
really planning, and Arbenz started to distrust his officers even
more. He would keep the army in the barracks until it was all
over.
Now the CIA began launching occasional bombing and strafing raids
from Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. Bombs were dropped on military
bases around the country, and on the port at Puerto Barrios, but
none yet on the captial city. Sometimes, when bombs ran low, the
pilots would drop empty soda bottles. The noise they made when
hitting the pavement sounded just like a bomb going off.
Guatemalans began refering to the bombings as sulfatos
(laxatives) because of the effect they supposedly had on government
officials. Actually the bombings probably had that effect on
anyone nearby!
The war was at a standstill. Castillo Armas and his men settled
down in Esquipulas; they were too few to continue the invasion and,
for the moment, their work was done. Meanhwile the Arbenz
government was confused. There was no reliable communication with
the border area, and Arbenz refused to let the army go to fight the
rebels. Sometimes it seemed the only real news the government
could get was from the rebel radio station - and none of it was
good. Arbenz sat tight, and kept his army in Guatemala City.
Mario and Pepe continued their tricks. One favorite ploy was to
use dis-information to start rumors, such as announcing that there
was no truth to the rumor that the water of Lake Atitlan had been
poisoned. Other times they would go on the air on a frequency very
close to that of the government station, TGW, and mimic the
station and put out false announcements to confuse the listeners.
La Voz de la Liberacion also broadcast messages to fake rebel
camps, and reports of fierce battles that never happened.
For weeks, the CIA had been monitoring and noting frequencies used
for Guatemalan army radio communications. Now they put this
knowledge to use by broadcasting false commands and announcements
on these frequencies, thoroughly confusing the army and
government. Even the US Embassy helped in starting rumors, as
embassy staff called up Guatemalan friends and asked them
questions such as "Is it true that Zacapa has fallen to the
rebels?" Still, though, the stalemate continued.
Sunday night, at 9:15 pm, Arbenz went on Radio Nacional, TGW, to
address the country. More Guatemalans were probably listening to
La Voz de la Liberacion than to TGW, and those who were listening
to TGW had to put up with the jamming. Arbenz summed up the
situation the country was in, and blamed the United States for
backing the rebels who had invaded the country. He then said that
he had decided the only way to restore peace to the country was
for him to resign from the presidency. He was going into exile in
Mexico, and would turn the government over to his friend, and Army
chief of staff, Colonel Carlos Enrique Diaz.
For the next few days, the scene of action was Guatemala City.
Diaz and other officers formed and dissolved juntas daily, trying
to find one that would suit the US ambassador, and be recognized by
the United States. The only solution was to allow Castillo Armas
a
position in the government. Castillo Armas and his troops flew
into Guatemala City. After seeing how insignificant the rebel army
really was, and realizing how easily he could have defeated it,
Diaz went home and cried for several days. Meanwhile, with a few
more days of political maneuvering, guided by the US ambassador,
Castillo Armas became sole president of Guatemala.
The war was over, La Voz de la Liberacion had won. And, it was
much easier than anyone had believed possible. David Atlee
Philips, the CIA head of the clandestine station was listening
when Arbenz made his speech. Philips said he fully expected
Arbenz to tell the people about how the invasion was a farce, and
to announce that everything was under control. That's all he
would have had to do, and the invasion would have been crushed.
Philips couldn't believe that Arbenz (and all the Guatemalan
government) had been so taken in by the station's propaganda, and
he was shocked by Arbenz's resignation. This was the man who ran
the radio station that had brought the resignation about.
Arbenz spent the next ten years moving around Europe and Latin
America, before being granted permanent residency in Mexico in
1965. He died there in 1970, by drowning in his bathtub. Howard
Hunt, of course, went on to become a household name in the United
States, after Watergate. David Atlee Philips stayed with the CIA
until 1974, when he resigned, critical of the agency's workings.
Since then he has written books on the CIA. Castillo Armas proved
to be a corrupt ruler, and in 1957 was assassinated by one of his
own body guards. His was the first in a long string of military
governments in Guatemala, finally ending in 1986. Mario and Pepe
became victims of the political violence that began in Guatemala in
the 1960s, and continues to today. Going to work one morning, Pepe
was shot down in front of his family. Not long afterwards, Mario
was machinegunned in a supermarket parking lot. (More on this.)
For the CIA and the US government, success in Guatemala probably
came too easy. Seven years later David Atlee Philips was brought
in to run Radio Swan, in preparation for the Bay of Pigs invasion
of Cuba. Many other agents who had worked with the Guatemala
operation also were also brought in to help out. The Bays of Pigs,
though, was as big a failure, as Guatemala was a success.
There are numerous theories as to why the Bay of Pigs was a
disaster. Perhaps part of the reason was one of the exiled Latin
American communists living in Guatemala in 1954, a young Argentine
doctor named Che Guevara. He watched what happened, learned, and
when the end came, took off for Mexico. There he he met and
became friends with Fidel Castro. A fews later Castro was the
leader of Cuba, and Guevara his second in command. When Radio
Swan came on the air, Guevara knew what was happening. He had
been through it all before.
According to a tale told by the pilot and copilot, they lost
their bearings, but thought they bombed the right station. TGN
chief engineer, Wayne Berger heard another story. TGW's equipment
and transmitters were located right next to a military base. When
the plane got there, the pilots saw that the base's anti-aircraft
guns were armed and waiting. They decided that bombing TGW wasn't
such a good idea after all. So they turned around and bombed and
strafed the next station they came to, which just happened to be
TGN. After arriving back in Nicaragua, the airmen made up the
story about getting lost.
Evidence of the attack was found years later. Wayne Berger
began working at TGN the mid-sixties. One day, while doing
routine maintainance work, he noticed a hidden bullet hole on one
side of a transformer, without a corresponding hole on the
opposite side to show where it came out. Wayne decided to
investigate, so he took the transformer apart. Inside was was a
fifty-caliber machine gun bullet. Upon entering the transformer
it apparently ricocheted around inside without damaging a single
wire, so that the transformer continued functioning for many
years. As for the bullet, Wayne keeps it on his desk, and tells
its story when he gets the chance.
This article is copyright 1989 by Don Moore. It may not be
printed in any publication without written permission.
Permission is granted for all interested readers to share and
pass on the ASCII text file of this article or to print it out
for personal use. In such case, your comments on the article
would be appreciated.
This website is maintained by Don Moore,
Guatemala Menu
Main Menu
What's New
Best of this Site
Radio History
Clandestine Radio
The Clandestine Grandaddy of Central America
By Don Moore
Guatemala, Central America's most important and populous nation,
has an unfortunate history of sometimes cruel, sometimes odd,
dictators. In 1931, the country was taken over by General Jorge
Ubico. One of Ubico's favorite pastimes was to ride around the
country on a motorcycle, with a machinegun strapped around his
back. In other ways, he was the stereotype of banana republic
dictators: anyone who crossed him or violated even the most minor
of his laws might just be pushed against an adobe wall and shot.
Thousands were. Still, Ubico had his good points: one of his
hobbies was shortwave radio, and he prefered using shortwave,
instead of the telephone or telegraph, whenever sending messages to
officials around the country.Taking on a Fruit Company
Now Arbenz did something no Guatemalan president before him had
ever done; he decided to take on the United Fruit Company. The
largest investor in Guatemala, the company was so powerful, that
few dared to tangle with it. United Fruit was more than just
banana plantations. The only transportation between the interior
of the country and the Caribbean coast was United Fruit's railroad
line between Guatemala City and Puerto Barrios. The railroad
charged the highest rates in the world. United Fruit also owned
the only port facilities on Guatemala's Caribbean coast. Arbenz
angered United Fruit when he announced that he would give their
monopolies some competition, by building a road alongside the
railway and constructing a new Caribbean port. Then,in another
move, Arbenz forced the company to give severance pay to hundreds
of laidoff workers. The U.S. Steps In
The United Fruit Company had its contacts in Washington. John
Foster Dulles was Secretary of State, and his brother Allen Dulles
was head of the CIA. The Dulles family had extensive business
contacts with the United Fruit Company, so the brothers were aware
of what was happening in Guatemala. Assisstant Secretary of State
for Interamerican Affairs, John Moors Cabot was a stock holder in
United Fruit. That watchful eye on Guatemala began to look even
closer. In August, 1953 the decision was made: Arbenz must go.
Allen Dulles brought in some of his best covert action specialists
for the task ahead. "Operation Success" had begun. La Voz de Liberacion
Before any invasion could take place, the country had to be
psychologically softened up. Therefore it was important to put
the rebel radio station on the air as soon as possible. CIA
technicians set up a complete radio base camp on a remote
Nicaraguan farm. Additional transmitters were located in
Honduras, the Dominican Republic, and even in the US embassy in
Guatemala City. Although it was never used, a reserve transmitter
was set up on Swan Island (which seven years later would be the
site of the CIA's famous anti-Castro clandestine, Radio Swan).
Not all these transmitters were for La Voz de Liberacion. Other
uses included fake military command stations and jamming Radio
Nacional de Guatemala (TGW) and other Guatemalan radio stations.
Advertising Clandestine Radio
The first day of broadcast was scheduled for May 1st, International
Labor Day. With everybody taking the day off from work, there
would be a huge potential audience - if only people knew about the
station. Certainly letting its potential listeners know that it is
on the air is a problem for any clandestine radio station. After
all, an underground radio station can't advertise in the local
newspapers. Well, on second thought, maybe it can advertise in the
local papers - because Mario and Pepe did just that for La Voz de
Liberacion! The Big Lie Begins
The role of La Voz de Liberacion was quite clear. First, the
station had to mobilize those Guatemalans who were opposed to
Arbenz into action. Then it had to persuade those who were
neutral, that opposing Arbenz would not be such a bad idea, if
they wanted to be on the winner's side. When a revolution is in
the air, everybody wants to go with the winner. Finally, La Voz
de la Liberacion had to persuade those Guatemalans who supported
Arbenz that all was already lost, and that there was no reason to
continue the fight. Radio Grounds the Air Force
Although air support is the key to most modern military operations,
the CIA could only supply a few obsolete bombers to the "Army of
Liberation". For them to have anything more modern would be like
putting a "Made in the USA" banner on the invasion. Yet, there was
no way these planes could face up in combat against the Guatemalan
Air Force's up-to-date fighters. The Guatemalan Air Force was the
biggest factor standing in the way of a succesful invasion, since
it would control the skies. Not only would government planes be
able to freely bomb and strafe the rebels, but, more important, by
simply flying over them, the air force could report back on how
small and insignificant the invasion really was. If modern planes
could not be sent to take care of the Guatemalan air force,
something else would have to do it. That something was La Voz de
Liberacion. The Air War Starts
Now the skies were safe, and Castillo Armas' air force could go to
work. From Tegucigalpa, Honduras, cargo planes took off regularly
to drop propaganda leaflets over the capital and principal towns.
La Voz de Liberacion played its part in the air war, each night
airing announcements instructing the planes where to drop supplies
for nonexistant rebels in the mountains. Pleas were made for
listeners to help the rebels by locating potential drop sites.
Occasional drops were even made, so that local people would find
the supplies and report them to the government. This created still
more uncertainity as to Arbenz's ability to control the
countryside. Taking Care of the Army
Even with the air force grounded, the CIA's little rebel force was
no match for the 6,000 man Guatemalan army. Something had to be
done to make sure it never came down to a real battle. The break
came when CIA agents learned that Arbenz was considering arming the
peasants and trade unions who supported him. Arbenz did not
totally trust his army, and he wasn't sure how many rebels he was
facing. The extra troops could be useful. The Invasion
On June 18th, 1954, Castillo Armas and his rebel army crossed the
border between Honduras and Guatemala, right on schedule. Castillo
Armas lead the invasion, riding in an old station wagon, while his
150 soldiers followed behind in several rundown cattle trucks.
They drove a few miles to the border town of Esquilpulas, then set
up camp. Noone opposed them. That night La Voz de Liberacion
announced that the vanguard of Castillo Armas' army had crossed the
border, and captured Esquipulas after a fierce battle. Mario and
Pepe went on to say that, from their location near Guatemala City,
they were unable to confirm the rumor that Castillo Armas had five
thousand men. The Final Countdown
Now it was time to get serious. On Friday, June 25, for the first
time, bombs were dropped on the army base outside Guatemala City.
The noise and smoke convinced inhabitants of the nearby city that
the end was near. Thousands began to flee, blocking all the roads
leaving town. On Sunday morning, June 27, La Voz de la Liberacion
was on the air, announcing that two large columns of rebels were
approaching Guatemala City. Appeals were broadcast, asking the
refugees to get off the roads and let the rebel trucks pass. Mario
and Pepe spent the day broadcasting news of troop movements,
redeploying hundreds of fictitious rebel soldiers. Guatemala City
was totally in panic. Meanwhile, Castillo Armas and his 150 rebels
were still relaxing in Esquipulas. Their only chance for success
was if La Voz de Liberacion's propaganda broadcasts over the past
two months had done their job, so that everyone would believe this
final big lie. Aftermath
It's work a success, La Voz de la Liberacion shut off its
transmitters forever. The transmitters probably found their ways
to other battlegrounds around the world. But for most of the
people involved, there was no happy ending. TGN GETS BOMBED
When CIA planes went on bombing runs in Guatemala, their
targets were usually military bases. But sometimes a radio
station can be worth an army, so the CIA decided they had to put
the government station, Radio Nacional, off the air. Bombs loaded
and machine guns ready, a plane took off to do the job. But what
happened next might have come out of a Laurel and Hardy movie.
Because it wasn't TGW that was bombed and strafed, but a peaceful
American missionary station, TGN.
Association of North American Radio Clubs
DXer of the Year for 1995.