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  Investigative Report: Radio Caiman  By Nick Grace C., February 23, 1998 with thanks to Ulis Fleming and the Anti-Castro Clandetine Page  
Radio Caiman disappeared from the airwaves in December 1994 just as mysteriously as it appeared.  Nearly four years after its death only one shortwave listener has ever been known to "stuff" a QSL from the station into his collection of verifications, just like the picture of the caiman above is stuffed.  And its transmitting location remains unknown and heavily debated.
 
The station was first heard in 1985 on 9960 kHz shortwave playing music. Since it always signed on with Nat King Cole's "Ojos Negros," people dubbed it "Radio Ojos Negros."   After a period of weeks, however, identifications as Radio Caiman began to be heard as the operators were making their presence known.  Programming continued through the years while its huge signal covered North America and Europe, prompting more questions than answers.  Its frequency changed to 9965 kHz at one point, however, prerecorded identifications on the station continued to announce the old 9960 kHz (Zeller, p.18).
 
A "Comite Pro Libertad de Cuba" claimed responsibility for Radio Caiman but it never hinted about who it represented or was funded by.  Tensions between Cuba and the United States were boiling during the Eightees, and the Reagan administration had already built up the CIA's Directorate of Operations (covert arm.)  Clandestine activities in Central America, especially in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras, were jumping.  Cuba was also sponsoring the Salvadorean Communist rebels (FMLN) with arms and technical support, further distancing itself from US policy, and many CIA-sponsored stations were already blanketing the airwaves.  Radio Miskut and then Radio 15 de Septiembre (Nicaragua) were known to be recipients of US cash, as was Radio Impacto (Nicaragua and Panama) and La Voz del CID (Cuba.)  In fact, President Reagan let it be known that he wished to infiltrate Cuba through radio by pushing legislation for Radio Marti through US Congress.
 
Radio Caiman left the airwaves suddenly in 1994 around the time when the US was suffering from an overload of Cuban refugees who were making their way to the US military base in Guantanamo Bay.  Many analysts speculated that the flood of refugees was part of a plan by Castro to pressure the US into easing the economic sanctions that had been in place since the 1960's, and the American public wasn't keen on permitting the Cubans into the States.  Therefore, Radio Caiman's closure could have been part of a covert diplomatic package presented to the leadership in Havana to end the crisis.
 
Nonetheless, the question then, as is now, was: How did Radio Caiman fit in the picture?
 
History and common sense provides some context as to the significance of "caiman" in the name of the station.  Caiman means "alligator" in Spanish, however, the particular species of alligators called "caiman" are native to the Amazon - not Cuba.  Nonetheless, it's conceivable that whoever named Radio Caiman wanted to present an aggressive image for the operation.  During the 1960's, a Radio Caiman clandestine station also broadcast anti-Castro programming (Soley, p.189), but little is known about that operation today.  Could the contemporary Radio Caiman have been counting on the 60's station's reputation?
 
Another interesting fact that may or may not be relevant is the name of the Cayman Islands in Spanish.  This island group, just a few hundred miles south of Cuba, is called "Islas Caiman" in Spanish.  It can be argued, therefore, that the purpose of the name was to unsettle Castro and make him believe that an invasion would be arranged from the Caymans.  Castro surely hadn't forgotten about Radio Swan and the Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961.
 
The Comite Pro Libertad de Cuba that claimed responsibility is just as mysterious and inconcrete.  This group maintains either no presence on the Internet or an extremely discrete one at that.  Nearly everyone within the academic and shortwave listening hobby believed that this "committee" was either a front for the US government or had been hastily organized by CIA officers.  History does show that this tactic has been used, for example, a declassified CIA document about Radio Swan reveals the agency developed a coalition group called Frente Revolucionario Democratico to stand behind certain programs the station broadcast (See The Taylor Report as cited on the Anti-Castro Clandestine Page.)  Covert operations against Saddam Hussein in Iraq have also implemented this strategy, although to greater levels (See "No Comfort in the House of Glass.")  Unlike, the situation in Iraq, it can be argued the US government preferred to set up a "committe" which transcended inter-group rivalries among the Cuban exile associations rather than set up a new group among many.
 
La Voz del CID, which was funded during most - if not all - of its life by the CIA, left its covert transmitting facilities in late 1997 in what may have been either diplomatic conciliatory efforts towards Cuba by the US (because of domestic pressures) and El Salvador (which was blamed for a series of 1997 bombings in Havana) or from a simple cut of covert funding.  (Note: La Voz del CID had already become intermittent in its transmissions before the bombing so this argument is rather weak.)  The same thing may have happened to Radio Caiman since American businesses are itching to trade with Cuba and have been heavily lobbying the Clinton administration to open the flood gates.  Furthermore, the Cuban refugee problem presented diplomatic challenges for Washington that could have been partly solved by shutting the station down.
 
Maybe Radio Caiman was covertly connected with Radio Marti, which itself was victim to heavy personnel and cost cuts in 1993 and 1994.  Radio Marti by that time had already proven to the US government and Cuban analysts that its unique broadcasting tactic is more effective than mysterious covert transmissions, therefore, the US may have decided to axe Radio Caiman.
 
Just as debatable is the station's location.  Most people agreed that Radio Caiman broadcast from Central America, but there was never any concensus on a single country.  Nonetheless, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and El Salvador are often brought up as potential sites with Guatemala leading as the most probable.
 
Nothing will be known, of course, until interested parties reveal the true nature of Radio Caiman.  The State Department and CIA probably aren't going to declassify relevant documents for many years to come, and the Reagan Library has only begun to sort through its holdings.  But that assumes there are any documents at all stored in Washington about this station.
 
Whatever the answers are, Radio Caiman will forever be remembered as one of the most fascinating shortwave clandestine radio stations to operate from the Western Hemisphere.  One day it was there, and then it was gone.  And just as exciting is that the legacy of Radio Caiman doesn't excite the radio listening community alone, but also the academic and historical communities as well.
 
See also: Radio Marti and La Voz del CID.
    Bibliography   Soley, Lawrence C. and John S. Nichols.  Clandestine Radio Broadcasting.  Praeger.  New York: 1987.
Zeller, George.  "Clandestine Profile."  The ACE, November 1994.