Radio Reloj

Radio Reloj (Spanish for 'Clock Radio', pronounced [ˈraðjo reˈlox]) is a government-owned Spanish-language radio station in Cuba. It carries an all-news radio format and is based in Havana.

Radio Reloj is distinguished by its strict "time and news" format, which has remained largely unchanged since its founding. The station features two announcers who read news bulletins in alternating one-minute segments. A constant background ticking, produced by a metronome-like pulse, serves as a rhythmic backdrop to the speech. At the top of every minute, a high-pitched tone sounds, followed by the station's signature identification: the letters "RR" transmitted in Morse code.

The station played a part in the history of Cuba, particularly during the Cuban revolution. On March 13, 1957, student leader José Antonio Echeverría, head of the University Student Federation (FEU), led a group from the Revolutionary Directorate to seize the station's studios. Their goal was to announce the death of dictator Fulgencio Batista, who was simultaneously being targeted in an attack at the Presidential Palace.

Echeverría managed to take the microphone and began a live proclamation, famously starting with "People of Cuba!" However, the broadcast was cut off mid-sentence by station technicians, and the planned uprising failed to materialize as Batista survived the palace attack. Echeverría was killed by police shortly after leaving the building, and the recording of his final broadcast remains a well-known historical artifact in Cuba.