This paper focuses on the case of Radio Haïti, an independent station broadcasting issues related to politics, society, and culture. Founded in 1935 by Ricardo Widmaïer as a haven for local artists, live music, and Pan-American cultural relations, the station’s political priorities would evolve as it changed hands to its new owner, Jean L. Dominique, in 1971. Broadcasting during an era of press censorship under François and Jean-Claude Duvalier, the station became renowned as the only one that broadcasted domestic affairs in addition to its international reports. Employing Haitian Creole, live and pre-recorded interviews, in-depth reporting in the countryside, and eyewitness news, Radio Haïti utilized these innovations to cultivate a participatory and inclusive radio culture across the country. Through close listening of select radio broadcasts from the late 1970s discussing international topics, including the Sandinista revolution, Haiti’s place within an increasingly left-leaning Circum-Caribbean region, and the 1979 Jamaican election season, this paper explores Radio Haïti’s intersecting goals for the broadcasting international news and music to 1) euphemistically explore Haiti’s present political realities; 2) challenge the inertia of the country’s political insolation; and 3) consider shared Antillean, Central and Latin American experiences that united the region. In doing so, the station encouraged listeners to develop a sense of belonging to the nation and what scholar Tom McEnaney sees as the broader neighborhood of the Americas (McEnaney 2017). Dominique used this sense of belonging and the practice of participation developed on air to create what he called “the opening” to revolution against the dictatorship. Radio Haïti’s inter-American gaze, this paper argues, illuminates the opportunities, limits, and challenges of harnessing radio as a mechanism for change amid shifting U.S.-Haiti relations during the Cold War.
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