July, 2024.- Telling facts and anecdotes that enrich history is something that Gaspar Estévez Pérez, founder of the then CMJQ, a radio station located in Nuevitas, northeast of Camagüey, knew how to do very well.
We should remember that this radio station started in an annexed room of the Victoria bar, owned by the Font family, and in this way, with initiatives, efforts and few resources, they began to achieve great successes.
"Well, the saddest problem of this was when the old man Font came from the U.S.; he had traveled for tourism and on his return he kicked us out of the premises, and although the house was not legally his because it was not on his property, he insisted that it belonged to him, so we had to take the radio station to my house on Agramonte Street, between Maceo and Calixto García Streets”.
-We had to carry all the equipment over there.
I sold it to him for 250 pesos, in other words, I gave it as a gift, because selling everything, I could have charged three thousand pesos to those people for the initials but that was never my interest.
-What year was that?
It was in '42 or '43, because I left in '44 and then he sold it to Juan Filgueira, so it was for the Acera de Martí.
-And by reminiscing, the work of the then CMJQ is expanded.
We had a very nice radio comedy show, directed by Mabet Poveda, a group of boys from here in town and these boys, Aluija and a group of youngsters who liked that, but he could not come because he was a little delicate -he was the narrator-, very good by the way.
One of the people we taught to be a broadcaster, a journalist and everything was Esteban Lamela, and also Arrabal; Enriquito Sasturaín practiced as a broadcaster with us. In that aspect we had a great cooperation from these members who helped us, and it is important to emphasize that none of the artists who worked with us was interested in charging a penny; we swept, we shook, we did everything, we were everything, I wrote the editorials.
Then the Cuba Institute, which was directed by Professor Merardo, lent its boys and we made very good patriotic acts, we looked for the best speakers. During the Spanish War, we were also direct participants in the collection of money and things for the Spanish combatants and whatever happened, whatever we saw, an injustice, we criticized, no matter who it was; we even had a newspaper called El Desinfectante (The Desinfectant) and you know what “Desinfectant” means.Its main objective was to eliminate everything rotten, all the garbage, everything that was bad, and I held it that way for some time.
I was a man without fear and when it was a matter of justice my house could be said to be the consulate here, all the complaints came to my house, to register at the Civil Registration or to get married, people even came to die at my house, it was Gaspar Estevez and his family, very loved here.
-How did it feel to be back at Radio Nuevitas?
"I am really very excited, I had not been back to Nuevitas, I used to pass by the radio station but I didn't dare to go in because it reminded me of the little box where we used to broadcast and there was already some very nice equipment, and I said, 'wow, if it were still mine'.
And today, as you can see in my words, I am nervous, I am very happy to be among you, among valuable comrades, revolutionaries, who are fighting to share culture to people, to defend progress and, in addition, we progress the city of Nuevitas making known everything that is being done here through the radio.
Now that I find this, the truth is that I feel disturbed but very happy to be with you and I want the people of Nuevitas to receive my words of greeting with all my usual affection, that I remember them with true love because I love this town very much, I felt very happy here, I was very loved by the people".
Gaspar is also esteemed for having made possible with his initiatives the creation of a radio plant that turned out to be one of the first of Cuban Radio, which from the northeast of Camagüey broadcasts for a public that follows it day by day since August 1, 1939, and this year 2024 will celebrate its 85th anniversary with joy and remembering the man who made possible to amplify the sound signal.
We will continue dusting off the history of Radio Nuevitas to introduce you to other workers who, with few resources, made and taught us with their dedication to make radio, that sound that becomes image.
