''Rádio Voz da Liberdade'' (Radio Voice of Liberty) was a radio station in Portuguese, organised by the ''Frente Patriótica de Libertação Nacional'' (Patriotic Front for National Liberation). It broadcast from

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

between 1963 and 1974, during the time of the '' Estado Novo'' dictatorship in Portugal.

History

''Rádio Voz da Liberdade'' broadcast three times a week. Its programmes were directed to Portugal and to its African colonies. It was organized by the ''Frente Patriótica de Libertação Nacional'', which consisted of various anti-government groups, including the

Portuguese Communist Party The Portuguese Communist Party (, , PCP) is a Communism, communist and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist List of political parties in Portugal, political party in Portugal. It is one of the strongest List of communist parties, communist par ...

(PCP). Unlike the PCP's '' Rádio Portugal Livre'', which operated clandestinely, ''Rádio Voz da Liberdade'' openly used the facilities of Rádio Algiers. The Portuguese poet and future presidential candidate,

Manuel Alegre Manuel Alegre de Melo Duarte (born 12 May 1936) is a Portuguese poet and politician. He was a candidate to the presidency of the Portuguese Republic in 2006 and 2011, finishing in second place in both elections. For his literary work, he was awa ...

, was the director of the station for about ten years during his exile in Algeria. Others to work on the station included

Stella Piteira Santos Stella Piteira Santos (1917-2009) was a Portuguese communist who opposed the '' Estado Novo'' dictatorship. Arrested and tortured in Lisbon, she subsequently moved to Algeria, from where she helped broadcast programmes of Rádio Voz da Liberdade ...

, who was the first female voice on the station, and

Maria Luísa Costa Dias Maria Luísa Costa Dias (1916–1975), was a Portuguese medical doctor and communist activist in opposition to the authoritarian '' Estado Novo'' government. Maria Luísa Palhinha da Costa Dias was born in the city of Coimbra, on 15 October 1916 ...

. Piteira Santos always greeted listeners with the same introduction: "Friends, comrades and comrades, this is Radio Voz da Liberdade, on behalf of the Patriotic Front for National Liberation". The station functioned between 1963 and 1974, when the ''Estado Novo'' was overthrown on 25 April by the

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution (), code-named Operation Historic Turn (), also known as the 25 April (), was a military coup by military officers that overthrew the Estado Novo government on 25 April 1974 in Portugal. The coup produced major socia ...

. Transmitting to Portugal on medium wave, the station was best received in the southern part of the country. It broadcast the first interview aimed at Portugal by the anti-colonial leader,

Amílcar Cabral Amílcar Lopes Cabral (; – ) was a Bissau-Guinean and Cape Verdean agricultural engineer, political organizer, and diplomat. He was one of Africa's foremost anti-colonial leaders. He was also a pan-Africanist and intellectual nationalist ...

. Others leading the fight against Portugal as a colonial power who were interviewed included

Agostinho Neto António Agostinho Neto (17 September 1922 – 10 September 1979) was an Angolan Communism, communist politician and poet. He served as the first president of Angola from 1975 to 1979, having led the MPLA, Popular Movement for the Liberation of ...

from

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

, and

Samora Machel Samora Moisés Machel (29 September 1933 – 19 October 1986) was a Mozambique, Mozambican politician and revolutionary. A Socialism, socialist in the tradition of Marxism–Leninism, he served as the first President of Mozambique from the coun ...

and

Eduardo Mondlane Eduardo Chivambo Mondlane (20 June 1920 – 3 February 1969) was a Mozambican revolutionary and anthropologist who was the founder of the Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO). He served as the FRELIMO's first leader until his assassinat ...

from

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

. It also reported on anti-government activities within Portugal. Often the reports came one month after the event but this was not considered a problem as censorship in Portugal meant that the information had not previously been known.

References

{{stack, {{Portal, Portugal Defunct radio stations in Portugal Radio stations established in 1963 Radio stations disestablished in 1974 Defunct mass media in Algeria