Voice of the Mediterranean being phased out

The Voice of the Mediterranean (VOM), owned jointly by the Libyan and Maltese governments, has ended its internet transmissions. A brief announcement on the station website, reported by Mike Terry on BDXC-UK, says that "Due to circumstances beyond our control, we regret to inform our listeners that VOMi will cease broadcasting on Friday November 28 2003." Earlier it has been reported that shortwave transmissions will continue until the end of 2003. According to the Times of Malta, the station was to be closed down after the Libyan government informed Malta that "it no longer sees a function for this kind of station". The Libyan government had informed the Minstry of Foreign Affairs of Malta that it was no longer interested in giving any further contributions to the station. According to the ministry, quoted on the Times of Malta, Libyan contributions to the station have been irregular for the past six years, and Libya still owes the station over 2.3 million euros. The Voice of the Mediterranean has had 12 full-time employees, two part-timers and four Libyan representatives. The station has broadcast in seven languages. It began broadcasting 20 years ago.
(DXing.info, November 28, 2003, updated on November 29)

Radio Sentimiento Litorale is a new unofficial station in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires. Operating on 1510 kHz, Radio Sentimiento Litorale has been operating since the beginning of November 2003. The station is located at Mario Bravo 1284, Villa Fiorito, Banfield, Buenos Aires, tel. (011) 4276-2396. Station manager Guillermo O. Caravelli has also an FM outlet, operating on 88.3 MHz.
      Radio Onda Latina () from Buenos Aires has changed from 740 to 1010 kHz. Another station in the suburbs of the capital, Radio Nativa in Claypole, has switched from 1480 to 1460 kHz.
      Information on these three stations has been compiled by Marcelo Cornachioni in Argentina and published in Conexión Digital no. 237.
      Nicolás Eramo has recently recorded station identifications of dozens of stations in Buenos Aires. These audio files have just been uploaded in the Audio section of DXing.info.

Low-power Radio Royal on 1278 kHz from the UK

A new low-power mediumwave station has begun broadcasting in the United Kingdom. Radio Royal is a hospital station in Falkirk, broadcasting on 1278 kHz. According to Tim Foulsham of Radica, and reported by Dave Kenny on BDXC-UK, the station began transmissions on November 4. Radio Royal operates 24 hours a day and plays continuous pop and oldies music when not carrying live programming. The station can be reached by writing to Radio Royal, Falkirk & District Royal Infirmary, 1 Majors Loan, Falkirk, FK1 5QE, the United Kingdom, or by email.
     Also in the UK, on November 24 a station called Radio Hope was launched at the Liverpool Hope University College. The station broadcasts on 1350 kHz, giving the students practise in running a radio station. This was reported by Alan Pennington on BDXC-UK.
(DXing.info, November 8, 2003, updated on November 28)

Radio for Peace International forced off the air

An escalating dispute between Radio for Peace International (RFPI) and the University for Peace in Costa Rica has forced the radio station off the air. On November 5, two days after cutting off water and phone services to the station, the University for Peace cut also electricity to its tenant, ending RFPI's shortwave broadcasts. The parties are engaged in a bitter propaganda war and legal battles over who is to blame for sour relations. The University has tried to evict RFPI since July accusing it of unpaid bills. On July 21 the University delivered an eviction notice to RFPI, which has been operating since 1987 on the University campus in Ciudad Colón. The radio station was advised to vacate its facilities in two weeks. Negotiations however resumed and RFPI remained on the air, until the station was finally told to leave its premises by October 31. The University began cutting utilities after the deadline had passed. Commenting on Copyexchange.com, RFPI's General Manager James Latham says that the staff will remain in the building and are prepared to go on hunger strike if necessary. Meanwhile, RFPI has set up an office in the capital San José, planning to stream programming over the Internet for about six months, during which it hopes to build new broadcasting facilities.
(DXing.info, November 5, 2003)

Radio Internacional from Peru on 6108 kHz shortwave

A Peruvian station identifying as Radio Internacional has been heard around 6108.4 kHz shortwave. The station was first heard on October 19 by Björn Malm in Ecuador and Alfredo Benjamin Cañote in Peru. According to Malm, this could be Radio Internacional del Perú from San Pablo, Provincia San Pablo, Departamento Cajamarca, which is listed to operate on 1600 and 3397 kHz, but has not been heard on shortwave for years. In San Pablo, the station has been licensed to operate OCY2D 1600 kHz mediumwave with 1 KW, OAZ2G 4965 kHz in the 60-meter-band with 0.5 kW and OCW2P 100.7 MHz FM with 0.5 kW - this was told to Japanese DXer Takayuki Inoue when he visited the studios of the station at Avenida Bolognesi 532 in San Pablo in 2001. However, since then the station has only operated on 1600 kHz. In the early 1990's Radio Internacional del Perú was however heard on 3402.6 and 3397.4 kHz shortwave, and Inoue found out that this transmitter and a studio were located at Urbanizacion La Alborada in the District of Comas, in the capital Lima, licensed to operate on 3395 kHz with 1 kW and callsign OAU4L. According to Inoue, these shortwave transmissions - which were ended in 1996 - were intended for listeners in Northern Peru as well as for immigrants from the province of San Pablo living in Lima.
(DXing.info, November 2, 2003, updated on November 3)

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