Very few people appreciate the electrical blackouts today the way those of us who live in “deep” Cuba do. From 9:30 PM to 11PM, Radio Marti drops their Nightly Show with the hoarse voice of Margarita Rojo. It is a true exercise of proper fluency, immediacy, and information. It’s a collection of subjects which develop as the island falls further into deep sleep. In the majority of cases, Omar Lopez Montenegro and Fausto Canel accompany her as a form of diachronic support — helping her on one occasion and pricking her on the other. What is certain is that Margarita moves forward while being herself and, through this, one can notice that her conversations can be a script, an engine, a set of notes, while a whole other thing is the intuition of grabbing the attention of the listener through the proper use of grammar by a person who feels that they own the airwaves, transmitting that magic message through radio.
I believe that very few people have had the luck of being children (natural or adopted) of three Caribbean islands at the same time: Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Miami. Margarita Rojo has become the owner of a specific way of mixing up radio in terms of entertainment, sincerity, and insularity. Miami deserves it, as do Margarita and Cuba. Her Nightly Show is not a tribunal nor is it a trench, a fact that is proven considering that time and time again we can enjoy the company of an author, a filmmaker, or an independent journalist. Never is that living encyclopedia known as Rafael Garcia ‘Toledo so enjoyable as it is when the microphones are offered to different subjects than sports. Margarita Rojo puts people on their feet, for she can chat with a political analyst, calm down a controversial guest, or turn against all other guests.
Tendencies as diverse as those assumed by the wide range of guests from Emilio Ichikawa, Roberto Bermudez or Idolidia Darias have proven to us that in order to be serious, we do not have to be hierarchical and everything is worth it in that Tower of Babel known as “radio”. The singularity of an incidental song, the spontaneous shorts, and the obedience to her listeners constitute the perfect trinomial which allows us to keep listening to her.
As of 2009, Radio Marti changed its programming. It started to mold it, amid absences and new acquisitions for contemporary listeners, and it was for the good. But Margarita Rojo is still there, and in what a way, when she says: “Good evening my friends, here again…”
Translated by Raul G.
27 April 2012
