| Radio México Internacional | |
| City: | Mexico City |
| Area: | international |
| Airdate: | 1 September 1969 (shortwave) (Internet radio) |
| Last Airdate: | 1 June 2004 (shortwave) |
| Language: | Spanish, English, French, indigenous languages |
| Power: | 10,000 watts (shortwave) |
| Class: | International broadcasting (shortwave) |
| Callsign Meaning: | Radio México |
| Former Callsigns: | XERMX-OC |
| Former Frequencies: | 5.985, 9.705, 11.77, 15.43, 17.765 MHz |
| Owner: | Instituto Mexicano de la Radio |
Radio México Internacional is a Mexican government-run radio service based in Mexico City. It broadcast as a shortwave radio station with the broadcast callsign XERMX-OC from 1969 to 2004, and was relaunched as an Internet-only radio service in 2011. Since 1983, it has been under the control of the Instituto Mexicano de la Radio (IMER).[1] The -OC suffix is from onda corta, Spanish for "short wave".
Federal shortwave broadcasting in Mexico goes back to at least 1934, when the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SRE) started XECR. It was discontinued in 1937 when the government of Lázaro Cárdenas began shortwave station XEXA through the Autonomous Department of Press and Publicity (Spanish; Castilian: Departamento Autónomo de Prensa y Publicidad, DAPP). XEXA continued into the 1940s.[1]
In 1968, Luis Echeverría, then Secretary of the Interior (Spanish; Castilian: Secretaría de Gobernación), ordered Notimex to create a new shortwave station. The Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (SCT) allocated a set of five frequencies to be used at various times of the day: 5.985 MHz on the 49-meter band; 9.705 MHz on 31 meters; 11.77 MHz on 25 meters; 15.43 MHz on 19 meters; and 17.765 MHz on 16 meters.[1]
XERMX-OC began broadcasting on 1 September 1969. It was taken over by the Spanish; Castilian: [[Instituto Mexicano de la Radio]] (IMER) in 1983, and ceased broadcasting on 1 June 2004.[1] It had 10,000-watt transmitters.[2]
In a November 2006 interview, IMER director Dolores Beistegui explained the logic for taking XERMX off the air:[3]
Radio México Internacional was relaunched by IMER as an Internet radio service on 1 January 2011,[1] to provide programming in Spanish, English, French, and indigenous languages, with programs including music, dramas and documentaries.[4]
It is aired as an HD Radio subchannel of XHOF-FM (105.7 HD2) in the Mexico City area and on two FM stations owned by the SPR, XHSPRM-FM 103.5 Mazatlán and XHSPRT-FM 101.1 Tapachula.