Community radio stations can serve historically underserved populations, including indigenous peoples, rural communities and social justice groups. But in northern Central America, they’re facing serious challenges: Criminalization from the government, persecution from criminal groups, and instability from a lack of regulation and funding.
That’s why 15 independent organizations from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras – with support from the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters for Latin America and the Caribbean, or AMARC ALC for its initials in Spanish – is requesting a hearing with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, or IACHR, to discuss the state of community journalism in those three countries.
"The reason for the request stems from the need for community and independent journalists, as well as experts, to present the IACHR judges the violence and discrimination faced by community media in these three countries, as well as the outstanding debts of the governments regarding international human rights standards and rulings from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights," an AMARC statement from August says.
The request has precedent: the IACHR has previously held sessions addressing community media in Latin America. Last November, the court held a hearing on indigenous peoples' communication.
The Human Rights Ombudsman's Office of Guatemala, in a 2020 document, defined community radio stations as serving the interests of specific groups, such as young people, women and farmers.
A mapping conducted last year by the Red Centroamericana de Radio Comunitarias Indígenas counted 38 community radio stations in operation in Guatemala. According to Anselmo Xunic, volunteer coordinator of Radio Ixchel and the Cultural Survival association, the number exceeds 60.
Guatemalan community radio stations want access to radio frequencies. Indigenous peoples can’t financially compete with large media companies in the public auctions for frequencies.
The last auction took place in 2013, and according to Xunic, bids reached exorbitant amounts prohibitive to community radio stations. The online news portal Plaza Pública reported that a 2009 study found almost half of Guatemala's FM radio spectrum was in the hands of five large media groups.
Community radios have unsuccessfully tried to lobby lawmakers to pass a law that would officially recognize them, which would open the door for them to apply for frequencies, but they face opposition from large media monopolies, Xunic said.
“The fight is, above all, for a frequency, a radio license,” Xunic told the LatAm Journalism Review (LJR). "We are fighting against powerful forces, the media monopolies."
In December 2021, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled in favor of broadcasters from four indigenous peoples: Maya Kaqchikel, from Sumpango; Achí, from San Miguel Chicaj; Mam, from Cajolá; and Mam, from Todos Santos Cuchumatán. Their community radio stations were raided, confiscated and shut down in the period from 2006 to 2009.
In compliance with the ruling, the government compensated three of the four radio stations. The fourth still hasn’t been paid. And the ruling was published and translated into indigenous languages in the Official Daily government newspaper.
But the most important part of the court order has not been fulfille: the legal recognition of the radio stations and the dismissal of charges against them.
"The Inter-American Court ruling fundamentally requires the state to recognize community media in its legislation, allocate frequencies within the radio spectrum to them, and cease prosecution by the public ministry against colleagues who run or work in community radio stations," Oscar Antonio Pérez, regional coordinator of AMARC for Latin America, told LJR.
Oscar Pérez, regional coordinator of AMARC ALC (World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters for Latin America and the Caribbean) (Photo: Courtesy)
Xunic said his organization is working to advance the law but has no timeline for when it will happen. Meanwhile, he plans to pressure President Bernardo Arévalo's government to grant the four frequencies to the radio stations mentioned in the Inter-American Court ruling.
“We are asking, at the very least, for this to be done through a government decree signed by the president,” Xunic said. “At least it would be something while the law progresses.”
In El Salvador, unlike in Honduras and Guatemala, community radio stations are legally recognized.
“Although they are formally recognized, when they try to request a frequency, they are told that the entire spectrum is already occupied,” Oscar Pérez of AMARC said. “Therefore, there is a formal problem: the legal recognition exists, but in practice, they cannot operate properly.
AMARC wants to address the state of emergency imposed by Nayib Bukele's authoritarian government since March 2022. Critical journalists in the country fear arbitrary arrests.
"The main challenge is staying safe, free from becoming another victim of the state of emergency," said Vanessa Cortez Bonilla, coordinator of La Radio de Todas, El Salvador’s first feminist radio station, to LJR. "Anyone can accuse you of gang affiliation, and there’s no investigation. They simply come for you."
One such victim was Victor Barahona, a journalist from the online community radio station “Que Onda Club,” who spent 11 months in prison accused of "collaborating with gangs." Reports indicate his arrest was unfounded, and he suffered torture while imprisoned.
In Honduras, despite being recognized by an executive decree, community media are still not formally included in the telecommunications framework law, creating legal disadvantages compared to private media, Carlos Enamorado, coordinator of the Honduran Association of Community Media, which includes more than 35 community broadcasters, told LJR.
“This lack of formal recognition prevents us from accessing resources and opportunities that other sectors of communication have, such as the possibility of obtaining more secure and long-term operating licenses,” Enamorado said.
According to Enamorado, the non-recognition status exposes these outlets to disproportionate sanctions, as the same rules applied to large media conglomerates are used against community radios, without considering their technical and financial limitations.
Another issue: for more than 15 years, community media in Honduras have faced repression not only from the state but also from other actors, such as drug traffickers. According to the organization C-Libre, more than 100 journalists have been killed in Honduras since 2001.
“In the case of stations located in conflict zones with drug trafficking, drug traffickers become another actor that violates human rights in the region,” Enamorado said.
AMARC plans to present three documents at a forum in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in November to strengthen community radios in Latin America.
First, in partnership with UNESCO, the association will present a proposal to measure the integral sustainability of community media. Secondly, they will introduce a report on the financial support given to community media in four countries: Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, and Argentina.
Finally, AMARC will present a proposal to regulate community radio stations for adoption in countries where the sector remains unregulated. The idea is for AMARC’s national representatives to submit the project to the legislative or executive branches in each country, which could adopt it after minor adjustments.
“This general model law will be adapted to each country’s needs, but the idea is to ensure the financial sustainability of these media outlets,” Oscar Pérez said.
