During the decades of war, news was not easy to get. Even now, when something really important happens in the country, it is not through the radio or television that people get the information. Guatemalans still remember that during the 1980s and '90s, news about a military coup would be passed only through the telephone, while radio and television continued with "normal" programming, as if nothing had happened. A military coup was signaled by helicopters flying over the army headquarters in Guatemala City and army patrols on the streets — not by word on the radio.
Things have changed, but not much. By the end of February, 2001, strong rumors of a military coup alarmed the population. Radio and television, as is customary, said nothing about it, and only newspapers acknowledged the following day the importance of these rumors. Only when Secretary General César Gaviria of the Organization of American States (OAS) visited Guatemala the following week to offer his support to President Portillo did the populace learn that the rumors had an element of truth.
While radio is the most important news media elsewhere in Latin America and the world, in Guatemala it still suffers from a curious lack of soul. Browse through dozens of FM stations while you drive across the country, and you will mainly hear music and prayers, and very little information, that mostly irrelevant.
Another striking difference is the lack of community radio stations, which are common to any other country in Latin America, especially those with a large rural and indigenous population. Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia — you can count community radio stations by the hundreds. Most countries in Latin America have long ago established legislation that recognizes the cultural and social value of community radio stations. Not Guatemala, which is ironically the country in Latin America with the largest percentage of indigenous people and one of the most incredible cultures: the Maya.
To take the paradox even further, the Peace Accords of 1996 clearly state that the government should do what is necessary to ensure that the Mayans have their own radio stations and community media: "The government has the obligation to promote the approval of legislation facilitating the distribution of radio frequencies to indigenous communities, and to ensure the respect of the principle of nondiscrimination in the use of radio frequencies."
The Guatemalan government did exactly the opposite. By 1999 the government had fined 120 "illegal" and "pirate" radio stations. Many were small FM stations with very limited scope within rural Maya communities. Under pressure from new legislation punishing local media, community radio stations were forced to close down or to bid for their frequencies, competing with the private sector. This humiliating and discriminating process forced many small stations off the dial, and those that remained had to make great sacrifices to keep their signal on the air. Radio Qawinaqel, a small station operating from a Maya school in Palin (Escuintla), had to mortgage the school building owned by the local association in order to pay more than $52,000 to retain its frequency. A grotesque injustice considering that Radio Qawinaqel is housed in a two-by-two-meter room with young volunteers as broadcasters and only reaches about 20 kilometers from Palin.
To avoid sanctions and repression, some "pirate" radio stations have just closed down, and some have made radical decisions to survive. Such is the case of La Voz de la Comunidad, a very small FM station serving several urban slums that are located on the slopes of a ravine only a few streets from the center of Guatemala City. La Voz de la Comunidad must be the only station that has deliberately chosen to install its transmission antenna in the lowest part of the ravine, to prevent the signal from reaching any other neighborhood.
The Association of Community Communicators of Guatemala (ACCG) has been struggling during several years for new legislation favoring community media, but to no avail. Powerful media conglomerates have their own personal representative in the government: no less than the very Minister of Communication and Transportation, Mr. Luis Rabbé, whose brother-in-law, a wealthy Mexican businessman, owns the four main national television channels of Guatemala and a handful of radio stations. So much for the Peace Accords.
The irruption of many new religious FM stations, disguised as "community" radios, is further distorting the communication landscape. Dozens of evangelist and Pentecostal denominations are penetrating rural areas and dividing Maya communities. The content of their programming has little to do with the old Catholic radio stations, which have been allies to communities in their struggle for social justice.
Part One: Introduction
Part One: Print And Run
Part Two: Radio Days
Part Three: Short-Sighted Television
Part Two: Radio Days
