BOGOTA (AlertNet) - Guatemala's indigenous groups are pinning their hopes on a telecommunications reform bill that would make it easier for community radio stations to operate, a move they and campaigners say is vital to protect the rights and safety of a large but often neglected section of the population.

The bill, expected to be debated in Guatemalan congress early next year, seeks to establish a wave band specifically reserved for community stations and to make it easier to obtain community radio licenses.

For indigenous groups, who make up 80 per cent of Guatemala's population, community radio is a life-line. Guatemala's 170 community radio stations broadcast in 15 indigenous languages, reaching over one million listeners every day.

"Radio is so important because it's the only media in Guatemala that provides information to local communities in their own language," said Thomas Hart, Guatemala country manager for Health Unlimited, one of four non-governmental organisations (NGOs) campaigning with indigenous groups to get the bill approved.

Community radio is a vital source of information, particularly for indigenous women living in rural areas where illiteracy rates are high. The stations broadcast popular radio soaps, daily news and shows about Mayan culture as well as government public health campaigns on AIDS prevention and vaccination.

Across Guatemala, newspapers and television programmes rarely address the needs and concerns of indigenous people and are delivered exclusively in Spanish, a language not all indigenous people speak.

With radio licenses costing up to $125,000, few community radio stations can afford one, forcing many to operate illegally. Around 600 radio stations in Guatemala are broadcasting without a license, often working out of one-room offices with donated equipment.

They are increasingly subject to police raids, fines and closures, especially in regions where indigenous people are vocal against mining on their lands, say NGOs. If passed, it is hoped the bill would allow these stations to operate legally.

SPREADING DEMOCRACY

The bill would also help guarantee indigenous groups their right to access information and free speech, as laid down in the country's peace accords that ended Guatemala's 36 year-civil war in 1996.

Community radio is seen as a key way to increase the participation of indigenous groups in Guatemalan society, in a country where only 10 percent of congress members are of Mayan descent.

"Getting the bill through would be an enormous step for indigenous groups to be able to participate in their own community development," added Hart. "We hope the bill establishes the concept of community radio as a mechanism through which people can participate and a basis for public debate and dialogue."

Community radio can also potentially save lives. Indigenous communities can receive storm warnings and updates during natural disasters over the airwaves.

"Radio lends itself ideally to provide information to local communities, reaching isolated and geographically sparse areas," said Hart. Most community radio stations broadcast within a three- to five-mile radius.

The role of radio in helping indigenous communities during natural disasters has already been put to the test in Guatemala.

During tropical storm Stan, which killed hundreds of people in Guatemala and across Central America in 2005, community radio played a crucial role in keeping people safe and helped the government coordinate its emergency response.

"The Mujb'ab'l yol radio station was exemplary. It was able to let communities and the government know which roads and bridges were down, which communities had enough resources and which communities were not self-sufficient," said Hart, referring to one of Guatemala's leading networks of community stations, which broadcasts in the Mayan, Garifunas, Xinca and Ladino languages. "Radio became very much a focal point for search and rescue operations."

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