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The following is from the IFEX COMMUNIQUE # 5-50, 16 December 1996


PARAGUAY: COMMUNITY RADIOS FACE OBSTACLES TO FREE EXPRESSION

On International Human Rights Day, 10 December, the Sindicato de
Periodistas del Paraguay (Union of Journalists of Paraguay, SPP)
denounced obstacles faced by radio broadcasters trying to
exercise their right to freedom of expression, reports the Latin
American regional office of the International Federation of
Journalists (FIP). The SPP, an IFJ/FIP affiliate and a member of
the regional communications network Redes de Comunicacion de
America Latina y el Caribe and the Paraguayan Community
Broadcasting Association (Asociacion Paraguaya de Radiodifusion
Comunitaria), says alternative or community radio stations in
Paraguay do not have secure legal status. SPP says, "Both the
government -- which regulates radio broadcasting -- and business
interests linked to commercial radio stations have erected
obstacles which take away the right of community radio stations
to broadcast in non-suffocating conditions." Meanwhile, SPP notes
that 40 new commercial FM stations will be licensed across the
country this month.

SPP points out that these obstacles violate Paraguay's
Constitution, Law 1/89 (which ratified the San Jos Pact) and Law
642 on telecommunications -- "all of which establish equal access
to radio broadcasting without discrimination." SPP says, "The
government and the owners of commercial stations ignore these
guidelines" by their persistence "in pursuing a monopoly of the
broadcasting sector," and by trying to impose regulations on
alternative or community radio stations "which would weaken their
signals, force them to share one frequency, and which would ban
them from carrying advertising."

More information on press freedom violations throughout 1996 is
available in the SPP's report on "Violations of Human Rights of
Press Workers in Paraguay". Contact SPP at Humait 186, Casilla de
correo 1320, Asuncion, Paraguay; e-mail: spp17@infonet.com.py.

** ** **

The IFEX "Communique" is published weekly in English, French and
Spanish by the IFEX Clearing House, Toronto. The facility is
operated by the Canadian Committee to Protect Journalists (CCPJ)
in partnership with the member organizations of the International
Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX). Material for the
"Communique" may be submitted to the CCPJ, 490 Adelaide Street
West, Suite 205, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 1T2, CANADA; Tel: (1-416)
703-1638; Fax: (1-416) 703-7034; E-mail: ifex@web.net; or WWW
site: http://www.ifex.org/. Editor: Kristina Stockwood.
Subscriptions are available by e-mail and surface mail. The views
expressed in the "Communique" are the responsibility of the
sources to which they are attributed.

___________________________________________________
Bruce Girard
Agencia Informativa Pulsar
Email: bgirard@pulsar.org.ec
http://www.web.net/amarc/pulsar.html
Tel: +593-2-525521  Fono/Fax: +593-2-542818 o 226648
Fax en Montreal, Canada: +1-514-221-2009
Av. America 3584, Casilla 17-08-8489, Quito, Ecuador