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ACTION ALERT

Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador National
Office: P.O. Box 1801, New York, NY 10159 ~ 212-229-1290 3
Regional Offices: Boston, MA 617-524-1166 3 New York, NY
212-229-1290 3  Chicago, IL 312-227-2720 3  San Francisco, CA
415-648-6520

fax: 212-645-6657; e-mail: cispesnatl@igc.apc.org

BREAK IN & THREATS AGAINST COMMUNITY RADIOS:
THE LATEST ARENA ASSAULT ON PEOPLE'S PARTICIPATION

May 6, 1996

In January, El Salvador's Supreme Court ruled that the December
seizure of community radio equipment from 9 stations by the
National Civilian Police was unconstitutional.  The radios took to
the airwaves shortly thereafter and resumed broadcasting while
continuing their struggle with ANTEL, (the National
Telecommunications Company), for legalization.

Threats of seizure and harassment against the community radios and
their supporters by the Salvadoran Government has not stopped. In
the last week alone:

%ANTEL threatened to seize equipment from Radio Cooperativa in
Usulatan if the station continues transmitting.  Such an action
would be in direct violation of the Constitution of El Salvador,
as noted in the above mentioned Supreme Court ruling in January.

%On Tuesday evening, April 30th, the office of the Association of
Community Radios, (ARPAS), was broken into.  All the papers about
the community radios were rifled through.

%Threats are also being extended to groups working with the
community stations.  ARPAS recently contracted COMPUSAL, a private
communications company for technical assistance. Shortly after
COMPUSAL agreed, an armed man entered their store demanding the
equipment for the community stations.  He did not take any other
radio equipment in the store.  Also, the regular shipment of
equipment of COMPUSAL has not been allowed through customs.
COMPUSAL has also been receiving phone harassment.

%When ARPAS recently changed location the PNC drove past their
former building and asked neighbors if ARPAS was still in the
building.  Later that same day the PNC began an unusual patrol of
the new neighborhood.

Suggested Action is to Call or Fax:

1. Lic. Juan Jose Daboub, President of ANTEL, Tel:
011-503-271-7011; Fax: 011-503-281-0017.

2. President of El Salvador, Armando Calderon Sol, Tel:
011-503-271-1555;   Fax: 011 503 271-0950

3. Alan Flanigan, US Ambassador to El Salvador, Tel:
011-503-278-4444; Fax:  011-503-278-6011

DEMAND:

A). The legalization of community radios that provide the only
public communication in the      rural areas where they operate.

B). Inclusion of community radios as well as the
telecommunications workers union ASTTEL in     discussions and
planning around the future of telecommunications in El Salvador.

4. Send this information to your local community station and
encourage them to cover the story.

BACKGROUND ON COMMUNITY RADIOS STRUGGLE:

Community radio stations in El Salvador continue their efforts to
be legalized by ANTEL, the telecommunications company.  On Dec.
4th the former President of ANTEL (and President of the governing
party ARENA) demanded that the police seize equipment and shut
down the 11 community radio stations.  Two of the station's stayed
open thanks to community mobilizations that prevented the seizure
of equipment.  ANTEL'S justification was that the radios were
operating illegally, without a license.  There is speculation that
the ARENA Party considers community operated radios a
communications outlet that will operate against them in the coming
electoral campaign that will culminate with legislative and
municipal elections in March of 1997.  There are also rumors that
ANTEL received a call warning them that 50 more stations were
about to be opened by sympathizers of the FMLN and that this
prompted the December raids.  The Supreme Court passed a decision
in January requiring ANTEL to return the seized equipment.  The
Constitution prevents the state from seizing telecommunications
equipment.  The stations achieved a brief victory in being allowed
to go back on the air.  What has remained in question since
January has been the legal status of the community radio stations.
ANTEL interprets the Supreme Court decision as only requiring the
return of equipment, but not as giving the stations the go-ahead
to broadcast.  ARPAS (the Association of Radio and Participatory
Programming in El Salvador) interprets the decision as supporting
their right to broadcast.  ANTEL began to claim that it would be
impossible for the stations to broadcast due to a lack of
frequencies in El Salvador.  The National Counsel for  Human
Rights, the United Nations Verification Office, ANTEL, and ARPAS
began talks to try to find a solution to the problem.  Two teams
were formed, one to discuss legal problems and another to discuss
technical problems.  Each team had members from both ANTEL and
ARPAS.  The technical team returned from its research showing that
there were indeed enough frequencies.  The legal team of ANTEL
ignored its own technical division and refused to sign the report.
The power of the commercial radio stations on the national and
international levels is important to take into consideration.  The
privatization of ANTEL is in effect breaking it down into two
parts.  One part will be telecommunication services and the other
part will be the regulatory commission.  The larger commercial
T.V. and radio stations, owned by wealthy Salvadorans, want to be
the only members of the regulatory commission, and thus control
it.  This would exclude the educational, university, and community
stations from participation.  Privatization of ANTEL has met
resistance from a variety of sectors including the workers at
ANTEL.  ASTTEL, the Association of Telecommunications workers have
attempted to present their own plans for true modernization in
telecommunications but the Government Institution has ignored
their alternative proposals.  ASTTEL considers the privatization
geared toward crushing union organizing and enriching wealthy
Salvadorans and transnational communications giants like AT&T at
the expense of ordinary people who will lose jobs, pay increased
phone bills and see services cut altogether in some rural areas
because they will not be profitable.

________________________________________________________
Bruce Girard
AMARC - Pulsar
Email: bgirard@pulsar.org.ec
http://www.web.apc.org/amarc/pulsar.html
Tel: +(593-2) 525-521    Fax/Tel: +(593-2) 542-818
Avenida America 3584, Casilla 17-01-1171, Quito, Ecuador