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 **   *****   *****     ***        ACTION ALERT UPDATE
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International Freedom of Expression eXchange Clearing House
________________________________________________________________
Date: 28 March 1996

EL SALVADOR: Community radios stop broadcasting as they prepare
to negotiate their legalization

ORIGINATOR: The World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters
(AMARC), Montreal

   **Updates IFEX alerts dated 26, 15 March 1996
             and 11 December 1995**

On 24 March 1996, eleven Salvadorian community radio stations
announced that they would suspend their broadcasts so that they
could concentrate their efforts on negotiating their
legalization. Representatives from the Radio and Participatory
Programmes Association of El Salvador (ARPAS), the organization
to which the community radio stations belong, stated that they
will go off the air "temporarily" as a "goodwill gesture" so that
authorities from the National Telecommunications Administration
(ANTEL) would resume negotiations which broke off on 18 March.
Oscar Perez, director of ARPAS, stated to the media that on 24
March Radio Izcanal, in the district of Usulutan, went off the
air, and that the other radio stations would do the same in the
coming week. Perez added that ANTEL was the one who broke off
negotiations and that it was motivated by "political and economic
interests" that "have at its root privatization" (translated from
the Spanish).

BACKGROUND:
In December 1995, ANTEL ordered the seizure of the broadcasting
equipment of at least nine community radio stations. They were
deemed illegal and were accused of interfering with other
stations on the dial. Agents of the National Civilian Police
confiscated the technical equipment used by the stations. ANTEL
defended the action by saying that the stations did not have its
authorization and that on many occasions they interfered with the
frequency of other, legitimate, stations.
The Supreme Court, after allowing an appeal by ARPAS, ordered
that ANTEL had to return the confiscated equipment to the
community radio stations. However, it ruled that they could not
resume broadcasting until they were legalized (see IFEX alerts).

For further information, contact AMARC at 3575 St-Laurent, Suite
611, Montreal, Quebec H2X 2T7 Canada, tel: +514 982 0351, fax:
+514 849 7129, e-mail: amarc@web.apc.org, or Bruce Girard,
Avenida America 3584, Casilla 17-01-1171, Quito, Ecuador, tel:
+593 2 525 521, fax: +593 2  542 818, e-mail:
bgirard@pulsar.org.ec, http://www.web.apc.org/amarc/pulsar.html

The information contained in this alert update is the sole
responsibility of its originator.
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* IFEX CLEARING HOUSE                                 *
* 490 Adelaide St. W. #205 Toronto ONT M5V 1T2 CANADA *
* tel: 416-703-1638 fax: 416-703-7034                 *
* e-mail: ifex@web.apc.org                            *
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________________________________________________________
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