Indigenous community radio stations in Guatemala have found themselves in the midst of a hopeful period regarding their legalizations, as the new government entered in January 2016. Bill 4087, Community Media Law, which was brought to the table in Congress after years of lobbying, has achieved significant advances as it passed its first and second readings in Congress. It is within this context that a new community radio was born in the Maya Mam territory of Quetzaltenango, in the community of Huitan.
Cultural Survival would like to warmly welcome Radio Huitan 89.1FM as an Indigenous community radio station with a focus on community development through a local perspective. Huitan is a municipality with approximately 14,000 inhabitants, 96% of which are Maya, and speak the Mam language.
The history of this community radio began in 2010 when consultation processes began regarding mining activity that was proposed to begin in the region. These consultation processes inspired some local leaders to develop a radio so that they could inform families in the community of what was happening regarding mining concessions, what the benefits and dangers would be to the population, and most importantly what their rights were regarding their land.
This consultation left a legacy of a local organization in Huitan that began its own process of empowerment outside of the mayor’s office, outside of the development committees of the government, which are managed by public administration. This organization had the vision of different sustainability projects like local agricultural production, food production, and schools with a political focus and community radio. The community radio project has been in process for years, with the support of local organizations as well as Asociación Mujb’ ab’l yol, el Consejo Mam, Red Mesoamericana de Radios Comunitarias, and Cultural Survival.
On February 26, 2016, members of the community, municipal authorities including the mayor and the municipal board, members of development committees, the COCODEs, representatives of the commission of municipal education, the title committee off Huitan and supporting organizations came together to inaugurate the first community radio in Huitan.
The Mayor, Pedro Lucas, congratulated the radio and expressed his support to the members of the Board of Directors. As well, he was given a copy of Bill 4087 by members of Asociación Mujb´ab’l Yol, who are also part of the movement to legalize community radios. Many different community representatives who spoke publicly at the event expressed their understanding of the enormous role played by community radios in the community. The representative from the Commission of Education emphasized the educational role of the radio, as it will be promoting the use of the Mam language, the culture and it will provide a space for bringing consciousness to the community on the importance of education for their children. Finally, the radio will provide a space for children to develop and produce their own programming, with the help of community leaders.
The Board of Directors of the radio is conformed by five women and three men, demonstrating the community’s proactivity in the inclusion of Indigenous women’s voices in the decision making processes of the radio. Rubelio Mendez, vice president of the Board of Directors, spoke on the programmatic content of the new radio, “The radio will attempt to promote the political activity of our communities; it will promote a strong stance on the rescue of the Maya identity, the economic self-sustainability of the collective, and a strong focus on education and a culture of peace.”
