Noé Ismalej (Achi Maya) has worked at his community radio station in San Miguel Chicaj, Baja Verapaz, for ten years. He runs an hour-long weekly program on contemporary issues and current events called "We Chose our Future." The program reviews local and national news and includes interviews and commentary on topics such as violence against women, gender equality, the environment, youth, children, and Indigenous Peoples.
It has been over two years since the Community Radio Bill 4087 was introduced to the Guatemalan Congress in August, 2009, with a promise from President Alvaro Colom to give special priority to the bill, which would reform the current tele-communications law to include the category of community radio as a legitimate use of radio frequencies.
On Saturday October 8, 2011, recently elected congressmen from the LIDER party (one of the leading Guatemalan political parties), visited the training facilities of Cultural Survival partner Mujb `ab` l yol (a federation of 24 community radio stations)
Wednesday, October 12 marked the Dia de La Raza, or Colombus Day in Guatemala. Each year, Mayas, Garifunas, and Xincas, march through the capital city in remembrance of their ancestors and to demand of the government that the rights of Indigenous Peoples be respected.
In the next phase of a partnership with Boston organization ArtCorps, the Guatemala Radio program welcomes creative writer and filmmaker Patricia Escalon as our new resident artist.
Community radio stations took to the airwaves on Sunday, September 11, 2011 to cover voting day for the next president elect of Guatemala, marking the close of more than six months of ubiquitous campaigning by 27 registered political parties.
On August 19, the Maya Q'eqchi community of Agua Caliente, El Estor, Izabal, filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights against Guatemala for violating their rights to property, self-government, due process of law, and judicial protection.
To mark the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples on August 9th, representatives of 50 community radio stations from all over Guatemala came to the Centro Historico in Guatemala City to participate in a two-day conference on the rights of Indigenous Peoples to freedom of expression through radio. The goal of the conference was to bring pressure on congress to legalize community radio in Guatemala by approving the Bill 4087, the Law for Community Media.
Reina is from the town of San Mateo, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. She has been working at the Doble Via radio station since it opened, for just about a year.
Preparations are well underway in Guatemala City to host a conference and day of action on August 8 and 9, marking the International Day for Indigenous Peoples.
Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that we are headquartered on Massachusett land, in Cambridge, MA, and we thank the past, current, and future Indigenous stewards of this territory.