Last week the community radio movement won a partial victory in the fight for democratic access to radio frequencies in Guatemala, with the congress's failure to vote approval on the bill 4404, which would have extended the current radio frequencies allocated to the mass media for another 25 years.  

By rejecting the bill in it's first round of debate, the bill will be delayed until it can be re-entered in the next calendar year when the newly-elected Congress takes office.  

The community radio movement publicly denounced bill 4404, as it disregards Indigenous Peoples' right to access media and is celebrating this measured victory.  "The news comes as such a relief," explained movement leader Alberto Recinos. "We feel that the actions we have taken to prevent bill 4404 from passing at this stage have really had an impact.  The decision to delay further debate gives us time to strategize our next steps."

In a recent editorial in Guatemala's major newspaper La Prensa Libre, UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression and ally of the community radio movement, Dr. Frank La Rue, also expressed his disapproval of the legislation.  His opinion piece, entitled "Behind the People's Backs" is summarized in English below. Read his full article in Spanish, here.

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.

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.  

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.