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After months of lobbying by Cultural Survival and our Indigenous Community Radio partners, the proposed telecommunications bill has received a favorable recommendation from the Indigenous Peoples Committee of the Guatemalan Congress. An official ceremony took place January 14th at the Salon del Pueblo of the Congreso de la Republica where Congressman Rodolfo Castenon, the president of the Pueblos Indigenas Committee, delivered the signed initiative to the legislative directorate.

On August 3, over a thousand rural people rallied in Guatemala City in support of a bill that was introduced to the Guatemalan Congress to legalize community radio. The bill, which was the product of months of work by Cultural Survival staff and radio station volunteers, has now been assigned to two committees (Communications, Transportation and Public Works Committee and Indigenous Peoples Committee) for review. Tino Recinos, our lead lobbyist, met with presidents of both committees last week. Forty-five radio volunteers are aggressively working to push the bill though.

guCultural Survival Guatemala Radio Project Content Director Jorge Molina is training 60 volunteers in monthly workshops in four locations around Guatemala. Over the course of nine months (July 2007-March 2008) the workshop participants will write, act, record, and produce a total of eight episodes of radio dramas focused on health and the environment. All eight of the episodes will be aired on 168 community radio stations reaching an audience of approximately 3 million listeners.

A pilot survey of 11 stations was performed in August 2007. Survey teams consisting of one volunteer from a community radio station, one Guatemalan communications student/professional, and one international observer, collected information about each station's broadcast schedule, income, expenses, skill level of volunteers, and equipment. We are planning a complete survey of all 168 stations in January 2008.

Looking for a hands-on way to help the Guatemala Radio Project? Have you already donated? See where your money is going - be a driver! The Guatemala Radio Project's next step is to assess radio stations across the country. You can participate first-hand in this important assignment by traveling to Guatemala and helping drive our survey assessment teams to their stations. We ask that you bear the cost of the vehicle rental (approximately $800) plus your own travel expenses.

If you attended our Bazaar in Amherst, MA on June 2-3, your attention might have been caught by the marimba music, live translated broadcasts from Guatemala, or kids making colorful kites. It was all part of our "Simul-Fiesta," an effort to raise funds for a new transmitter at a radio station in Sumpango, Guatemala, that had been raided several weeks earlier. When Sumpango residents decided to hold a festive fundraiser to replace their transmitter, we decided to mirror it.

A Maya man was shot to death last week after a heated discussion with workers from a mine that has opened on his community’s land.

Workers from the Glamis Gold Marlin mine are being held responsible for the March 12 death of Alvaro Sánchez, a Sipakapense villager from Pie de la Cuesta, Guatemala.

Since the controversial mining project began, tension has risen in the area and both community members and outside mine workers have started carrying arms on a regular basis.

On March 15, the United Nations General Assembly voted 170–4 to create a new Human Rights Council, effectively dissolving the oft-criticized Commission on Human Rights. Candidates for the Council will need to be elected by an absolute majority of 96 votes in order to secure a position, and once elected members can serve a maximum of two consecutive terms.

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