(AMARC/IFEX) – In late February 2003, two soldiers visited the community radio station Nuevo San Juan, 99.1 FM, in the municipality of San Juan Parangaricutiro, Michoacán state, to obtain information about the station and the names of its directors. The Mexican army has been increasingly involved in matters that do not fall under its mandate. […]
(AMARC/IFEX) – In late February 2003, two soldiers visited the community radio station Nuevo San Juan, 99.1 FM, in the municipality of San Juan Parangaricutiro, Michoacán state, to obtain information about the station and the names of its directors. The Mexican army has been increasingly involved in matters that do not fall under its mandate.
Captain Ramon Calvo Gil and Infantry Captain Ricardo Flores Martínez, dressed in plainclothes, arrived at the town hall, where they were received by the station’s manager and lawyer Juan Salvador Gutiérrez Constantino, who was sent by the municipal secretary to act as intermediary.
Gutiérrez explained, “The two people said they were from the Uruapan military base and had a listing of all the radio stations in the region that they wished to update with information about the [Nuevo San Juan] station. They asked for reports on the radio station, its owner, its hosts, and support personnel. I replied that we would give them the information with pleasure and asked them to present an official document to that effect. The soldiers said they had not brought the document but showed us their [military] identification papers.
“Since they did not have an official letter, we only provided them with very general information: the name of the station, its purpose (which is to promote education and culture), and the fact that it promotes social services for the benefit of the public. We also informed them that the station is non-profit, and does not broadcast political or religious propaganda, nor does it air advertising, either for individuals or companies.
“We told them the station had no owner and was at the service of the whole municipality. We explained that we worked in conjunction with municipal and regional authorities and with the National Indigenous Institute (Instituto Nacional Indigenista). We did not provide them with the names of anyone involved.”
Although the soldiers’ visit was “amicable”, some 500 people from the community gathered outside the town hall to find out what was happening and express their support for the station.
AMARC and Mexican human rights organisations are concerned by reports received since mid-2002 that suggest the army has been increasingly involved in matters concerning community radio stations. According to a Communications Secretariat document, some actions against indigenous radio stations in Oaxaca arose from military investigations and complaints.
On 7 August 2002, the Mixe community radio station was closed after Brigadier General Javier del Real Magallanes, of the National Defence Secretariat’s command, pointed to the existence of four “clandestine” broadcasters in Oaxaca in a 31 May document.
Although the military did not take part in the station’s closure, the operation was carried out by a heavy police force. The officers, who had come from a number of different regions, entered the indigenous station’s premises using force and without the authorisation of the municipal authority responsible for the office from which the station broadcast.
