(IPYS/IFEX) – On 10 May 2005, officials of the National Telecommunications Commission (Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones, CONATEL) and five National Army soldiers raided the premises of Radio Alternativa de Caracas 94.9 FM, a community radio station, and confiscated its transmitter, according to the station’s press release on the incident. The CONATEL officials reportedly did not […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 10 May 2005, officials of the National Telecommunications Commission (Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones, CONATEL) and five National Army soldiers raided the premises of Radio Alternativa de Caracas 94.9 FM, a community radio station, and confiscated its transmitter, according to the station’s press release on the incident.
The CONATEL officials reportedly did not identify themselves or offer any explanation for their actions, which were carried out without a search warrant and in the absence of the station managers. They only alluded to the initiation of an “administrative sanctions process” resulting from the allegedly illegal operation of the station.
The officials indicated that the station not have a legal permit to operate and that their actions were part of a broader campaign against illegal radio operations. However, Articles 178 and 179 of the Telecommunications Statute stipulate that administrative investigations must be underway before sanctions can be applied to any operator for alleged infractions.
Radio Alternativa was founded over 5 years ago. Station technician Deny Ruiz told IPYS that the station’s operations have always been legal, and that all necessary steps to obtain the permit now required under the new community radio station regulations had been taken. Ruiz added that CONATEL had only told station managers to “bring the papers again” without informing them if the station had permission to operate or not.
In September 2004, CONATEL granted a radio station State of Guárico governmental radio station permission to use the same frequency as Radio Alternativa, resulting in interference between the two stations’ transmissions for nearly 3 months.
According to Ruiz, the station was off-air for two hours after the seizure and is currently broadcasting with a provisional transmitter.
