What is Community Media?

Walking the Word

From http://www.nasaacin.org
Tejiendo la palabra desde los pueblos para pueblos
[ 04/27/2010] [ ] [ Autor: Tejido de Comunicación - ACIN]

Desde el pasado viernes 23 de abril de 2010, arribaron a la sede del Tejido de Comunicación en Santander de Quilichao, representantes de diferentes regiones del país para participar del primer encuentro de la Escuela de Comunicación desde norte del Cauca. Espacio de formación y capacitación que se realiza en la vereda el Guavito, Resguardo de López Adentro Caloto.

Cabe resaltar la integralidad étnica representada en esta escuela, con amplia participación de afros, campesinos, mestizos, urbanos y diferentes pueblos indígenas provenientes de Casanare, Antioquia, Valle del Cauca, Nariño, Huila, Cundinamarca y Cauca.

Además participan medios de comunicación como: Red Juvenil y Colectivo de Investigadores Independientes Ayahuasca, de Medellín; Colectivo de Investigación Minga de Pensamiento y Colectivo de Comunicación Popular el Andarín, de Cali; Red de Comunicación Alternativa de Manizales: y Colectivo Contracultura Bella Ciao de Bogotá.

Bajo el slogan, “Escuela de Comunicación para la conciencia crítica y la defensa integral de la vida y del territorio”, empezó el trabajo colectivo desde la comunicación. Con la presentación de todos los participantes, el intercambio de la experiencia del Tejido de Comunicación y la conformación de grupos de trabajo, se entró en confianza la mañana del sábado. Usando escarapelas de diferentes colores, se organizaron los cerca de 150 participantes, en 10 grupos de trabajo. Esta fue una manera práctica de integrar todo el personal de manera fácil y participativa.

Estos grupos realizaron su primer trabajo con un ejercicio de análisis y de reflexión, con el propósito de discutir las diferentes problemáticas sociales que viven en cada territorio. Entre ellos se identificaron muchas falencias sociales que vienen desarraigando a los pueblos en Colombia. Pero también, problemáticas como la ley de aguas, la explotación petrolera, el desplazamiento forzado, el narcotráfico, las masacres, y las contradicciones internas y entre organizaciones. Además, una de las más graves, como es la contaminación del planeta por medio de los megaproyectos que vienen implementando las transnacionales y los gobiernos de las grandes potencias del mundo.

Al mismo tiempo, algunas autoridades indígenas del cabildo local, de Tacueyó y de la Consejería ACIN, se acercaron para dar el saludo de bienvenida a los visitantes y manifestaron su alegría por haber tomado la iniciativa de formarse para retomar las riendas de la comunicación alternativa de los pueblos, al mismo tiempo estas autoridades hicieron las recomendaciones pertinentes para que la escuela siga adelante.

“Es muy interesante que en un futuro muy cercano sean nuestros mismos jóvenes quienes lideren este proceso organizativo, que hoy por hoy, necesita de gente capacitada con claridades políticas. Es por eso que esta escuela no debe desfallecer, hay que trabajar con mucho ánimo para que al finalizar de esta capacitación terminen todos sin que nadie se quede en el camino. Es hora de demostrar que somos capaces de hacer comunicación desde el pueblo y para el pueblo”. Estas fueron las palabras enérgicas del consejero de comunicación de la ACIN, Freddy Guevara.

Las temáticas de esta escuela han tenido expositores muy importantes del movimiento indígena, de los afrocolombianos, de los campesinos y de los urbanos, quienes han hablado de la historia de sus procesos organizativos de Colombia. De igual forma, desde el inicio de este espacio de intercambio ha quedado claro que los medios de comunicación son instrumentos para apropiar y transformar según el contexto, las necesidades y las políticas de los pueblos.

Así se siguen desarrollando con mucho entusiasmo y expectativa las jornadas de trabajo, y se esperara continuar con el trabajo comunicativo desde el tejer de la palabra con otros pensamientos.

Juan Salazar on the Importance of Community Media

Montes de Maria Colectivo de Comunicacion

Chilca, one of the students of the Escuela Audiovisual Infantil frames the shot. Photo from Tomando Conciencia

This July the Our Media group met in Medellin, Colombia. Among the presentations were films from Montes de Maria. Children at the Escuela Audiovisual Infantil in that region have made many films addressing issues of concern to children.
This interview with Maria Eugenia Lora Muñoz, who started as a student in the program, was produced by Victoria Maldonado and Harold Secué at the conference in Medellin. In it Maria Eugenia describes the workshops and how the themes and distribution means are chosen by the children themselves.
Monie listens to the community radio station. Photo from Tomando Conciencia

The following clip is part of a series made at the Escuela about the rights of children. Each episode of the series ilustrates one right. This one is about the right for children to have time to play and have friends.

Some of the films produced by the children are on youTube.

The school has a vegetable garden and this segment shows how a group of children gather ingredients to make soup, including unlocking the school to pick some tomatos.

A similar focus on food and school nutrition in New York City is in What's on Your Plate."The audience follows two seventh graders as they make the journey that food takes, from the farm to CSAs and farmer’s markets, to schools and into the home. Sadie and Safiyah meet all the people involved in feeding the tremendous appetite of nine million New Yorkers. Throughout the film, the girls explore some essential questions: Why does food that is bad for us exist? Why can’t everyone eat healthy, non-processed food all the time?"--From the Slow Food blog.

Our Media Meets in Colombia

For a look at the comprehensive program of this year's conference, go to http://www.ourmedianetwork.org/files/om8_program_0.pdf

Clemencia Rodriguez and CINEP's First Video Project

..."The next day, sure enough, at sun up they were there with five mules to pick us up-- us and our very shiny, new video camera and so we got on the mules, Claudia on one mule and myself on another and we put the equipment on another one and up we went on an Andean trail until we found this community of small farmers (Samana Caldas) which was about two hours away. The plan for that day and the following days... to train them with video, for they had never operated not even a photography camera let alone a video camera."

Message from the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca

Libertad de Expresión en Colombia from Adam Isacson on Vimeo.
More Attacks and Defamation Against ACIN's Communication Network
Dear Friends,
The following is a communique I just received from our friends in Cauca, from the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, ACIN, and specifically, their communication team, which has been at the forefront of getting the word out about the struggles of Colombia's indigenous and popular movement.

Please circulate it widely as we try to build and strengthen the solidarity with ACIN and the dozens of communities they represent. -- Mario Murillo

"We want to help build a new country by sharing the truth and showing realities";
Emilio Basto, Indigenous Communicator at Police Headquarters in Santander de Quilichao, April 4th 2008.
Accused of a Crime: Showing documentaries to a community.
This is the framework within which our Tejido de Comunicacion is under attack:
Alvaro Uribe and Freedom of Expression from Adam Isacson on Vimeo

Yesterday, Emilio Basto, a Nasa native who usually runs el rebusque, a morning show in Nasa and Spanish on Radio Payumat, where he listens and exchanges with indigenous peoples from the fields, explains the process and the contexts, opens a debate on critical issues, does interviews so that everyone in their homes understands the project of aggression and continues to think and resist, was arrested by the police in Santander de Quilichao.

Emilio was coming back from Tacueyo, in the mountains of Cauca, where he was showing documentaries at one of the video fora, which are part of an agenda planned to "sweep" the entire territory to engage people in debating diverse issues. He carried with him a number of videos, including "The revolution will not be televised," "Water, our life, our hope," and "Spakapa is not for sale". He also had two documentaries done in Colombia, "The cost of Land" from the Paciufic Coast focusing on displacement for Palm Oil industries, and ACIN's own "Country of the people without owners," the latest documentary produced by our team that tells the story of last year's Minga, the National mobilization against the FTA and the economic model being imposed.

Emilio was accused of carrying subversive material and inciting to violence. He was interrogated for 2 hours without access to lawyers, phone calls or protection. His finger prints were registered as well as all information regarding his activities. There was talk about weapons, which he could not understand. He explained what he does and what we do. He demanded respect for his obligations as a journalist, for the freedom of expression, for the indigenous process and rights. Finally, they let him go, but we do not know whether there are charges against him or whether they will use this event in a judicial process against the communication network or in a physical attack against his life and the lives of all of the other members of our communication team in ACIN.

This is the rule, the pattern and what we must expect, as you will be able to see on the videos attached below on Mario Murillo's note on the presentation at the Interamerican Commission for Human Rights.

The attack against Emilio was the latest in a series of attacks against ACIN's communication Tejido:

1. October 2008, during our coverage of the indigenous mobilization and while the armed forces of Colombia were shooting against unarmed natives, our website and listserve was blocked.

2. December 14th, 2008, an act of sabotage against the transmission equipment of Radio Pa'Yumat, leading to the silencing of this radio station until now. Two days later, Edwin Legarda, the husband of indigenous leader Aida Quilcue, was murdered by the Colombian Army in an attempted magnicide against her.

3. December 16th, 2008. Live radio interview on La W, a National radio station with a massive audience. We had called in to break the news in Colombia and the world of the assasination of Edwin Legarda, with direct information from the ground. The anchor, Fernando Sanchez Cristo, called us back for the interview an hour after we gave him the facts and put us on during a section of recognition to the armed forces of Colombia in their war on terror. The Commander of the Third Brigade gave his version of the facts first: The vehicle refused to stop at a police post and was suspected to be FARC. Manuel Rozental, on the line from Cauca, explained that the car had received 16 shots from automatic weapons, 14 of these in the front, a fact that contradicted the army commanders version. They shot him intentionally from the front. There was no police post. The general went off the air and Rozental was engaged in a live exchange with Sanchez Cristo on these lines:

JSC: You are the same Dr Rozental, a surgeon that works in Canada?
MR: Yes that's me
JSC: You are a close friend of the sons of the international representative of FARC there and you write for the Journal resistencia
MR: I know them well, as any Colombian engaged in solidarity efforts does. I have never written for Resistencia and what you are attempting to discredit a witness in the air in order to cover up a crime. I am not FARC, have never been and my life has been committed to a peaceful effort for social justice. I am part of an indigenous process committed to social justice, freedom and change through peaceful means. I hope we have not reached a stage where every journalist in commercial media serves a regime to silence the voices and rights of people
JSC: So do I Dr Rozental. You are right
MR: Who provided you with this false information against me?
JSC: A listener sent it on email, but don't worry about it.
Strangely, this interview was never posted on their webpage (all others are) and our request to obtain the copy of the interview and of the listener's message was never answered. All this points at Military Intelligence providing distorted information to discredit and threaten the witness on air.

4. February 7th, 09. Gustavo Ulcue. Nasa, member of the ACIN Communication network and webmaster, had just left his home in Santander de Quilichao, when two armed men arrived in a motorcycle, forced his brother to let them into their house at gun point and looked for Gustavo inside. They took away his laptop and told his brother Gustavo was lucky not to have been found as they came to kill him. Gustavo had to go into hiding. The armed men have been seen near his house since then. No police action was taken.

5. March 4th, 2009. Cambio (the equivalent of Time or Newsweek in Colombia) publishes a report against Hollman Morris, where it states falsely that Rozental and Morris are helping ELN (National Liberation Army) in their territorial struggle against FARC for the indigenous territory of Northern Cauca; These lies have been followed in the past by the assassination of those named. Rozental had to flee Cauca.

6. March 14th, 2009. For the second successive night, Hugo Dagua, arrives late at his modest ranch in Santander de Quilichao on his motorcycle. He had been conducting a video forum at an indigenous peoples encounter with participants from Ecuador and Colombia, where the video "Country of the People without owners" was launched. He noticed a motorcycle with two people following him and managed to escape. He is the main technician of the radio station and runs his own radio program. Hugo is under community protection measures and his wife and his year old son had to be moved out of town into their community in the mountains for safety.

Other threats and attacks against the communication process have been occurring. Now Emilio has been attacked. ACIN's communication network has been awarded the recognition as the best alternative media in Colombia in October 2007 and has become the strongest voice for a peaceful alternative in Colombia and an awareness raising and debate space for the base.

This is a crime in Colombia. As the policemen told Emilio yesterday: you are inciting violence with those documentaries. We will keep walking our word. Please see the following note and video.

April 5th 2009
Manuel Rozental
Santander de Quilichao Cauca
--
Mario A. Murillo
Host/Producer, Wake UP Call
WBAI Pacifica Radio
99.5FM in New York; www.wbai.org

Executive Producer/Faculty Coordinator
Hofstra's Morning Wake Up Call
WRHU Radio 88.7FM www.wrhu.org
(516) 463-6062

Help for Radio Payumat

From October 12 to November 24, 2008, Colombia's popular movement, led by the country's indigenous organizations, carried out an unprecedented six-week mobilization and march to protest against the government's economic development and military/security policies, as well as the ongoing violations of the rights of indigenous people. The Minga Popular was the beginning of a nation-wide, popular uprising designed to transform Colombian society through coordinated, non-violent mobilization.
One of the keys to the success of the 1-1/2 month mobilization was the indigenous community's strategic use of communication technology, which, combined with their traditional communication practices of grassroots assemblies and public consultations, was able to construct an alternative (people's) narrative about their broader struggle to the Colombian people.

The heart of this work was carried out on the community station Radio Payumat, the voice of the indigenous people of Northern Cauca. However, since December 13th, the station has been off the air after an act of ruthless sabotage severely damaged its transmitter, a deliberate attempt to silence the indigenous movement.

ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15th, 2009, the Long Island SOA WATCH, in conjunction with the Cinema Arts Centre of Huntington, Long Island, will hold a special benefit brunch and screening to raise funds for Radio Payumat to help get it back on the air!
The event will feature a screening of the Award-winning documentary "We Are Raised with the Staff of Authority in Hand," produced in 2006 by the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, and presented in major film festivals around the world since then.

After the screening, there will be an open dialogue with:
Mario A. Murillo, host of WBAI's Wake Up Call and Associate Professor of Communication at Hofstra University, and Tiokasin Ghosthorse, (Lakota), host of First Voices/Indigenous Radio on WBAI.

Together, with videos and images of the recent mobilization, they will examine the trajectory of the Indigenous and Popular Minga from start to finish, with a focus on the multi-tiered communication practices of the indigenous movement, particularly of the ACIN, one of the leading organizations of the broader national movement.

Sunday, February 15th, 2009
Brunch at 11:00am, Film and Discussion at 12:30pm
Cinema Arts Centre
423 Park Avenue in Huntington, New York
For more information, email: marioradio@gmail.com or call (631)423-7611

$25.00 all tickets
For tickets, call 1(800) 838-3006 and ask for event 54041 or go to http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/54041

Alternative Media Cover the Colombian "Minga"

From Mamaradio.blogspot.com (Mario Murillo's coverage of the Indigenous March to Bogota):

It's been a busy series of days here in Bogotá as the MINGA Popular continues to expand and flourish. From the streets in the center of the city, to the Plaza del Ché at the National University where an international forum was held on Saturday, from the media centers of the indigenous movement to the dozens of meetings taking place around the city where "Mingueros" are discussing the five point agenda with all the sectors that are interested to listen, the enthusiasm and energy of the popular movement can be felt.

After Friday's massive march through Bogotá that started at the campus of the National University, one that brought together over 20,000 people into the Plaza Bolivar for a spirited rally under a consistent rain, Saturday was a day focused more on concrete work that needs to be carried out to continue the organizing of the people. The highest profile meeting was held at la SENA, where government ministers and the indigenous leadership met for several hours in a tense session to discuss the government's failure to fulfill its obligations to the communities under previous accords, and the ongoing violence being carried out by the state security forces against indigenous people.....

.....There have been a number of other big stories making headlines in Colombia the last several days, pushing the coverage of the Minga to a second, third and even fourth tier in terms of the commercial news agenda. The ongoing crisis caused by the financial schemes known as "Pyramids" continues to generate the most attention, followed since Friday morning by the natural disaster unfolding as a result of the eruption of the Nevado del Huila volcano. Latest reports say that at least ten people were killed and another 150 remain trapped as of Sunday morning as a result of the avalanche and mudslide caused by the melting of the snow after the eruption. The departments affected by the eruption include Huila, Tolima and Cauca, in particular the indigenous territory of Tierradentro.Face of one of the indigenous guards that provide security for the march.

Yet despite the limited commercial media coverage of the important events related to the protests and meetings this weekend, it is quite apparent that the Minga has developed a life of its own, and is not dependent anymore on getting the attention of these corporate information channels. The representation of the Minga on the major news channels has been problematic from the start. The evidence is clear: The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia, ONIC, has been documenting every news piece that has come out on just about every media outlet since October 11th, so anybody interested can check for themselves. The public, unfortunately, remains extremely uninformed about the historic developments that are unfolding before them.

Today, there are many alternatives! The massive presence of independent media at all these events - video cameras documenting the marches and rallies, photographers clicking away at the dramatic militance of the protesters, community radio producers gathering natural sound, speeches, and interviews for their respective outlets - are presenting a comprehensive alternative narrative - the people's narrative - that undoubtedly is having an impact on how the Minga is playing out with public opinion. It has resulted in tremendous solidarity from abroad, and unprecedented collaboration and participation from ordinary people here in Colombia since the Minga began.
Despite the false accusations of the government, despite the racist underpinnings of the media coverage, and the almost deliberate mis-information that has accompanied it, the people have come out in small towns and large cities to welcome the mingueros, and join with them in solidarity. No doubt there is still profound opposition to the Minga from a certain, very powerful and intolerant sector of Colombian society. I am not naive to think that the indigenous movement has reached everybody with equal amounts of empathy and solidarity. If you read the comments section on the websites of El Tiempo and El Espectador, for example, the vitriolic hate speech comes across loud and clear. But undoubtedly there is widespread support from a broad cross section of the Colombian population who have simply had enough of the Uribe propaganda machine.

Attack on Indigenous Community Recorded

A LOCAL CAMERA CAUGHT A SOLDIER FIRING AT CIVILIANS AT CLOSE RANGE--PART OF THIS CNN REPORT

This is a report from Mario Murillo:
As the mass popular mobilization in Cauca and the rest of Colombia continues, the government of Alvaro Uribe finally addressed the five point agenda of the Popular and Indigenous Minga, a small step forward after over a week of intense military confrontations with the protesters. Yesterday, just before indigenous and peasant communities were about to begin their long march towards the city of Cali, the Minister of Agriculture, Andrés Felipe Arias, finally recognized the points in the name of the national government, albeit in a superficial and roundabout way.

This initial recognition of the five points has been superceded today, Wednesday, as the Minister of Defense, Juan Manuel Santos, continued to point out that the indigenous protesters were the violent ones who were “firing on Colombian special police forces” during last week's confrontations on the Pan American highway.

While on the one hand, the government claims it is willing to resolve this problem, arguing that it will "buy some lands" in order to keep the people quiet, they continue with their harsh accusations and unconciliatory tone, consistent with the last six years of the Uribe Administration.

So as the popular march moves forward – with people from all over the south converging on Santander de Quilichao today - bringing together indigenous and peasants with sugar cane workers and Afro-Colombian communities who will march for the next several days towards Cali, it is important to keep in mind the very important message the Popular Minga is putting forward to the entire nation.

In a sense, it’s a very detailed response to the many distortions that continue to make their way through the corporate media filters about what it actually is that the communities are calling for.

Government's Propaganda vs. Indigenous Media Perspectives

Achi Bedea, the virtual radio voice of ONIC (www.onic.org.co)

Saturday, October 18, 2008
Media Representations of Popular Mobilizations Ignore the Movement'sMessage
By Mario A. Murillo (Bogotá, Colombia)

Six days into the Indigenous and Popular Mobilizations in Cauca (and the rest of Colombia), and it is fair to say that the propaganda war is well underway. And so far, it looks like the government of Alvaro Uribe is winning.

On Friday, the President held another press conference stating that they had “clear evidence” that the mass popular protest in Cauca was being controlled by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC. The Commander of the National Police, General Óscar Naranjo, stated unequivocally that the Sixth Front of FARC was behind the disturbances. And at the Palacio Nariño, the Minister of Social Protection, Diego Palacio, stated, with a straight face, “the government continues to respect social protest and mobilization, as long as it is for civil causes,” adding that the sugar cane workers strike and the indigenous mobilizations of the past few days contain the presence of “destabilizing forces.”

These words are echoing throughout the media as I write this, and will undoubtedly go on for hours on the radio and TV broadcasts, as well as the websites of RCN and Caracol, the two mega-giants of Colombia’s mass-commercial media. The government’s claims are also among the top stories in the front-page of El Tiempo, and other major national and regional newspapers, and it has almost become conventional wisdom in the last few days because of the capacity of the Uribe Administration to set the agenda, present its arguments to domestic journalists with indignation and authority, and come off as the victim once again.

And the indigenous movement’s demands for justice are set aside as they face off against the Colombian Army and Police in La Maria, while their leaders are forced to deny the charges directed against them by those in authority. Who do you believe?

Looking over the last few days of news coverage on some of the major news sources, the imbalance of perspectives is unbelievable. On Friday alone, I scoured through over 25 news articles and dispatches on the websites of RCN, Caracol, El Tiempo, El Liberal and Noticias Uno, the first three being the media of record in the country, with a massive reach that is unchallenged, the latter two representing a local newspaper from southern Colombia, and an independent, national news channel that provides some of the most comprehensive investigative reporting in all of Colombia. Naturally, many other media are covering the developments in the south, and it will take some time to filter through it all.

What was most telling of this brief scan of these news media outlets was the wide array of sources that were cited providing the government’s perspective, and the very few voices that were cited providing that of the indigenous movement. President Uribe, General Naranjo, Minister Palacio, as well as the director of the DAS, Colombia’s equivalent of the FBI, María del Pilar Hurtado, were quoted repeatedly throughout the sample, stating again and again how they have exposed this nefarious plan to topple the Uribe government, manifested in both the sugar cane workers strike and the indigenous protests.

Hurtado was quoted in one report in El Tiempo saying that “the cane workers strike in Valle del Cauca and Cauca contained the participation of foreigners who were looking to destabilize the government,” without providing any names or other evidence. The accusations about the FARC’s role in the indigenous protests appeared in 19 of the 25 articles I collected in this limited period, with at least ten not even presenting the indigenous community’s response (I should point out that as I was going through these news articles, I had Caracol Radio turned on in my desk, and over a period of about two hours, the same correspondent reporting from the Presidential Press conference came on at least four times, with dramatic soundbites from the President and Minister Palacio). No doubt, the government’s message was getting out through its communication channels.

On the other hand, the sources used from the indigenous movement were very limited. The one voice that was heard/quoted again and again was that of Daniel Piñacué, a Nasa leader from Belalcázar, in Tierradentro, Cauca, who has a long history in the indigenous movement, but who was not one of the principal organizers of the mobilization. He was quoted in several of the articles in this small sample, stating “that the mobilization will continue,” and that “we will continue to respect the authorities, while they provoke us.” On several occasions he denied the accusations about FARC infiltration in the movement, but only after the case was already made by several of the above-mentioned government officials.

On several reports from RCN Radio we heard the voice of Daniel Piñacué’s brother, Jesus, one of the most visible indigenous personalities in the country, having served on the Senate for several terms. Only in one report, notably on Noticias UNO, did a voice representing the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, ACIN, come through in the coverage, a significant oversight given that ACIN was one of the main organizations behind the protest. They and CRIC, the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca, have been putting out communiqués and reports for weeks about the march, and have been calling on the government to meet with them to discuss their demands, but to no avail.

Meanwhile, the entire narrative contained within the press coverage of the past several days remained stuck on the battles unfolding on the Pan American highway, and who was to blame for the violence. Television images have shown the army and police using gunfire, which in a sense refutes the government’s claims that no live fire has been used on the protesters. But again, commanders on the ground have been given top priority, presented as the voice of reason against a horde of indigenous protesters running wild.

The coverage has been fundamentally about the violence, while the underlying reasons for the mobilization have been relegated to the trash bin of history. The concerns and demands of the popular movement were made completely irrelevant. It is difficult to imagine that the media workers covering this story are not even partially aware of the issues the communities are raising in the protests, but in some of the coverage the ignorance comes across loud and clear. For example, in one report in El Tiempo, which to its credit was about the International Federation of Human Rights’ criticism of Uribe’s handling of the protests, the author states: “The Indians initiated the encounter last week in commemoration of 516 years since the discovery of America, what they call the displacement.”

Nowhere in the piece, or in any other articles I tracked in this sample, were the five points being put forth by the indigenous movement mentioned, even in passing. If even a fraction of the movement’s fundamental concerns were made known to the public in the reporting, and the fact that their main purpose for the mobilization was to start a dialogue with the government about these concerns, the repressive response from the government to the protests probably would have been a lot clearer – and indeed much more intolerable- for the average viewer.

The movement is not remaining silent, but very few media are really paying close attention to what they’re saying. If one were to read from the missive the “Popular Minga” released on Thursday, their arguments are pretty clear and make perfect sense within the current context. For example, in response to the constant accusations that FARC is behind the movement, they write: “Let us be clear: If there are Indians involved in the insurgency, or any other armed group, it is a personal decision of theirs that goes against our organizational and community process.”

The communiqués and the actions of the movement have always taken a position of autonomy vis a vis the guerillas. The ACIN and CRIC have publicly denounced FARC for its incursions into its territories. Nevertheless, the Uribe government continues to make the unsubstantiated link in an attempt to avoid any dialogue with the communities. This fact does not come through in any of the coverage whatsoever, leaving the audience in a permanent state of being misinformed.

Taking it a step further, the indigenous movement is always trying to make the point about the “dark forces” behind the current regime, something that the news media consistently overlook. The same government that accuses the movement of being manipulated by FARC is in many ways illegitimate in the eyes of the popular movement, as they expressed clearly in their missive released on Thursday. Perhaps one day we will see the news media echo these claims as often as they present the charges of the government against the movement:
“The majority of the members of Congress that support the government of President Uribe, those legislators who have elaborated and approved the laws that displace us of our rights and our liberties, occupy their official spaces with the backing of paramilitary groups, and are involved in the Para-politics scandal currently under investigation. Neither they nor the laws they have approved have any degree of legitimacy.”

The reasons for the protests, which are based on a profound critique, not only of the current government but of the entire system itself, are not elaborated on in the media coverage for the obvious reason that it goes against the interests of those same media, and the political class they serve.

A lot has been written about how the commercial mass information and cultural industries continue to perpetuate profound myths about Colombian democracy and society. This is done on several levels, most prominently in the way reporters, editors, commentators and the like accept the institutional definitions provided by official sources to frame the so-called fringes of society. For generations, this marginalization has also been manifest in the way state institutions have limited the spaces whereby these dissenting community voices may be heard, although precisely because of the years of organizing around media and democracy, this latter approach has been curtailed considerably. Colombia, despite its very fragile democratic institutions, has a long tradition of community, citizen's based media projects that consistently challenge the corporate media.

The indigenous communities currently mobilizing throughout the country around five basic points have their own media channels, and are utilizing them extensively as the current crisis unfolds. There are 26 indigenous radio stations around the country licensed as public interests broadcasters, plus a constellation of other smaller, low-power community stations broadcasting to local indigenous communities.

In the department of Cauca, the indigenous media are perhaps the most effective and well organized, particularly that of the ACIN, whose communication network includes one public interest station in Santander de Quilichao, two community stations – one in Toribio and the other in Jambaló – a smaller, low-power station in Canoas, plus a video production team and an elaborate website (www.nasa_acin.org). The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia, ONIC, also has its own website, which includes a virtual radio station, Achi Bedea, which for the last several days has been streaming the voices of indigenous activists from every region of the country.

These and other indigenous media outlets are linked to the broader network of national, alternative media, such as IndyMedia-Colombia, SICO, SIPAZ, La Red de Prensa Alternativa del Sur del País, among many others. They have been working feverishly in the last week to present an alternative narrative to the corporate media.

In many respects, they have been successful in gathering support on an international level, and getting NGOs and other human rights groups to pay attention. I would argue they have not been as successful in getting progressive and independent media outlets in the U.S. to pay attention. Unlike developments in Oaxaca a few years ago, which received considerable coverage by the independent media movement up north, this latest struggle in Colombia is barely on the radar screen of media such as Democracy Now, Pacifica Radio and Alter-Net, media that are completely caught up with the presidential campaign in the U.S. In this regard, the alternative media movement and the social sectors they represent here in Colombia has a long way to go in terms of penetrating the agenda of like-minded folks in the U.S.

The bigger question at the moment is whether or not the indigenous community and alternative radio stations and media networks in Colombia can counter-act the damaging effects of the mainstream media’s overwhelming tendency to give an unfiltered voice to the official authorities, especially on radio and on television news. It is part of a pattern that has gone on for many years in the Colombian news media that is not easy to break.

When it comes to coverage and representation of indigenous communities, the tendency of the mass communication media has been consistent: they either ignore the communities by making them invisible, clump them all together in a process of homogenization, thereby negating their diversity and complexity, or present them as nothing more than passive actors, the poor, defenseless victims of an unjust system – “el pobre indio.” There is also the more benevolent yet equally harmful tendency of celebrating their exotic-ness, embracing the novelty of their different forms of dressing, their spiritual and healing practices, or their internal justice system, without really understanding the significance of each.Radio host of Voces de Nuestra Tierra, community radio in Jambaló, Cauca, promoting the mobilization two days before its start.

Meanwhile, when the communities take matters into their own hands in acts of massive protest and mobilization, as they are currently doing, the dominant media usually represent these situations as acts of criminality, emphasizing their tendency to break the law–block highways, occupy territory “illegally,” etc.–as a way to address their grievances. The unsubstantiated association with “dark forces of terror,” meaning the FARC guerillas, becomes the accepted message that is very difficult to refute for the people directly involved in the confrontations.

These faulty patterns of media coverage leave the audience with the perennial question, why would people behave like this if they can employ the legitimate instruments of the democratic system to promote their interests and seek redress from the dominant society? I’ve heard it repeated by many people here in Colombia, even those one would normally consider to be enlightened: “Those Indians in Cauca are always looking for trouble, and they constantly want more.”

The current backlash against indigenous organizations that are on the upswing under the Uribe administration has made it much more difficult for the movement to put forward its message of social transformation through peaceful means to the broader public, especially through mainstream channels. This is connected to the fact that, with very few exceptions, the Colombian mass media rarely if ever represent the complex organizational structures of indigenous communities, characterized by deliberative consensus building, grassroots participation, and leadership accountability.

All of this should not be surprising, given the institutional structures that have for decades characterized the Colombian media, structures specifically put in place by very powerful private and state interests who are naturally threatened by the kinds of issues being raised by the communities and their allies in the popular movement. I’ll have more on this in a future post.


Luis Evelis Andrade, president of ONIC, with Roberto Cobaria, U'Wa council of chiefs, at ONIC press conference on October 15th.

Mario Murillo's report on Radio in Colombia

Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, Colombia September 25-27, 2008Like most conferences focused on media that I’ve participated in over the years in the U.S., Colombia and around the world, the Sixth Encounter of the Network of University Radio Stations of Colombia, RRUC, provided an interesting mix of social/cultural discussion and debate, with the more practical concerns of economic sustainability and technical/normative issues affecting the many stations participating in the network.

There was a lot of talk about future collaborative projects for the network, and considerable attention was paid to RRUC’s relationship to state entities like the Ministry of Communication. A diverse mix of representatives from every region of the country was present at the conference, sharing experiences and concerns about the state of University Radio in Colombia, and its outlook for the future.

What I was surprised – and a bit disappointed, I might add - not to hear too much about in the three days of meetings that took place in the Universidad del Norte in the Caribbean coastal city of Barranquilla, was information about the internal political dynamics within the country’s many campuses, relating to student activism and mobilization, and how these issues may or may not unfold in the radio signals that are emanating from those distinct locales. Indeed, there was an almost total absence of student participants in the conference, even though it was held on the beautiful campus of one of the most important universities in the country, home to Uninorte Estereo, the university station celebrating its 25th anniversary this week.....
......In essence, of all the many presentations and panels at the event, only two focused on the issues of community and citizen involvement at the university radio stations. The first was the talk by Jaime Abello, the national coordinator of the Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano, FNPI, the press association founded by Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez. Abello painted a broad landscape of the state of news media today, not only in Colombia, but on a global scale. He made a strong case for the need for University radio stations in Colombia to strengthen its commitment to comprehensive journalism, one that goes beyond the already solid cultural reporting that is common in many of the older college stations in the country. He reminded the audience of the social responsibility the stations and universities have to their localities, and that one of those responsibilities include providing the audiences with investigative and well-researched information that can offset, even if on a small scale, many of the inherent flaws of mainstream, commercial news organizations.

The second presentation that addressed the social responsibility of university radio stations was provided by, well, yours truly. I had been invited to present a keynote speech about this broad topic by the current national director of the RRUC, Guillermo Gaviria, a Julliard School graduate and seasoned musician who happens to be the head of the Javeriana Stereo in Bogotá, one of the strongest university stations in all of Colombia. I focused on the role of the students in the spaces of broadcasting, keeping in mind that as educators and as broadcasters, most of us working in University radio have dual responsibilities: one to our audiences, and two, and perhaps more important, to our students.Just as community radio can contribute to the building of citizen participation in local settings by engaging volunteer programmers in the creation of their own messages, university radio can and should do the same, albeit under different circumstances. Challenging the notion that students were generally incapable of thinking critically and producing responsible news and information programming content for a broad audience, an opinion expressed to me by several station directors in the room prior to my talk, I discussed the importance of hearing the voices of young people in these spaces. It opened an interesting discussion amongst the participants, many of whom openly acknowledged the limited participation of students in the broader direction, production and planning of the respective stations.

For the complete presentation by Mario Murillo go to MamaRadio .

Indigenous Center Attacked in Colombia

Guardia Indigena
Informe desde la Emperatriz 09/19/2008

Asociación de Cabildos Indígenas del Norte del Cauca]
Llamamos a quienes son solidarios con nuestro compromiso con la vida y la justicia a acompañarnos en esta situación y a ayudarnos a esclarecer la verdad y a que se haga justicia, sin permitir que nos involucren en un conflicto armado que es el mecanismo fundamental para atacar nuestro proceso.

En estos momentos, ha retornado la calma en el Municipio de Caloto y en el Resguardo de Huellas-Caloto, en particular en la hacienda La Emperatriz.

Hechos recientes
A lo informado en comunicados anteriores agregamos hasta el momento lo siguiente:
1. La vía de Santander de Quilichao a Caloto se encuentra cerrada en la vereda de San Nicolás, exactamente en la cima de la colina desde donde se desciende al casco urbano de Caloto. Esto se debe a que allí explotó una bomba a las 4:19 a.m., según informes preliminares de soldados presentes en el área. Allí murió un soldado y otro herido fue trasladado a un hospital.

2. No hay presencia evidente de fuerza pública en la vía Panamericana que comunica a Caloto con El Palo. Dentro de la hacienda La Emperatriz, hay presencia de soldados y arribó el CTI.

3. Según versiones de comuneras y comuneros presentes en la vía Panamericana frente a La Emperatriz, personal del ejército venía recogiendo vainillas y otra evidencia alrededor de las 6 a.m.

4. Una versión de comuneros locales se refiere a que una camioneta se detuvo en el área donde hubo combates unos 15 minutos antes de que comenzaran y se retiró del lugar de los hechos antes de que se iniciaran los disparos y explosiones.

5. Al parecer hubo un soldado muerto y otro herido en las piernas en la Emperatriz

6. Hasta el momento no ha sido posible documentar ni descartar la presencia de otras personas, ajenas a la Fuerza Pública en la Emperatriz. Esto es motivo de indagación e investigación por parte de las autoridades indígenas.

7. Caracol Televisión informó que alrededor de las 2 de la mañana, la Policía Militar adjunta al Batallón Pichincha fue atacada con explosivos y disparos en la hacienda La Emperatriz, donde murió un soldado y resultó gravemente herido otro. Hacia las 4 de la mañana cuando refuerzos del ejército se dirigían hacia el sitio de los hechos, fueron víctimas de un atentado con explosivos en el sitio de San Nicolás donde murió un soldado y otro quedó herido. Los dos heridos fueron transportados a la Clínica Valle del Lili en Cali. Las versiones que viene dando RCN son tendenciosas en la medida en que insinúan una agresión por parte de indígenas contra la Fuerza Pública sin que hasta el momento exista evidencia de que este sea el caso.

Las Autoridades de la ACIN, reafirmamos nuestro compromiso con la posición del proceso en el sentido de no involucrarnos ni tomar parte en el conflicto armado y en consecuencia exigimos respeto por nuestras comunidades y proceso. Esta agresión, venga de dónde venga, es un ataque contra nuestra dignidad, territorio y resistencia pacífica. Lamentamos la muerte y heridas de las víctimas. Extendemos nuestras condolencias a sus familias.

Llamamos a quienes son solidarios con nuestro compromiso con la vida y la justicia a acompañarnos en esta situación y a ayudarnos a esclarecer la verdad y a que se haga justicia, sin permitir que nos involucren en un conflicto armado que es el mecanismo fundamental para atacar nuestro proceso.

Resguardo de Huellas, Caloto, Cauca
Septiembre 19 de 2008.
Asociación de Cabildos Indígenas del Norte del Cauca
ACIN-Cxab Wala Kiwe
From Democracy Now's Report:
The community is called Cauca and it represents one of the largest indigenous agrarian reform movements on the continent. Its leaders say their community serves as a powerful example of popular peaceful transformation in the midst of war. Last September, tens of thousands of people from the region marched on Cali in a mass protest against Uribe, sparking a broader national nonviolent opposition to his government. They are opposed to devastating free trade agreements with the US, as well as the massive military aid. They are also opposed to the FARC, who they call authoritarian.

The Cauca region is a key area near the Atlantic Ocean and has gold, oil and gas. This April, the FARC came into the Cauca community of Toribio and killed a child, injured 20 people and basically razed the community to the ground. That in turn provided cover for the government to send in its forces to “secure” the area; in other words occupy it. Now, the leaders of Toribio say they fear a dirty war is beginning that could produce further massacres. Some of the leaders of the community have traveled to the United States to try and avert what they fear could be a major outbreak of violence.URGENTE!!! Ataque en “ La Emperatriz ”-Caloto-Cauca
09/19/2008 Autor: Tejido de Comunicación y Relaciones para la Verdad y la Vida
A la 1:33 a.m. y hasta la 1:55 a.m., se escucharon disparos de fusil y armas cortas en ráfagas intensas, al igual que explosiones que parecían provenir de morteros y posiblemente un cilindro o granadas. En este momento, siendo las 2:25 a.m., no se escuchan más explosiones ni disparos. Parece ser que una ambulancia salió de La Emperatriz con destino al Hospital de Caloto.

La información proviene de autoridades, comuneras y comuneros que se encuentran en cercanías del lugar de los hechos. En la hacienda “ La Selva ”, se encuentran unas 30 mujeres con sus hijas e hijos en un encuentro que se viene desarrollando allí por parte del Programa Mujer de la ACIN. La Selva se encuentra frente a la hacienda La Emperatriz, separada de esta por la vía Panamericana que de Caloto conduce a El Palo en el municipio de Caloto. Estas mujeres y sus hijos se encuentran asustadas por la intensidad de las explosiones y disparos y no se han asomado.

Antecedentes
Durante todo el día 18 de Septiembre se observó un vehículo sospechoso, marca Mazda, con vidrios polarizados de modo que sus ocupantes no pudieron ser identificados, que pasó en repetidas ocasiones frente a las sedes de la ACIN y el Tejido de Comunicación en Santander de Quilichao. Generalmente un vehículo de la Policía Nacional seguía al Mazda cada vez que pasaba. Se ha notado la presencia de vehículos con vidrios polarizados, sin placas, parqueados frente a la URI de la Fiscalía en el centro de Santander de Quilichao. Simultáneamente, comuneros de Huellas-Caloto, observaron vehículos y motocicletas sospechosos pasando por la vía Caloto-El Palo durante todo el día. Se trata de vehículos costosos, nuevos, que circulan lentamente por esta vía.

Estos hechos se dan en el contexto de un ataque por parte de sicarios de la Policía, plenamente identificados por la comunidad y las autoridades indígenas en el día de ayer, en el que resultó herido un joven civil. Estos dispararon ráfagas contra civiles a plena luz del día, desde una motocicleta sin placas que ya había sido utilizada por un agente encubierto de la Policía la semana pasada. Ambos hechos fueron reportados oportunamente por nosotros. Los miembros de la fuerza pública (ESMAD y Policía) involucrados en estos hechos, manifestaron su ira y una actitud agresiva contra la comunidad en la tarde de ayer. Tememos que se trate de una retaliación o de un montaje como reacción de la fuerza pública frente a lo descubierto y denunciado.

Hasta este momento, nadie ha podido acercarse al lugar de los hechos para corroborar lo sucedido ya que se teme por la seguridad de civiles. Aclaramos que las autoridades no tienen información de que haya indígenas o comuneros dentro de la Hacienda La Emperatriz. En consecuencia, los hechos no involucrarían a comuneros indígenas. A esta hora, la gente del resguardo que habita en las inmediaciones, se encuentra aterrorizada, fuera de sus casas. Esperando la presencia de delegados de instituciones humanitarias y medios de comunicación.

Denunciamos este hecho de guerra en inmediaciones de la población civil rodeada por una fuerza pública que ha sido descubierta en acciones ilegales de terrorismo. No podemos descartar una confrontación entre grupos armados.

Llamamos con urgencia a quienes reciban esta nota a exigir por parte de los medios, los organismos de derechos humanos, la Defensoría del Pueblo y la Procuraduría , hacer presencia de inmediato en el lugar de los hechos, exigir un esclarecimiento de la verdad y movilizar todos los recursos y medios en respaldo de la comunidad y nuestro proceso.

Nos atacan de manera sistemática en todo el territorio en los últimos meses, en acciones que se intensifican y que combinan el terror, acciones de guerra de todos los grupos armados, agresiones legales, económicas, propaganda difamatoria contra el proceso e inclusive infiltraciones por parte de sectas religiosas que promueven la disolución del proceso, en el marco del Plan Colombia Fase II.

Revivimos lo que sentimos la noche del 16 de Diciembre de 1991, cuando se escucharon ráfagas y explosiones y quedaron masacrados 20 comuneras y comuneros en la Hacienda El Nilo, en masacre cometida por paramilitares, hacendados, la fuerza pública y narcotraficantes. Entonces, como ahora, habíamos sido víctimas de amenazas de terratenientes, falsamente encubiertos como campesinos (Campesinos Embejucados de Colombia). El 11 de Agosto recibimos una amenaza racista de exterminio contra el pueblo Páez. El lenguaje utilizado coincide con el que usaba el Gobernador Juan José Cháux en público y en privado para referirse a nosotros, fomentando odio y agresión. El mismo Cháux que ahora se encuentra implicado por su complicidad con paramilitares, quienes le ayudaron a llegar a la Gobernación y en cuya compañía llegó recientemente a la Casa de Nariño en hechos que conoce la opinión pública. Todo esto bajo el Gobierno de un Presidente de la República que ha ofrecido recompensa por nuestras cabezas y nos ha llamado criminales por denunciar agresiones y violaciones a nuestros derechos.

Vengan de donde vengan las bombas y las balas, la intención es destruir nuestro proceso. Convocamos una amplia denuncia Nacional e Internacional y les mantendremos informadas e informados.

Tejido de Comunicación y Relaciones para la Verdad y la Vida
ACIN Cxab Wala Kiwe Santander de Quilichao Septiembre 19 de septiembre de 2008, 2:58 a.m.

The Communication Collective in Cauca creates video analysis of Plan Colombia

A video by Tejido de Comunicacion of ACIN, the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca, Colombia, July 2008
http://nasaacin.org

Luis Lievano, grafitero y comunicador, Bogota, Colombia

Luis Liévano (Keshava). Pedagogo y comunicador independiente, ha realizado diversas experiencias de periodismo y gestión cultural, así como de pedagogía de la comunicación solidaria con comunidades e instituciones educativas. Grafitero y narrador, libretista y realizador de radio y video, escribe para algunos medios sobre temas culturales. Director de multimedios y medio, creador y realizador de programas y campañas para radio cultural y comunitaria. Ha formado parte de la Mesa de Trabajo de Comunicación de Bogotá. Coordinador de la agencia de prensa solidaria La chiva virtual. Fue corresponsal cultural de Telesur y actualmente es programador asociado de Javeriana Estéreo. Activista de la comunicación, grafitea en sus ratos libres, en sus gratos libros... Recientemente ha presentado en salas de Bogotá y Nueva York su trabajo de humor, grafiti y Stand-Up Comedy: Kontra la pared. http://www.geocities.com/kontralapared/Hay muros que anuncian y muros que denuncian, muros que la-mentan y muros que la-respetan, muros que lloran y muros que ríen, algunos muros con oídos y muchos oídos con muros...
La palabra cuenta, las paredes cuentan, la ciudad cuenta, todos contamos...--Luis Lievano