* Press Release
Cofetel issues permits for community radio
• After a year and a half made the request, six more community media in the country can trade with permission *
January 28, 2010 .- This Wednesday 27 January, the Commission Federal de Telecomunicaciones (Cofetel) took announced that the plenary session of this body decided to grant 19 licenses to operate radio stations and television channels, among which are 6 community radio.
Following the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN) which states that the power to grant such permits exclusive competence of the Cofetel, it finally decided to authorize community media to operate their own
media Since October 2009 Cofetel announced that after the technical studies and the favorable opinion of the Ministry of Interior, full of the regulatory body found that meet all legal requirements for permits are granted, among which are: social equality for AC, Nuevo León, Monterrey, Culture and Communication Zaachila, the communion of the same name in Oaxaca; teponaztle Culture and Communication, Tepoztlan Morelos, Communications Edge of Tierra Colorada, of Xaltepec Palmar del Bravo in Puebla, Flor y Canto Voice of Otumba, State of Mexico and Radio Aro, Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, Mexico State. All of them are community radio stations serving indigenous, peasant and workers in their communities.
This constitutes a fundamental step in the recognition of communities to exercise their right to freedom of expression through community broadcasting. This is progress in the implementation of recommendations by various international human rights bodies like the UN and Human Rights Commission have issued the Mexican state.
Therefore, AMARC-Mexico welcomes and calls Cofetel to continue this policy of recognition of community media, but in a more agile, and competent bodies to conduct shares outstanding for the full recognition that allow decent existence of community media in Mexico.
It
note that these permissions are added to the 13 already existing communities in the country, which still represents less than 1% of the total frequencies currently operating commercial and government sectors, so that is still a long way to go to balance the asymmetries in broadcasting and strengthen media diversity and plurality in the country.
