We Are All Camero, Radio is Our Voice

En Español: http://juntosconradiotyl.wordpress.com/

Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. June 2, 2009

To all national and international communications media.

To all national and international alternative and independent media.

To all national and international non-governmental human rights organizations.

To all adherents to the Other Campaign.

To national and international civil society.


Compañeros:

Freedom of expression, expressed in the Constitution, is a weapon for those who struggle against the power and the bad government. The bourgeoisie's laws are used in full rigor against organized working people, while the real criminals extort people to fund their costly electoral campaigns of defamation and visual, audio, and mental pollution. How much longer will this go on?

Individuals and collectives in Nuevo Leon issue the following communique in solidarity with the community Radio Tierra y Libertad, "The ultimate in working-class consciousness," and specifically con Dr. Hector Camero Haro. An arrest warrant could be issued against this compañero for the simple crime of participating in a dignified effort to provide information to working people and their families. The investigation against Camero for the crime of utilizing national assets, began as a result of the June 2008 operation were approximately 120 heavily armed agents from the Federal Preventive Police (PFP) violently barged into the building to dismantle the radio. It had been on air seven years and government institutions closed its doors over a permit.

The community radio Tierra y Libertad was a low-frequency radio on 90.9 FM that provided its listeners with cultural and educational content, and even children's programs, from Monday to Saturday. It was work carried out by volunteer support and without profit for the people who ran it, who are activists and members of the Tierra y Libertad Civil Association.

It should be pointed out that days after this raid, Governor Jose Natividad Gonzalez Paras unveiled a sculpture in the Fundidora Park called "Broadcasting," inspired by the Chamber of the Radio and Television Industry's logo. Said act demonstrates the cynicism with which all levels of government authorities operate. While the groups who monopolize and make money off of information and pollute our culture are congratulated, those who give microphones to the voice of the people and provide information with truth and commitment are punished.

From 2006 to date, over 100 community radios that operated without official permission have been closed in various states: Mexico State, Sonora, Michoacán, Oaxaca, Puebla, Chiapas, Coahuila, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Sinaloa, Zacatecas, Campeche, Guanajuato, Yucatán, Baja California Norte, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Distrito Federal, Guerrero, San Luís Potosí, Tabasco, and Nuevo León.

The above demonstrates the Federal Government's intention to criminalize freedom of expression and delegitimize the right to information and popular organization, based in the laws that go against international treaties such as the Human Rights Pact of San Jose, Costa Rica, which Mexico signed in 1981 and which specifically establishes in Article 13: "The right to expression through indirect means, as well as the abuse of official or private regulations regarding paper for newspapers, radio-electric frequencies, or apparatuses or property used in the diffusion of information or by any other such methods designed to impede communication and the circulation of ideas or opinions is prohibited."

This repressive campaign against community radios has been growing immensely during the Calderon administration. We consider it to be of the utmost importance to denounce one by one the actions used to beat back the power of the people and to not permit that even one of these abuses be hidden behind smokescreens imposed by the commercial and pro-government media, calling them clandestine, pirate, and criminal radios. In the end these companies are in collusion with the government, closing the paths to the voice of the people, publishing incomplete information or disinformation regarding the situation.

Community radios represent the need and ability of the people to exercise their right to free speech. They contribute to community development and collaborate with their participants and listeners in the construction of solutions and alternatives to the problems that each locality experiences. Through them, the country's and world's problems are openly discussed, and there is dialogue between communities to spread and listen to the most vulnerable population. To consider this a crime is the most obvious sign that in this country democracy is not respected by the authorities at all levels of government. In other words, it is nonexistent.

On June 2 we launch the Brigade in Support of the Community Radio Tierra y Libertad in solidarity with its members and in resistance against the blow that the government strikes against the efforts of those who participate in this honest labor.

For this reason we demand that the judge not begin criminal proceedings against Hector Camero and Radio Tierra y Libertad, "The ultimate in working-class consciousness," as well as the return of all of the broadcasting equipment, and that the necessary permit be granted so that all community radios can operate regularly.

Stop the repression against community radios.

Stop the persecution of popular and independent communicators.

For the right to the people's free speech in the world.

Freedom for the political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.

We are all Camero, the radio is our voice.

We invite you to sign this communique if you agree with what we say above, and if you are truly in favor of free expression. Send signatures to: juntosconradiotyl@gmail.com

“Viviendo la Utopía” Popular Library

Frontera Cero Collective

“La internacional” Grassroots Youth Collective - Communist Youth of México

“Clara Zetkin” Grassroots Youth Collective - Communist Youth of México

Kasakomunitaria Political-Cultural Space

Antonio Hernandez – Biologist and defender of the Sierra Cerro de la Silla against the Arco Vial Sureste

nonself – musician and performance activist, adherent to the Other Campaign

Members of the Tierra y Libertad Civil Association