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Alert

Government wants to cut radio stations' electricity supply

(AMARC/IFEX) - In a November 2001 letter, Secretary General of the Presidency Nicolás Gallo instructed the Electricity Regulatory Agency (Ente Regulador de la Electricidad, ENRE) to notify all of the country's electrical companies to promptly cut the power supply to all those radio stations which are operating without legal authorisation.




The Argentine Forum of Community Radio Stations (Foro Argentino de Radios Comunitarias, FARCO), an AMARC member organisation, has expressed its concern and surprise over this decision. "There was no possibility for community radio stations to be legally recognised under Decree. No 22285, passed during the dictatorship. Non-profit organisations continue to be discriminated against in the allocation of broadcasting frequencies, despite numerous promises that this would be rectified," states a letter signed by FARCO President Néstor Busso and addressed to Gustavo Lopez, supervisor of the Federal Broadcasting Committee (Comité Federal de Radiodifusion, COMFER).

FARCO asked to meet with COMFER as soon as possible and called for the approval of a Broadcasting Law to replace the law passed under the military dictatorship. The organisation added that the "only way to put an end to illegality is for the law to respond to each sector's reality and recognise its constitutional rights."

A copy of FARCO's 16 November 2001 letter to COMFER Supervisor Gustavo Lopez is included in the Spanish version of this alert. An English version is not available.