These new radio stations will be in charge of broadcasting cultural, musical and informative content that highlights regional cultures, enterprises and projects that promote peace building.
The municipalities of Algeciras (Huila), Puerto Leguízamo (Putumayo), Arauquita (Arauca); El Tambo (Cauca), Bojayá (Chocó) and Florida (Valle); Peace stations will be released on May 21 as part of the fulfillment of the agreements signed between the National Government and the FARC EP for the end of the conflict and the construction of a stable and lasting peace.
The new radio stations will transmit to their communities a message of unity and identity, with the constant participation of citizens, not only from the informative point of view, but also from the voices of the people, and they join the five peace stations that Radio Nacional already has. has been operating, since 2019, in the municipalities of Ituango (Antioquia) and Chaparral (Tolima) and since 2020 in Convencion (Norte de Santander), San Jacinto (Bolívar) and Fonseca (La Guajira), for a total of 11 stations of peace.
These stations will operate based on the editorial criteria of RTVC and Radio Nacional de Colombia, with information that makes the territories visible, promoting dialogue and maintaining total respect for the listener and the audiences.
Vicente Silva , director of Radio Nacional de Colombia, told some details of the new stations:
How are these new peace stations articulated with the existing ones?
Its articulation is determined by the concept of ‘peace stations’ of Radio Nacional de Colombia. Therefore, its contents are focused on teaching about the contents of the Final Agreement for the termination of the conflict and the construction of a stable and lasting peace and make known the progress in its implementation . This is indicated by numeral 6.5. of the aforementioned agreement. These contents have to do with the development of an attractive regional and national programming in which, in addition to aspects related to pedagogy and the progress of the agreement, they also include cultural, musical and informative programs of the region, with very good radio quality. and produced by communicators in the region.
What will these stations have new?
The novelty is that, to regions so remote, marginalized and affected in different ways by violence, six public stations arrive that will offer different, attractive, constructive and uplifting content for the communities. They will be, like the five that we currently have on the air, stations close to the community, kind to the people of the territories, focused on the concept of a public radio that builds, allows dialogue, stimulates the listening of multiple voices and sounds and that it serves people without party flags or economic or ideological interests. They are public stations fully managed by RTVC and Radio Nacional, two brands that Colombians recognize for their high quality standards.
How were these new territories chosen to open the stations?
The selection of those geographical points in which the stations can be established begins with a technical support prepared by engineers from RTVC Sistema de Medios Públicos, taking into account the list of municipalities that are part of the Development Programs with a Territorial Approach (PDET) . For this, criteria such as ethnic diversity, availability of radio frequencies, infrastructure of other media, and number of inhabitants of the municipality and the region are taken into account.
Based on these criteria, the municipalities in which the stations could be implemented are selected, taking into account the resources available for each budget period. Then, the Implementation Monitoring, Promotion and Verification Commission (CSIVI) analyzes the circumstances of each municipality and, if it considers it feasible, authorizes the installation and operation of the station. After they are approved, RTVC begins the assembly process to put the respective stations on the air in one year.
What is missing in this matter (peace stations) as agreed between the National Government and the FARC EP?
With the five that are in operation and the six new ones, eleven stations are completed. It is expected that, in the course of the year and the following months, the CSIVI and consequently RTVC will be able to advance even more in the assembly of more stations. It is important to emphasize that, in the case of the peace stations of Radio Nacional, RTVC has fully complied with the provisions, even in a higher percentage than the one initially set, since in less than two years it has arranged the operation of eleven stations of the 20 provided for by the Agreement. Thus, the initial goal has been far exceeded both in number of stations and in the established terms.
From the experience with peace stations.
For Elizabeth Tique Galindo , leader of the Chaparral peace station, “this public radio station has contributed to making visible all the initiatives that are being implemented from the southern Tolima region after the signing of the peace agreement. He has done pedagogy and made visible those leaderships and processes, to tell the country and the world that great things are being done in terms of peace. He has also highlighted that the people of southern Tolima dream of building a better country and that is why initiatives are contemplated from their own contexts to transform the social fabric, which at one time was so marked by the armed conflict. The station has contributed to the reconstruction of the social fabric, in the tranquility and peace that can be provided to a region like the department of Tolima ”.
For his part, Geovanny Mejía Cantor , Convention Peace Broadcaster Leader, states that “the Convention peace station, Norte de Santander, has contributed through its spaces in the construction of the social fabric of the Catatumbo region. Indigenous and peasant communities and social leaders have shown through our spaces their culture, their idiosyncrasy, they have presented their concerns, but, above all, they have had an understanding of how progress has been made in the implementation of the peace agreements, what has done, what is missing and everything that has to do with a projection of peace in Catatumbo ”.
The new radio stations will be able to tune into the following modular frequencies:
Florida (Valley) 92.0
Bojayá (Chocó) 98.5
· Arauquita (Arauca) 88,9
Puerto Leguízamo (Putumayo) 100.3
Algeciras (Huila) 92.6
· El Tambo (Cauca) 90.1