On our own doorstep
I was running late Thursday, and as I hurriedly rounded the corner to Mi Cometa I was surprised to see the building surrounded by policemen in brown uniform, guns in their hands. The front door was closed, and I walked around to the side of the building to the entrance is to the “Cyber,” Mi Cometa’s internet café. Ruth opened the door and hurried me inside, whispering, “shhhh.”

“What’s going on?” I asked, but no one was listening. The door between the Cyber and Mi Cometa’s reception area opened; people ran in and out. I walked to the reception desk where the administrator Gladys was gripping a paper in her right hand, excitedly talking into the telephone.

19-year-old Carolina walked up, wringing her hands, eyes wide. She had been leading her biweekly group of 3-year-olds when the police arrived, and all of her crying children had just been sent home. I looked to the right into the common room, saw police peering in all the barred windows of the building.

“They’re here for the radio,” she told me. “They say we can’t have the radio; they’ve cut the electric line and want in the building.”

Marjorie was walking around, “We must call the people. We must go get the people and have them come here right now.” She ran out of the building.

I walked over to the main entrance to Mi Cometa where Nana and Carolina were standing, talking to a group of 4 men just on the other side of the ironwork of the door: two in police uniform, two in suits. More police with guns filled the patio behind them and more were spaced around the building.

“Doesn’t anyone have a camera?” Carolina asked.

“No. Send a message to Wilmer to come quick with my camera,” Nana told me. I did.

The men on the other side of the door talked forcefully. “We have a warrant; we can enter with force if we need to. Let us in.”

“Just wait a minute please,” I told them, “we’re on the phone with the president of Mi Cometa right now.”

“Is that Cesar Cardenas? Where is he?”

“He’s in the center of town at the moment,” Carolina said. “He’s on his way here.”

Gladys approached the door with the warrant in her hand. “I cannot let you in,” she told them. “This document is not valid, it does not specify why you are here or even mention the name of Mi Cometa – it has a vague description of our location. You did not notify us in advance, and you are using an inappropriate amount of force. To let you in would be to go against everything this organization stands for.”

“If you don’t let us in we will break down the door,” they said. “We have been waiting half an hour already.”

“You have been waiting five, ten minutes,” Nana shot back. “Have a little bit of patience.”

“I don’t have the keys,” Gladys replied. “Just a minute.” She walked away.

The men in suits stepped back, and the policemen grabbed the ironwork of the door and pulled hard. The 3 of us standing on the other side stepped back. They pulled again, and the lock broke, the door swung open toward them.

“How barbaric!” Nana yelled.

The men pushed into the building, the police in the patio following close behind. Gladys blocked the door to the administrative offices. “The radio is over there,” she pointed behind them. Half of the police walked down the hallway where she pointed, the others pushed her aside and went to the room where the radio transmitter was located. The women followed them, arguing fiercely.



One ripped the warrant out of Gladys’ hand and was practically attacked by about 3 women yelling, “That is ours.” He gave it back.

Armed men now lined the building, and several positioned themselves across the room from where the transmitter was being disconnected and carried off. I noticed I was shaking slightly, and was amazed by the courage of these women who were not at all daunted by the presence of so many guns, and their sure knowledge of their human rights. Realizing finally I should get my camera, I sprinted out of the building and through the mud to my house to get it.

By the time I returned, the police were driving off in their cars and Mi Cometa was surrounded instead by the community members who comprise the organization. They had been prevented from entering or even getting close to the building earlier by the police, but once the police had left they charged into the building, found paper and paint and began painting signs, “We have rights,” “Free Radio Utopia” A man emerged from the back of the building announcing, “We have electricity again.”

Cesar, Mi Cometa’s president since its inception 14 years ago, arrived with Sandra, the director of the radio, Radio Utopia. They disappeared into the office and minutes later emerged with a press release, which was soon running repeatedly through the fax machine. The press had already been called, and within minutes trucks from the newspaper, TV stations, and radio stations pulled up in the mud outside Mi Cometa, and interviews began.





The community members taped their posters on the walls around the building, and congregated in front of them, chanting “We want our radio station,” “Free Utopia!” “For the voice of the children” “For the voice of women!” Mi Cometa’s youth group showed up with the stilts and drums they always bring to public demonstrations, and mounted their stilts holding signs high above the shouting children, men, and women below.

After the press left we had a meeting, and it was decided there would be a community meeting that night, so we spent the rest of the afternoon picking our way through the mud and hopping from rock to rock to cross the ankle-deep puddles that fill the roads to notify people. I went to the houses of all my animadores (youth leaders) and we divided up the homes of all the PAIC children, which we visited. We briefly explained the situation, and invited the families to come to Mi Cometa to help organize the organization’s response.

As I have not really been involved with Radio Utopia since it started in January, this meeting was very informative for me. Mi Cometa in January submitted papers to the appropriate authorities to register the radio station, but rather than waiting for the response and license, they pirated 108 FM and began broadcasting. In part they began before getting permission because of the time they knew it would take to receive permission (they said it could take years), in part because they say there are no laws specifically for community radio stations, only for commercial ones, and they wanted to bring this to the attention of the authorities.

The argument Mi Cometa is making is that the Ecuadorian constitution, in Article 23, guarantees the human right to form medias of communication. They are articulating to the media (who are covering this case daily) that the laws of telecommunications are contrary to the constitution and thus the human rights of the people, that Mi Cometa is in the right and it is the law that is in the wrong.

Friday morning a large group from Mi Cometa went with their signs, drums and stilts on the streets in front of the Public Ministry building. Cesar and Sandra met with the attorney prosecuting the case, and asked for 1. provisional permission to operate the radio until the license is granted to Radio Utopia, 2. the return of the transmitter, and 3. that the legal charges against Mi Cometa be dropped. He said only that Mi Cometa needs to present more paperwork to the Superintendent of Telecommunications in Quito.



By Friday night it had been decided that Mi Cometa would take as many community members as possible to Quito for this event, and plans are underway at the moment for this massive mobilization. Meanwhile, they have contacted other organizations around Ecuador as well as in other countries to get their support, which they have overwhelmingly received. Radio La Luna in Quito has pledged their solidarity, and a group from a community radio station in Venezuela wants to come to Guayaquil to show their support.

It has been interesting to reflect on this event and what it has shown of Mi Cometa. Radio Utopia deliberately broke a law the organization thought was unfair, and Mi Cometa is using the opportunity the persecution presents to fight for the right to form medias of communication. Nana, Julia and I have had some interesting discussions about how this is not how we would have gone about trying to change the law, but we are used to functioning in a more fair and efficient system.

When I look at the people and how they have responded, I think it is in this sort of situation that Mi Cometa shines. It is an organization that professes its goal to be “to create citizens who realize their human rights,” it is focused on fighting for the rights of the economically disadvantaged and marginalized sectors of Guayaquil society. The people in Guasmo Sur are very loyal to Mi Cometa, they are quickly mobilized and have a unique way of protesting, which is always covered by the media. Over the years the organization has built strong ties with other non-profit organizations as well as the media.

Nonviolent change is central to the organization’s philosophy, but they also make protesting a cultural event, arriving with drums, stilts, and children, dancing, chanting, jumping; smiles on everyone’s faces. Cesar is without a doubt the leader of the organization, and he is a charismatic convincing speaker, well versed in human rights and knowledgeable of Ecuador’s laws and constitution. The staff of Mi Cometa is also knowledgeable of their rights, believes in change, and is excellent at mobilizing the community. They are a talented group of people, many of whom have been brought to life over the years by their involvement in Mi Cometa.

To see all the pictures please click on the following picture...

- posted by little monk @ 12:00 PM