Regeneración Radio: "It's very important for us to be anticapitalist."
San Diego, CA-Every Mexican in the United States knows from experience that her native country suffers great problems. However, for the average Mexican immigrant, the most pressing problems are economic. The serious violations of human rights in Mexico are not a priority for most. Mainstream media, tongue-tied by their corporate interests, don't cover these violations adequately. However, there are independent media outlets without ties to business conglomerates. Their priority is to inform as opposed to gaining high ratings. One of these outlets is Regeneración Radio (not to be confused with Radio Regeneración) based in Mexico City.
From my home in Vista, California, I interviewed, by phone, Sandra Suaste, disc jockey and reporter for Regeneración Radio. I asked her questions like "What is Regeneración Radio's raison d'être?" and "How are you financed?" Following is a summary of our chat.
In addition to being an independent media outlet, Regeneración Radio also defines itself as political, social, and cultural project. It's politics consist of denouncing the serious human rights violations, which according to Suaste, "have increased dramatically in Mexico in the last decade." By the same token, Regeneración Radio provides a communication space that mainstream media denies to the vast majority. "We give voice to different people who don't have access to mass media," said Suaste.
As its raison d'être, Regeneración Radio views its efforts as their two cents in the struggle, engaged by many different organizations and individuals, to create a different Mexico. For Regeneración Radio, this struggle includes challenging the dominant economic system. "It's very important for us to be anticapitalist. Through our media and different forms of expression and organization we strive to build autonomy at the grassroots, build another place, another world."
The history of Regeneración Radio begins in 1999 during the general strike at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) against the privatization of public education. In those days, Regeneración Radio came to be at the Colegio de Ciencias y Humanidades (CCH Vallejo) and its role was to denounce and inform about the events of that movement. After the strike, Regeneración Radio expanded its content until it became the information clearinghouse it is today, transmitting on the web and FM.
Regeneración Radio has not escaped the repression that other Mexicans suffer. One year ago, the station was dismantled by paramilitaries from UNAM, nearly killing a member. It took the station six months to get back on the air, it had to move, and it lost its FM transmission. Currently, it's only on the air online.
At the start, Regeneración Radio financed itself mainly through the revenues of a candy stall in front of the CCH Vallejo. However, the attack interrupted and ended that business. For the moment, Regeneración Radio supports itself through sporadic donations and contributions from its own members.
Regeneración Radio joins the Caravana Contra la Represión en México with two objectives in mind. The first, according to Suesta, is to "give witness to what is happening in Mexico regarding the press and censorship, which has intensified. In 2015, Artículo 19, an organization which promotes and defends freedom of speech, registered 400 attacks against the press. There have been assassinations. We also believe that it's important to give witness not just nationally but internationally." The second objective is to build links with American organizations working to defend freedom of the press in Mexico and the world.
