Rebel group FARC on Wednesday released a statement issuing their proposals for media regulation, mainly aimed at minimizing the monopoly of large corporations.
At a press conference in Havana, FARC negotiator “Marco Leon Calarca” issued the rebel group’s 10 proposals for the “democratization of information and communication of the mass media.”
The proposals are an expansion of one of the points released by the rebel group in June, in which the FARC released 10 proposals regarding their political participation.
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The proposals for media regulation are as follows:
- Social participation in the design, implementation and control of information and communication policies.
- Democratization of the ownership of media outlets and the strengthening of state and community public ownership over media.
- Democratization of the radio and an equitable distribution of the frequencies of radio and television.
- The right to timely and accurate information, and the right to further reply.
- Access to the media for the political and social opposition.
- Special access to the media for the peasant, indigenous, Afro descendant and excluded social sectors.
- State funding and alternative means of communication information and communication technologies.
- Universal access to information and communication technologies.
- Improvement of the working conditions for workers in information and communication.
- Special program for information and communication for reconciliation and peace building with social justice.
In an expansion of the first two points, the guerrillas argue that “information and communication should promote culture, education and recreation. In particular, it should contribute to the development and promotion of a democratic and participatory culture and defend national sovereignty.”
While the FARC claim that these mechanisms are to ensure “social control of the media”, they have received widespread criticism.
According to El Tiempo, Ignacio Gomez, President of the foundation of press freedom said that any form of press regulation amounted to a “communist or fascist model.”
Oscar Morales, President of the association of journalists of Antioquia argued that ‘if you supervise the contents of the media, you lose the autonomy enjoyed as a constitutional right.”
Nestor Morales, director of BluRadio labelled the proposals as “crazy”, reported El Tiempo.
The FARC and the government have been involved in peace talks since November in order to seek a negotiated end to a conflict that has lasted almost 50 years.
While an accord has been reached regarding land reform, no agreements have been made on the issue of the FARC’s political participation, drug trafficking, the practicalities of the end of the armed conflict and the rights of the victims.
Sources
- DESARROLLO DEL PUNTO 4 DE 10 PROPUESTAS MÍNIMAS DE PARTICIPACIÓN POLÍTICA (FARC-EP)
- Rechazo a propuesta de las Farc para regular a los medios (El Tiempo)