Democracy over the Airwaves

From the August Focus issue "How Do Women Bring about Democracy?" on the International Museum of Women website, this article describes the work of a group of women in Nicaragua who felt that their voices weren't being heard as critical elections neared in late 2006. As a response, they organised an Observatorio de la Transgresión Feminista, or Feminist Transformation Watch, a new initiative developed by a network of Mesoamerican feminists, Las Petateras, born at a gathering convened by JASS (Just Associates) in Panamá just 3 months before the Nicaraguan elections. The Observatorios mobilise in-person and virtual solidarity, as well as communications media, to spotlight and support women on the frontlines of political crises and struggles across Central America and Mexico.

According to the article, "The idea for an Observatorio is rooted in Latin American political culture and history, a tradition whereby people speak out about their experiences and their visions for change. Testimonies themselves are a vehicle of political participation. Solidarity and change can come about after people have had a chance to speak - and be heard." Women have used the Observatorio - tapping into radio broadcasts that inform and connect international solidarity - to reinforce and spotlight their local actions and mobilisations surrounding the Nicaraguan elections of 2006, to express their opposition to state repression in the Mexican state of Oaxaca in 2007, and to call for a "No" vote on the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) referendum in Costa Rica in September 2007.

Through live broadcast and simultaneous webcast, carried in Spanish and English via radio and internet by the Costa Rica-based Radio Internacional Feminista (FIRE) in partnership with JASS and the Petateras through their programme, Radio Petatera, women "bore witness to their experiences of repressive laws and their efforts to monitor the integrity of putting forth candidates, voting and ballot counting during elections. They spoke about a healthy environment, social benefits for everyone and the eradication of poverty.... When a crisis occurs on a local level, the call for solidarity is put out through the communications network and people and resources are mobilized. Radio and internet technologies allow testimony-givers to transcend the boundaries of geography and engage non-locals as virtual observers, building solidarity and increasing the scope and numbers of those who bear witness. Radio and, more recently, internet-based technologies, allow observations to be broadcast throughout the country in real-time, giving an amplifying platform to voices that are traditionally silenced in the political process."

An audio link to archived broadcast material of Radio Petatera is available through Radio Internacional Feminista.