[HCDX]: Radio Mallku background information

["Michael Schnitzer" <mschnitzer@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello everywhere,

some days ago I got a very nice QSL-letter from Señor Erwin Freddy Mamani
Machaca, the station manager of Radio Mallku in Bolivia. The letter contains
a lot of information concerning Radio Mallku. I hope that it will be of
interest to some of you. Here now the details:


Personal and ownership structures

The staff of the station consists of exactly two persons. The just 22 years
old Freddy Mamani calls himself as program manager of Radio Mallku. He is
the leader of  the station since three years. His co-worker is Señora
Clotilde Yucra de Cayo. Beyond that they still have three honorary
co-workers. Under the name ?Radiodifusoras A.N.D.E.S.? the station began to
transmit already in December 1996. The former station name consists of the
initial letters of the five provinces in the Potosí department. The
telecommunications authority in La Paz however refused the transmission
license at that time, because Radio Los Andes from Tarija already existed as
a radio station of similar name. Only renaming in Radio Mallku, which is
Quéchua and means "condor", legalized the operation of the station. Owner of
Radio Mallku is the agricultural worker organization ?Frutcas?. An advisary
board (Concejo de Administración) consisting of five persons supervises the
conversion of the resolutions of the executive committee of the agricultural
worker federation Frutcas (Federación de Campesinos Frutcas). On the
Campesino congress (Congreso Campesino) the advisary board of the station as
well as the guidance of the organization Frutcas are elected for two years.
Therefore Señor Mamani is not the owner of Radio Mallku, but rather a type
of leading employee.


The Program

The administrative structures of Radio Mallku and the designation as ?Voz de
los Trabajadores Campesinos del Altiplano Sud? suggest the primary mission
of the station. Primarily the station is labor union orientated and
represents the interests of the Campesinos in the southwest of the Bolivian
department Potosí. On that reason apart from Spanish also the Indio language
Quéchua is used. Education programs as well as health programs (?Programa de
Mujer Salud?) are dominating the program schedule. Like many other LA
stations also Radio Mallku broadcasts the so called "mensajes" (Quéchua:
Willaykunas). Music programs such as ?Ramilletes musicales? can be found in
the program schema likewise.


Country and People

At the end of his letter Freddy Mamani describes the inhabitants of the
Uyuni region as lovable and hospitable people. In the highland region of the
Altiplano Sud prevails a relatively cold climate. Up to the privatisation of
the railways in the year 1994 Uyuni was an important regional traffic
junction. The most important attraction of this area is the large salt
desert with 12400 square kilometres. A beautiful photo of the salt desert
was attached to the QSL letter. Mr. Mamani doesn't conceal the problems of
his homeland and expresses likewise that Potosí is the poorest Bolivian
department. The living conditions of the population partly are not
satisfactory at all. A lot of people emigrated to Argentina or Chile on the
search for better conditions of work and life. This led to a considerable
decrease of population in the Uyuni region.


vy 73

Michael Schnitzer

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