The Sistema de Radiodifusoras Culturales Indígenas (SRCI; ) is a state-owned network of

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

s in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. The radio stations it operates are

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial broadcasting, commercial and public broadcasting. Community broadcasting, Community stations serve geographic communities and communities o ...

stations that aim to serve different sectors of the country's

indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

. Pursuant to Article 4 of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

, their mission is to strengthen the multicultural nature of the nation by promoting the use of 31

indigenous languages An indigenous language, or autochthonous language, is a language that is native to a region and spoken by its indigenous peoples. Indigenous languages are not necessarily national languages but they can be; for example, Aymara is both an indigeno ...

. As the stations are owned by the federal government, they hold

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

concessions.

History

The SRCI began operations in 1979 with the launch of

XEZV-AM XEZV-AM (''La Voz de la Montaña'' – "The Voice of the Mountain") is an indigenous community radio station that broadcasts in Spanish, Nahuatl, Mixtec and Tlapanec from Tlapa de Comonfort in the Mexican state of Guerrero Guerrero, offic ...

, "La Voz de la Montaña", in

Tlapa de Comonfort Tlapa de Comonfort, often shortened to Tlapa and known as Tindai in Mixtec, is a city in the mountain region of the Mexican state of Guerrero. It also serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. "Tlapa" is a ...

Guerrero Guerrero, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero, is one of the 32 states that compose the administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guerrero, 85 municipalities. The stat ...

. The network was initially managed by the National Indigenist Institute (INI), an agency of the

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

In 2003, the INI was dissolved and replaced by the

National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples The National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (, INPI, Tzotzil: ''Instituto Ta Sjunul Jlumaltik Sventa Batsi Jnaklometik,'' Q'eqchi': ''Molam Tk’anjelaq Chi Rixeb’ Laj Ralch’och’'', Ixil: ''Jejleb’al Unq’a Tenam Kumool'', Chocholtec ...

(CDI), which consequently assumed control over the network. The CDI was in turn replaced by the

National Institute of Indigenous Peoples The National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (, INPI, Tzotzil language, Tzotzil: ''Instituto Ta Sjunul Jlumaltik Sventa Batsi Jnaklometik,'' Qʼeqchiʼ language, Q'eqchi': ''Molam Tk’anjelaq Chi Rixeb’ Laj Ralch’och’'', Ixil language, Ixil ...

(INPI) in late 2018. Until 2019, the station was known as the ''Sistema de Radiodifusoras Culturales Indigenistas'' (Indigenist Cultural Broadcasting System).

Stations

The SRCI operates 22 primary radio stations, most of which transmit on AM and eight of which are high-power FM stations. It also previously operated four 10-watt FM stations in Yucatán. The 22 main stations transmit for an average of 12 hours a day, during daylight hours, covering 928

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

with high levels of indigenous inhabitants. The stations' potential audience comprises 5 million speakers of

and more than 22 million Spanish speakers. They all broadcast an array of programming in both

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

and the particular native languages spoken in the coverage area. Four stations are AM-FM migrants: XHCARH, XHPET, XHTUMI, XHNKA. XHCARH and XHPET are required to maintain their AM frequencies because they are the only radio service for certain communities in its AM coverage area. The second and third stations reacquired their AM frequencies under new callsigns. In 2016 and 2017, the CDI applied for and received FM radio stations that provide simulcast service for XETLA (XHPBSD-FM 95.9), XEGLO (XHGJO-FM 88.3), and XEQIN (XHSQB-FM 95.1). On February 28, 2020, the INPI relaunched La Voz de los Chontales, which had been shuttered as XENAC in 1989 for political reasons, as XHCPBS-FM.

Defunct stations

Between 1982 and 1989, the SRCI system included a station at Nacajuca, Tabasco,

XENAC-AM XHCPBS-FM, known as ''La Voz de los Chontales'', is an indigenous community radio station on 98.7 FM broadcasting in Spanish, Chontal Maya (''yokot'an''), Ch'ol and Ayapa Zoque from Nacajuca in the Mexican state of Tabasco. The station will fo ...

1440. That station was shut down in 1989; the station was revived more than 30 years later as XHCPBS-FM. The CDI also formerly held a trio of permits for low-power FM stations at three communities in Michoacán;Proyectos experimentales: Radiodifusoras de baja potencia en albergues escolares indígenas
(SRCI) these were not renewed.

Programming

The stations' programming is eminently community-focused. Bilingual presenters attend inquiries from listeners, convey community and personal announcements, and promote various government assistance programs in the areas of health, education, human rights, etc. Traditional music is also a key component of the stations' broadcasts, and their recording collections, frequently gathered in the field, constitute an important cultural resource.

References

External links

Sistema de Radiodifusoras Culturales Indígenas

The Negotiation of Indigenist Radio Policy in Mexico
(on

World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters The World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (, AMARC) is the international umbrella organization of community radio broadcasters founded in 1983, with nearly 3,000 members in 110 countries. Its mission is to support and contribute to ...

website) {{Mexican broadcast radio Mexican radio networks Government of Mexico Community radio organizations Indigenous mass media