(This article is translated from Arabic)

Miners' radio stations in the heart of Bolivia's mining communities, played a crucial role in shaping communication within mining communities, contributing to social and political movements. These stations intersected with anarchist theatre, educational initiatives, and alternative media, addressing labour rights, minority groups, and imperialism

On the stage of Radio (1) Vanguardia, a mural depicts an airstrike by the Air Force on the mining centre of Colquiri in 1967. Over the airwaves, calls for meetings of housewives, love messages, and congratulations on new births are broadcast. "My husband drinks too much and beats me... my neighbour took my chickens" — people here prefer to resolve their problems by using the radio's microphone rather than visiting the police station (2). Requests for Hirpastay music and complaints about violations by the state-owned mining centre follow. The announcer then announces a performance by the anarchist theatre Horizontes (3), taking place on the back of a truck, its scene illuminated by workers' lamps (4).

These Southern voices have not received the expected scholarly attention, either as a media trend or as a social movement that became a key player in Bolivia's landscape. This could be because they are a local, grassroots movement without any oversight by a governmental, international, or ecclesiastical entity or support from non-governmental organisations.

The miners' radio was woven into the daily life of these communities collaboratively with the social movement. Poor mining villages received their mail through the radio, which was read aloud several times a day. During periods of civil peace, radio stations organised campaigns for better working conditions and education. Under the military dictatorship, miners' radios withstood attacks from the army, resulting in losses of both life and equipment. As the military took over the press institutions in La Paz and major cities, the miners’ radios remained the only available source of information, eventually replacing telephone and postal services. By the 1970s, there were 25 radio stations, and Bolivia's miners' unions had become one of the most influential in Latin America (5). However, these voices of the South did not receive the scholarly attention they deserved (6), either as a media trend or as a social movement that became a key player in Bolivia's landscape (7). This could be because they were a local grassroots component, unregulated by governmental, international, or ecclesiastical powers. For instance, in the case of Radio (8) RADIO PIO DOCE. Or because they lacked support from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) (9), making them a valuable case study of the characteristics of Southern media.

These Southern voices have not received the expected scholarly attention, either as a media trend or as a social movement that became a key player in Bolivia's landscape. This could be because they are a local, grassroots movement without any oversight by a governmental, international, or ecclesiastical entity or support from non-governmental organisations.

"The Global South" and Southern Media

The Southern media wave was organically intertwined with the movement of a marginalised society with no voice and with the resistance of Bolivian workers against oppression. This was well before the term "Global South" emerged two decades later. The term would appear in the article "After Vietnam, What?" in which the American leftist writer Carl Oglesby described what he called the "history of Northern domination over the Global South" (10), published by Commonweal in the late 1960s (11). This idea complements Antonio Gramsci's vision in his 1926 essay The Southern Question (12). Gramsci analyses the dependency of southern Italy on its capitalist northern counterpart. He goes so far as to describe this as an internal colonisation of Southern Italy. Oglesby, on the other hand, explains the term Global South through a Marxist framework, where colonial powers created a global hegemony, exploiting the resources of the Southern peoples through imperial rule. They created a sharp class division (13). This analysis aligns with Lenin's view (14) that "imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism" (15), as well as with Hobson's early analysis of the preconditions of imperialism (16).

The idea of Global South formed alliances inconsistent with the cognitive characteristics of the South, often influenced by studies of "subalterns" and "centre-periphery" theory or shaped by stances on racial and class superiority, like India’s case.

Later, as the experience of communist parties' rule collapsed, the term "Global South" replaced "developing countries," in contrast to "Northern countries." This held structural and cognitive commonalities and a shared modern colonial history. However, despite the relative coherence of Southern media characteristics, particularly their local focus and organic relationship with social movements, "Global South" remained a term lacking geographical and structural coherence. In more difficult cases, it formed alliances inconsistent with the cognitive characteristics of the South, often influenced by studies of subalterns and centre-periphery theory or shaped by stances on racial and class superiority, like India’s case. Furthermore, the term’s use was delayed, with leftist discussions in certain Southern environments and media, such as in the Middle East, preferring the terms "Arab and Islamic world," contrasted with the "West."

Miners' Radio: A Voice for the Margins and Against Hegemony

Working conditions in Bolivia's mines are both unpleasant and extremely hazardous; harsh, grey land dominated by cold dust storms. Miners often die from silicosis (a type of lung poisoning caused by inhaling dust) before reaching the age of forty. The miner is plagued with breathing issues and a suffocating cough that becomes a systemic voice crisis in isolated mining villages, left out of government calculations.

"The minors' radio stations set new broadcasting standards and organisational methods"

In 1949, despite government repression, workers bought broadcasting equipment, trained a team from their villages, and launched Catavi's first radio (17). The radio station was funded by a one-day wage from workers and housewives who donated voluntarily. Before the 1953 Nationalist takeover and nationalisation of the mining industry, the initiative did not reach major mining villages. Initially using simple broadcasting equipment, some stations built accompanying theatres to broadcast union meetings live, making miners’ radios a voice for marginalised communities and a counterpoint to the major media corporations. They broadcasted radio programs in Quechua and Aymara to reflect the cultural diversity of mining villages and farming communities, ensuring social sustainability (18). After the 1967 massacre of miners in Catavi, the mining unions refused to cooperate with the military government. Their broadcasts led to a direct confrontation with the military, which was fighting to maintain the oligarchy state (19).

Bolivian journalist Jorge Mancilla (20) described the miners' radio as an alternative form of media supporting the workers' struggles against military coups. He noted how the radio stations set new broadcasting standards and organisational methods (21).

Over time, miners' radio stations evolved towards providing services for more remote mining centres, and Radio Nacional was established to serve isolated mining communities across Bolivia, using advanced broadcasting equipment. Meanwhile, Radio SumacOrcko, based in the high-altitude city of Potosí, targeted commercial station audiences. Later on, radio stations, such as Radio Matilda, were directly funded by the federal workers' union (22) rather than local miners (23).

Radio Stations and the Rule of the Generals

After General Barrientos took power in November 1964, Radio La Voz del Minero journalists were exiled to Argentina. In 1967, Bolivian miners’ radio stations broadcasted a statement on the guerrilla war led by Che Guevara, revealing information about the mountain battles to the public for the first time. In emergencies, workers, peasants, and their families rushed to the radio station to protect it from army attacks, and housewives and students took turns at the microphone to report news of the army's assault. During the local Saint John Festival on June 24, 1967, soldiers attacked the miners at night, surrounding Radio Del Minero, where people urgently requested help defending the station. A union leader protecting one of the  broadcasters was shot and killed (24).

Upon taking power in 1971, General Hugo Banzer ordered the closure of miners' radio stations but failed in the long run. In January 1975, the military attacked the mining centre, occupying radio stations and seizing valuable records and radio equipment, dismantling the broadcasting systems. In response, miners went on strike, demanding the return of their radio stations. The military surrounded mining villages, but the strike threatened to spread to other regions of Bolivia. After a government delegation negotiated, radio stations resumed broadcasting on Labor Day (25). During the 1981 coup, the army shut down the media in the cities, while international reporters, stranded in Peru and Chile, updated their reports by listening to the shortwave broadcasts from the miners’ radios (26), which continued to broadcast from the mountain regions.

After years of struggle, the miners' radio stations were restored. However, the global hegemony strategy (from the North) destroyed Bolivia’s mining sector, causing the collapse of the International Tin Council leading to the plummeting of the global tin prices. After 1985, Bolivian governments had to take painful economic measures, closing mines and laying off thousands of miners. Many radio stations stopped broadcasting as workers moved out to cities. However, some mining villages fought to survive, and new radio stations were launched to serve miners, peasants, and surrounding cities (27) without losing their local focus.

In his English-language translation of broadcasting schedules and interviews with miner’s radio journalists, researcher Alan O’Connor (28) notes how UNESCO recognised the radio stations a model of "democratic media" (29).

Alternative Media or a Social Movement?

A prime example of self-organised Southern media, Bolivian miners’ radio introduced a major media trend to communication studies (28). However, it remains primarily a unique development of a social movement against hegemony rather than an "alternative" journalistic experience (29). Professor Alan O’Connor, Professor of Cultural Studies at Trent University, notes how UNESCO recognised miners’ radio in the 1970s as a model of "democratic media" (30). However, he emphasises that miners' radio was a workers’ struggle, not alternative media (31). These labour stations focused on organic change rather than access levels and horizontal expansion in communication theories and discourse. The alternative viewpoint on issues ignored by major media companies was represented by lower participation than contemporary models. Bolivian journalist and researcher Alfonso Gumucio (32) considers the miners’ radio experience a pioneering example of "participatory communication for social change" through radio broadcasting. It was not a development project or an NGO program. It was a social movement funded and run directly by the local communities and part of a broader cultural project (33).

Miners' radio was a workers’ struggle, not alternative media. These labour stations focused on organic change rather than access levels and horizontal expansion in communication theories and discourse.

Instead of "Global South" approaches that aim to invigorate a cohesive cognitive theory against hegemony and colonialism, often shaped by Northern funding and voices, miners' radio helps us understand the characteristics of Southern media, especially the local identity that resists "cosmopolitanism."

Despite repeated closures of Bolivia’s miners' radio stations, the seizure of broadcasting equipment, and the exile of their journalists, it was not military attacks that stopped the broadcasts but the deliberate dismantling of the mining industry. It seemed the best way to circumvent the Southern media wave was to dismantle the community that rejected the rules of hegemony. Unlike the Global South approaches that aim to reanimate a coherent cognitive theory against hegemony and colonialism, often shaped by Northern funding and voices, miners' radio helps understand Southern media characteristics, particularly the cohesive local identity resisting "cosmopolitanism," and an opposition to communication theories in conservative liberal media communication theories. Despite numerous theoretical propositions about the "Southern Media" wave from academic, journalistic, and ideological perspectives, the ultimate expression of this movement remains the mining worker from Latin America, balancing between social movements and rejecting hegemony.

References

1. LATAM: "Bahng-gwahr-dyah" means "vanguard" in Spanish, pronounced as:
2. Gumucio-Dagron, A. (2005). Miners’ Radio Stations: A Unique Communication Experience from Bolivia.
3. Arraya Pareja, L. H. (2018). Nuevos horizontes: The proposal for an anarchist theater in southern Bolivia. Revista de la Fuente Congresal, 12(55), 4-17.
4. The "Horizontes" theater troupe toured all of Bolivia between 1946 and 1961, focusing on mining communities. They offered workshops and performances based on anarchist principles and an educational approach centered on art (Educación por el Arte).
5. The mining industry accounted for 60% of Bolivia’s total exports.
6. Alan O’Connor's book (reference list) fills a significant gap in the literature on miners’ radio in Bolivia and the associated events.
7. Shami, K.H. (2014). Community Radio and Minority Groups.
8. RADIO PIO DOCE was managed by Roman Catholic priests and named after Pope Pius XII, who tasked the station with combating communism. It opposed miners' radio until the 1970s, when its stance shifted in favor of the workers.
9. Gumucio-Dagron, A. (2005). Miners’ Radio Stations: A Unique Communication Experience from Bolivia.
10. Oglesby, C. (1969). After Vietnam, What?
11. Hogan, E., & Patrick, S. (2024). A Closer Look at the Global South.
12. Gramsci, A. (2005). The Southern Question.
13. Oglesby, C. (1969). After Vietnam, What?
14. Lenin, V. I. (1961). Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism: A Popular Outline.
15. Written by Vladimir Lenin in Zurich, January – June 1916. Published in April 1917 under the title Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism (in Russian).
16. Hobson, J. A. (1902). Imperialism: A Study.
17. Schaay, M. (1980). A History of Bolivian Radio.
18. Gumucio-Dagron, A. (2005). Miners’ Radio Stations: A Unique Communication Experience from Bolivia.
19. Known locally as: 'Rosca' (mafia gang).
20. Jorge Mancilla Romero, a Bolivian journalist born in a mining center, who lived in exile in Mexico since the 1980 military coup.
21. O’Connor, A. (2004). Community Radio in Bolivia.
22. Radio Matilde was founded in the 1980s, later than most miners' radio stations.
23. Scifo, S. (2005). The Radio Journal: International Studies in Broadcast and Audio Media.
24. Schaay, M. (1980). A History of Bolivian Radio.
25. Schaay, M. (1980). A History of Bolivian Radio.
26. Gumucio-Dagron, A. (2005). Miners’ Radio Stations: A Unique Communication Experience from Bolivia.
27. Gumucio-Dagron, A. (2005). Miners’ Radio Stations: A Unique Communication Experience from Bolivia.
28. Shami, K.H. (2014). Community Radio and Minority Groups.
29. The term "alternative" can be seen as problematic in itself, due to its submission to the limits of hegemony within the context of its rejection, and its acquiescence to the standards of the dominant cognitive model. It represents an instrumental practice of filling gaps or renaming that is beholden to a comprehensive culture.
30. Barrios, E., & Dagron, A.G. (2015). La Voz del Minero.
31. UNESCO supported the production of the first documentary on miners' radio, La Voz del Minero (Docu, 1983).
32. O’Connor, A. (2004). Community Radio in Bolivia.
33. Gumucio-Dagron, A. (2001). Making Waves: Stories of Participatory Communication for Social Change.