LATACUNGA, Ecuador – TV MICC Channel 47 of Ecuador became the country’s first Quechua-language community television station in July; it’s operated by the Indigenous and Campesino Movement of Cotopaxi (MICC) and will air 60 percent of its programming in Quechua.
The new station is located in the city of Latacunga, in north central Ecuador in an Andean basin that has a large Quechua-speaking population and is near many other indigenous communities as well.
On July 17, TV MICC hit the airwaves for the first time and reached 400 communities in the provinces of Cotopaxi, Tungurahua, Chimborazo and some parts of Pichincha and Pastaza in the east.
“We are interested in speaking about the earth and the water and about collective rights,” said MICC spokeswoman Maritza Salazar. “We want to make biographical documentaries to recover the historical memory of our men and women leaders. We want to speak about nature, and the struggles for water.”
The first day of programming began with Native music performances followed by an interview/opinion show called “Nukanchik Yuyay” (Our Thinking), which featured interviews with community leaders and new happenings in the region.
The channel’s main news show is mostly in Spanish but includes segments in Quechua to emphasize the ancestral language. Following the news segment is “Voices and Identity,” a show focusing on indigenous struggles and the resurgence of the Native peoples in Ecuador and elsewhere.
Salazar said some of the shows will have environmental themes like healthy agriculture and the realization of food sovereignty. Later in the evenings the channel will air Quechua language education programs; there are more than one million people in Ecuador who speak one or more Quechua dialects, and 10 million Quechua speakers throughout Latin America.
The station’s manager, Angel Tiban, said they want to produce locally created Quechua language programming, including cartoons.
“The idea is to reach the children with our language, to strengthen our identity.” Tiban said they want to create many types of shows, even some directed at women leaders.
Tiban also pointed out that, due to lack of funding and therefore personnel and equipment, TV MICC does not broadcast for a full 24 hours. He said they are hoping to develop ties with international channels or networks. In the meantime, the station is for-profit and can gather funds from MICC and selling air time. The station has enough support to temporarily sustain programming, but the struggle to develop the channel has been in the works for almost 20 years.
The idea for the channel began in 1990 after the community launched its first radio station. Eventually the movement obtained support and assistance from the Council on Development of the Peoples and Nationalities of Ecuador (Codenpe).
In 2004, Carlos Espin, MICC’s president at the time, initiated a project to apply for a broadcast frequency. The following year, MICC filed its formal application and three years later in 2008, after regular visits to the government broadcast regulatory agency, CONARTEL, finally received the authorization to broadcast.
Codenpe invested more than $100,000 in the project and donated cameras, consoles, antennas and other items. The Provincial Council of Cotopaxi donated a building, which is now the station’s home.
The recent launching of the station has also been attributed, in part, to Article 57 of Ecuador’s new constitution which states: “The dignity and diversity of its cultures, traditions, histories and aspirations are reflected in the public education and in the communication media; the creation of their own communication media in their own languages and for access to the rest without prejudice.”
Although TV MICC is on the air and progressing, sources note that future funding is a concern. Tiban said they’re going to rent some broadcast space to commercial entities and charge for commercials, and are seeking other collaborations. He also emphasized the historic importance of the channel.
“TV Channels [in Ecuador] had given space to indigenous people, but only related to themes introduced by politicians or other authorities, for the indigenous to take a position for or against. … This is ours.”