The lambi (a gathering call usually made with the aid of a sea shall) rings out. "Asosye li jou!" (Friend, the day has begun!) "Leve kanpe!" (Time to rise!) "Soley la leve!" (The sun's up!) It is 6 a.m., and the clandestine radio "Soley Leve" has started its broadcast on 94.9 MHz FM. It will continue until 8 a.m. and come back on the air at 8 p.m.
Created in 1993, this station has made a name for itself in Port-au- Prince. The residents of the shanty towns surrounding the capital enthusiastically welcomed the renewal of its programming at the end of 1993, following an interruption for unspecified reasons in October of the same year.
The low-power station is a daily headache for the military. According to a reliable source, the men under Michel Francois (the current police chief) are actively searching for its broadcasting headquarters. Serge Beaulieu, a fervent supporter of the military and the owner of Radio Liberte, which is just next to Soley Leve on the dial, complains of problems that the "pirate station" causes for his own programs. At the time of the signing of the Governors Island Agreement and the New York Pact,ppealed to grass-roots sectors to continue their resistance, even now, 29 months after the coup.
"Komite rezistans pou jodi" (resistance committee today) and "komite rezistans pou demem" (resistance committee tomorrow) are continual announcements on Radio Pep Ayisyen (People of Haiti), Soley Leve's sister station, which broadcast its first program in April 1992. After silencing its transmitters for more than six months, Radio Pep Ayisyen renewed its regular programming in February 1994.
A drumbeat announces that this station, usually called "Radio pep la," (radio of the people) is about to come on the air. In Port-au-Prince, the country's capital, people tune in at 1600 kHz AM. Its antennas are turned on about six times each day, with different schedules for each region of the country. This seems to be intended to overcome the problem of low transmission power.
Radio Pep Asyen provides time for international news, in addition to its editorials and national news bulletins. "The suffering, struggles and victories of one people are the business of all peoples," the radio explains in an ad. In the time slot entitled "kozman pep la" (chatting with the people) the residents of poor neighborhoods and rural areas voice their demands and speak their minds regarding the country's problems.
The same formula was used by Radio Lave Je (literally: washing living under cover in Port-au-Prince. However, they are determined to resume Radio Lave Je's programming.
Since President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was overthrown on September 30, 1991, several clandestine radios have come into being in Haiti. Radio Resistance Lavalas made its first broadcast immediately after the coup. It represented a breath of fresh air for the people of Port- au-Prince throughout the dark days of late 1991. During that same period Radio 29 Novembre became well known. These initiatives did not last very long, but they did make it possible to speak out despite a prohibition enforced at gunpoint. They represented a turning point that will leave a permanent mark on the evolution of radio in Haiti. Gotson Pierre CRAD Information Service
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