COMMUNITY COMMUNICATION

Project for integration and capacity building of the Communications Equipment of the Community Justice and Security System – Community Police of Costa Chica and Montana de Guerrero

In Mexico, the mainstream media has been monopolized by the government to legitimize certain social policies and to manipulate the population. These media are used to put movements in disrepute by accusing them of being violent (as was done in the case of the students of UNAM, the indigenous peoples of Chiapas, the campesinos of Atenco, and the APPO in Oaxaca).
Nevertheless, social movements have created diverse forms of organizing which have included the use of media to counter the communications machine of the powerful. The use of words and communication tools has permitted these movements to link themselves and join with other movements, communities and individuals both within and outside the country.
The Zapatista movement of Chiapas is the clearest example of the use of such tools: the struggle against silence and a war of extermination being waged against the indigenous communities is being fought through mass mobilization and communications strategies. The dissemination of information via the Internet permitted groups in other parts of the world to become aware almost immediately of what was happening in Chiapas and allowed these groups to express their support of the indigenous struggle.
Community radios have played an important role for the Indigenous world, allowing them to make known their cultures and resistances. Hundreds of radio stations have emerged from all over the country with different characteristics and definitions according to their different functions. One of these functions was the role that community radio played in the conflict in Oaxaca which informed, organized and brought together the Oaxacan population.
The production of documentary videos by people fighting in various movements has made it possible for the population to immediately know (through images) what is happening in the most distant and forgotten territories of the country.
In the country, there are many experiences of resistance organizing and experiences of the construction of local powers which do not have these tools of communication which would help their experiences become known.
One of these experiences of struggle is the Community Security and Justice System – Community Police, the organization of the Tlapaneco, Mixteco and Mestizo Indigenous communities of Costa Chica and Montana.
This important project has caught the attention of social movements, local and international media and researchers, who have produced much information about this community experience.
It is important that the organization produces and disseminates this information and re-appropriates the dissemination of information about the actions which are realized. In order to do this, it is necessary to have the proper tools of communication and to have the knowledge necessary to use them in an efficient manner.
The heavy militarization, the wide-spread violence and the constant violation of human rights which characterize the state of Guerrero make it imperative to have instruments that allow the denunciation of and spread of information about what is happening in the territory.

Objective:

Train and form a team of community communicators (youth, women and men from the communities participating in the System who do not have other responsibilities and can be involved in the production and dissemination of information). This team will work in a coordinated manner with the regional authorities, the Coordinators and Commanders to strengthen community organization.

Specifically, what are we going to construct?
 
- A Website (http://www.policiacomunitaria.org/) which serves as a “magazine” or “newspaper” in which the organization can publish all information, news, invitations and denouncements that it would like to disseminate at the national and international level. Via this site we can make ourselves known to those who aren’t aware of the existence of our organization and maintain communication with those who support us and are with us in the struggle.
- A Regional Radio Transmitter, which would cover the entire region in which the Community Police operates. Via this radio transmitter we can communicate with our communities, share information about the organization, events, and assemblies, propose shows about the mission of the organization, transmit news of what is going on in our region and strengthen our culture. 
- Video Documentaries
- Popular Graphic Art

Organization:

An external group will be integrated and will have the function of training the community communications team through theoretical and technical workshops.
This external group will finish its work when the Community Communications Team appropriates the communications tools so that it can develop its work autonomously without needing external sustenance. The accompaniment by the external team will be maintained to help with resolving emergent problems.

Characteristics:

• Inclusive: The team will make use of diverse media which will allow the transmission of information to the interior of the communal territory (community radio, video documentaries) and to the exterior (website). The content of the information will be the product of the collective discussions in which all members of the team will participate.
• Inter-cultural: Various communities which exist in the region participate in the Communal Security and Justice System (SSJC). For this reason, both the production an the dissemination of information will happen in the different languages and will reflect the cultural and organizational particularities of each community.
• Community participation: The goal is to reconstruct participatory media in which the community be the force that dictates the orientation of the media with the help of invited external trainers.
• The goal is ultimately to achieve an experience of walking with, listening to and speaking with the communities so that they are the ones who realize the unavoidable need of the project and carry it forward.

Methodology:

By basing ourselves in the popular struggle and popular education, the proposal is to create by using as a reference the history of the communities and by using their own methodologies. In order to do this, a facilitation group will be needed which will function along the philosophy of “learn while teaching” and “teach while learning”. We will thus insert ourselves in this training plan in participatory communication by linking two basic things: learning and acting with a single method that will be constructed through the experience gained by working with the people.
Methodological Tools:
Workshops: The training will be developed in a parallel manner between the technical aspect and the analysis of reality, so that both aspects of the training reciprocally feed into each other.
In order to develop this project, various organizational steps will be suggested in accordance with timelines and themes that the participants themselves will agree on.

Phase: Coming together and discussing the project

• Meeting of the external team with the Team that will participate in the Community Communications Project. From this discussion agreements will be reached about the following themes:
• What does Community Communication signify for the Team?
• Why are community media necessary?
• What are the goals of these media?

Phase: Basic Training

• Technical training: These workshops will be for all team participants.
• Basic computation skills.
• Production of notes and denouncements, press releases, flyers and communications.
• Analysis of the reality (with the following themes proposed for the basic workshops):
• History of the organization
• Economy/production
• Security
• Natural Resources
• Militarization

Phase: Specific Training

In accordance with the demands and the proposals of the team, the project will include training workshops given in diverse areas of communication, dividing the team based on the preferences of the participants. Despite the fact that individuals will become “specialized”, collective discussion (between the entire team, with the regional authorities) about the issues to be faced and the communications strategies to be adopted, will be pushed as a fundamental method.
In each phase, the proceedings and conclusions of the activities will be systematized.