MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Proposal for Tierra del Fuego bilingual broadcasting to Falklands

“A 24 hours broadcasting service” geared to the Falklands from Argentina is under discussion in Congress

An Argentine member of congress presented a bill calling for the establishment of a bilingual broadcasting station targeted to service the Falkland Islands.

Daniel Gallo, deputy for the province of Tierra del Fuego and belonging to the ruling coalition of President Nestor Kirchner said the station would be located in Rio Grande the second largest city of Argentina's most extreme south province. "It's beyond all discussion the significance that in our days the media has in the development of our society. Not only that they help to consolidate the national identity, they help to bring together under the same banner peoples and cultures that otherwise would remain distant", said Deputy Gallo on presenting the bill. In this framework, he added that it was essential to have "a 24 hours broadcasting service, both in English and Spanish geared to the Malvinas Islands from the studios of Radio Nacional in Rio Grande and with the purpose of spreading Argentine culture and news". "Programming should emphasize on different aspects of Argentine culture plus daily information related to Argentina and the region in such areas as politics, economics, history, sports and traditional values which make to the Argentine identity", underlined Gallo. As to the actual broadcasting "all programs must permanently insist on Argentina's inalienable sovereignty rights over the Malvinas, Georgias, Orcadas and Sandwich del Sur islands". The bill is currently under consideration by the Communications and Computer Technology Committee and according to Patagonia provinces press reports has received an enthusiastic backing. Gallo recalled that "some many years ago, from Rio Grande, Mrs. Sara Carolina Mc Phee had a weekly program both in Spanish and English which broadcasted messages to relatives and friends living in the (Falkland) Islands plus information about Argentina and "all that which helped to bring both peoples together". "That memorable attitude just comes to show how positive and enriching aspects such an activity can generate and how advantageous it is to re-launch a broadcasting service directed to the Islanders", he added. Finally the bill requests the Argentine Executive to make viable the necessary instruments to increase the transmission power of the current Radio Nacional in Rio Grande "to ensure an optimum broadcasting capacity and reception in the Malvinas islands".