Radio For Peace International (RFPI), which has been operating since 1987 by mutual agreement on the university campus in El Rodeo, Costa Rica, has been served with an eviction notice from the university. The radio station’s access gate was locked with chains and patrolled by armed guards, and the radio station was advised to vacate its facilities in two weeks.
According to General Manager James Latham, the unexplained and legally questionable decision to evict RFPI threatens to silence the voice of peace on international airwaves. “This is more than an eviction, this is about the right to free speech,” he sais.”What is most shocking and sad is that this action comes from an international peace organization.”
University for Peace, a United Nations-mandated university established in 1980, invited RFPI in 1985 to build and manage its own office and studios on the university’s Costa Rica campus. Consequently RFPI constructed studios and transmitters, and has been broadcasting messages of peace and social justice as well as daily United Nations programming. Says James Latham: Instead of focusing on how to eliminate a fellow peace organization, we need to channel our energy toward eliminating war, poverty and hunger.