Thanks to an agreement between VOA and Radio Panamericana, VOA programming in Spanish will now reach an additional 8.6 million listeners weekly through Panamericana's network of eight affiliate stations in Bolivia's major cities, including La Paz, Santa Cruz, and Cochabamba. The new partnership with Panamericana builds on VOA's current network of 15 smaller affiliate stations in Bolivia. An inaugural ceremony in La Paz will accompany the launch on Dec. 1, 2004.
Each day, Radio Panamericana will carry Reportaje Desde Washington (Report from Washington). The exclusive, live question-and-answer news report from VOA's Washington, D.C. studios will be customized for the region. Monday through Friday will feature Luis Facal at 0825 local time (1225 UTC), and Tuesdays and Fridays will feature Mercedes Antezana at 1645 local time (2045 UTC). Finally, a two-minute segment of VOANoticias will air daily at 1130 local time (1630 UTC).
Other VOA Spanish programming includes Foro Interamericano, a weekly, hour-long public affairs television program that examines issues of interest to the Americas. VOA also broadcasts the daily Desde Washington (From Washington), a five-minute, Spanish-language television newscast for more than three-dozen affiliates in 10 countries throughout Latin America. In addition, VOA Spanish broadcasts programs directly to listeners via shortwave and by satellite to AM and FM affiliates in the region. Programs are also available on the Internet at www.VOANews.com/Spanish.
The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. VOA broadcasts more than 1,000 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 100 million people. Programs are produced in English, Spanish and 42 other languages.
For more information, call the Office of Public Affairs at (202) 401-7000, or E-Mail publicaffairs@voa.gov.
