Donate to WERU Today!

WERU Community Radio

WERU Community Radio

WERU Community Radio 89.9 FM - diverse and grassroots radio serving Midcoast, Downeast & Bangor, a voice of many voices!

Serving Midcoast,
Downeast & Central Maine
A Voice of Many Voices
Broadcasting from Solar Powered Studios

Listen to the Live Stream
in pop-up window
On Air Now
  • Programming
    • Schedule
    • Playlists
    • On-demand Playback
    • Local Public Affairs Archives
    • Public Affairs Schedule
    • Short Features
    • Podcasts
  • Calendar
    • Community Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • About
    • Mission, Vision & Values
    • Board of Directors
    • Staff
    • Committees
    • Community Advisory Board
    • Code of Conduct
    • FCC, IRS & CPB
    • History
    • Radio Sumpul
    • WERU in the Press
    • Improving Radio Reception
    • Radio Links
    • Site Map
  • Support
    • Membership Donation
    • Planned Giving
    • Donate Your Car
    • Underwriting
    • Underwriters List
  • Contact
You are here: Home / About / Radio Sumpul: WERU’s Sister Station in El Salvador

Radio Sumpul: WERU’s Sister Station in El Salvador

Radio Sampul logo with singing bird on a radio aerial antenna

Since 2005, volunteers and staff from WERU have been working with counterparts at Radio Sumpul, a community radio station in Chalatenango, El Salvador to build a relationship for the exchange of information and ideas and for experiencing crosscultural community radio solidarity.

Radio Sampul is a community radio station located in Guarjilla, El Salvador, in the northern province of Chalatenango. Radio Sumpul was started after the Salvadoran civil war (1980–1992), along with many other community radio stations around the country, to broadcast social and political issues and music relevant to people at the local level. While struggling to gain legal status in the mid ‘90s, all community stations were forcibly shut down by the government, except for Radio Sumpul, which resisted!

With assistance from the U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities Network, PICA and MOFGA, WERU collaborates with Radio Sumpul to cover important issues, promote cultural awareness and support delegations of people from Maine and Chalatenango to visit each other and strengthen sistering relationships.  Representatives of Radio Sumpul have traveled to Maine and visited WERU, and our staff and volunteers have also traveled to El Salvador and visited Radio Sumpul.

Radio Sumpul broadcasts daily from 5 am to 9 pm. A typical day of programming starts off with Ranchera music, morning announcements (such as public events, patron saint festivals, community assemblies and birthdays) from 6:30 to 7 am, followed by a mix of different Latin music styles: Grupera, Merengue, Bachata, and Tropical music, played in blocks until 11:40 am when they wrap up the hour for more announcements. Between noon and 5:30 they have “Hits from Yesterday,” then they take requests, have a children’s hour, folk music and then eclectic music. News is from 5:30 to 6:30 pm followed by Reggae Techno Youth Music until 9 pm.

Operating a Community Radio Station in rural El Salvador presents many challenges, including a variety of technical problems that must be overcome in order to serve the people. Radio Sumpul is part of a social movement working to empower rural people and all Salvadorans struggling against economic, environmental, cultural and political oppression, and it is difficult to provide the most timely national news and information to its community without such up to date technology.

We invite listeners to help contribute to future Radio Sumpul needs by sending checks to: WERU, P.O. Box 170, East Orland, ME 04431, with “Radio Sumpul” on the envelope and in the memo line of the check.

  • facebook
  • linkedin
  • twitter
  • google+
Donate Donate
Listen Listen
Schedule Schedule
Volunteer Volunteer
e-Newsletter e-Newsletter
App App

Top Albums of the Week

Top Albums 5/24/2022

1 BONNIE RAITT Just Like That…
2 SABERTOOTH SWING Delta Bound
3 KAITLIN BUTTS What Else Can She Do?

Previous Weeks

website underwritten by
Friend Memorial Library
MacRevival
WERU Receives Support From:

Democracy Now! Headlines

  • Report from the Donbas: Shelling Intensifies in Severodonetsk as Russia Moves to Capture Key City
  • "Doubling Down": How Minneapolis Elites Worked to Stop Police Reform After George Floyd's Murder
  • "Trigger Points": Author Mark Follman on How to Stop Mass Shootings Through Community Prevention
  • Headlines for May 27, 2022
  • Patrick Cockburn Warns the West's "Triumphalism" in Ukraine Could Prolong Conflict Indefinitely
  • After the Uvalde Massacre in South Texas, Will Migrants with Key Info Be Protected from Deportation?

Find Us

Community Radio WERU FM
P.O. Box 170
1186 Acadia Highway
East Orland, Maine 04431
89.9 FM Midcoast, Downeast and Bangor

Contact Us

Office: (207) 469-6600
Studio: (207) 469-0500
Email: [email protected]

Connect with Us

Get the Latest Updates from WERU

WERU Community Radio © 1988–2022 Salt Pond Community Broadcasting • Sitemap

FCC Public Inspection File for WERU • For more information, contact Matt Murphy, General Manager.