WASHINGTON, January 27, 2026: On Friday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released an order requesting a hearing to revoke the licenses of three El Paso radio stations, including Spanish language Ke Buena 97.5 (KBNA-FM). The reason for the hearing to revoke the licenses is because the FCC feels that the two cousins lied about who owns and operates the radio station.
According to the BIA Advisory Services report submitted as part of the application to the FCC to transfer the license from Luz Maria Rygaard to Lorena Margarita Pérez Toscano, there are 36 radio stations in the El Paso area. Of those, 24 are licensed by the FCC and 12 are licensed by the Mexican FCC counterpart, Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones (IFT). The purchaser, Pérz Toscano, is a Mexican citizen. Rygaard is a U.S. citizen.
Foreign Ownership Limits
The U.S. Department of Justice operates a committee called the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the United States Telecommunications Services Sector which is known by its shorter name – Team Telecom.
Team Telecom advices the FCC on national security matters when foreign ownership of a telecommunications company reaches a certain threshold. The national security concern is foreign activity through American airwaves or communication links. In the case of a radio station, the foreign threshold that triggers a Team Telecom investigation is 25% foreign owned…