Venezuela, 3rd Plenary Session of the International Communication Congress continues

teleSUR English

Our Special Envoy Yunus Soner talks with Gerardo Porres, Guatemalan Communication Expert, about this important event that took place in Venezuela. teleSUR

Transcript

00:00In this context, let's go live to Caracas with our special envoy, Yunus Zuner,

00:03who has all the details of everything that is happening in this day of the International Congress.

00:14Good morning from here, from Caracas, from the International University of Communication,

00:19where the third edition of this International Congress on communication takes place.

00:26Delegates are gathering here, as you see behind me.

00:29They have had a very productive meeting, I am told, yesterday, on Sunday,

00:35where eight different workshops have been held on topics regarding artificial intelligence,

00:42on topics regarding cultural sovereignty, media dominance of corporate institutions,

00:50and how to create a network of defense and counter-offensive, because that is the purpose

00:57here, I was told, by the International President of the International University of Communication

01:02here, Fernando Buenaventura, who told me it is about creating a line of defense against imperialist

01:09attacks via media and communication systems, but also about creating a position of counter-offensive.

01:17Much discussed is creating a network of the networks that was pronounced here yesterday,

01:24on Sunday. Now, today, this work will continue, and in that context, I have a very interesting

01:31guest, because we are talking about media attacks from imperialism, and their homeland is the United

01:39States. So, I am very curious what Ms. Gabriela Silva, from the Party of Socialism and Liberation,

01:47in the United States, is going to tell us about the role of the United States

01:53in this media attack. How do you perceive this attack from the American position?

01:59Thank you so much for having me on and for the questions. Well, in the United States, the

02:06mainstream media, the corporate media, really acts as a mouthpiece for U.S. imperialists, and they

02:13take part in the U.S.'s long campaign to try and delegitimize the Venezuelan revolutionary process

02:22and the sovereignty and will of the Venezuelan people. We also recognize that these attacks

02:29in the media that spread misinformation about what's really happening on the ground here in

02:35Venezuela are also part of the sanctions that the U.S. continues to impose on Venezuela,

02:43as well as other violent attempts to try and destabilize and overthrow the Venezuelan

02:47government. And so, the media plays a critical role in trying to confuse the people in the United

02:54States to have them stand against their own interests and against their sisters and brothers

03:00here in Venezuela. That's exactly a point I would like to ask you about. We have been talking a lot

03:06about media attacks against Venezuela, as well as other countries in the Global South. How do you,

03:12in the United States, suffer under this media domination by corporations as an American citizen?

03:20Yes, well, I'm here as part of a delegation of young activists and leaders from the United States

03:26that represent different social movements, and we all, you know, as part of the work that we do

03:34on the ground in the U.S., the battle of ideas is a huge part of that, because we are also

03:42demonized and repressed within our own country for supporting and fighting for just causes

03:50in the U.S. and around the world. So, be it for our international solidarity with Venezuela,

03:56with Cuba, with Palestine, or be it, you know, because we're fighting for socialism in our own

04:03country, we see the way that the media turns against us, again, to try and manufacture consent

04:12and confuse people to thinking that, you know, we are part of the problem and we are their

04:19enemy in some way, rather than the billionaire class that is really the one exploiting them

04:25and people around the world.

04:28I would like to ask her how the workshops have been working yesterday on Sunday.

04:34How did you perceive the work of these workshops? How did you perceive the atmosphere there?

04:39I mean, it's fantastic to be a part of this exchange with so many people from around the

04:47world here. You know, we spoke yesterday in our workshop around communication and popular

04:55democracy, of creating people's medias, of expanding the work that our organizations are

05:00already doing to amplify our message, to amplify the truth in the face of constant misinformation

05:07that is, you know, part of the media arm and the attacks of the U.S. government within

05:15this sphere of the battle of ideas, right? And so, there's work that we do in our communities,

05:21talking to our neighbors, but then there's also work that we do on these platforms like social

05:26media that we know is under corporate control. And so, we talked about all the ways that we

05:30could work together to really strengthen our communications work, our media work,

05:35to continue to show what is happening here, what's happening in our movements,

05:41because the corporate media will never show, you know, that millions of people came out to

05:46the streets in support of elected president Nicolas Maduro on January 10th. They'll never

05:51show the reality that, you know, tens of thousands of people are out in the streets in the U.S.

05:56demanding for an end to sanctions against Venezuela and Cuba, demanding for an end to the

06:01genocide in Palestine. This is the reality that we live in. In the U.S. right now, we have a

06:07government that continues to send aid to Israel, despite that over 60 percent of the population

06:14has been calling for an end to USA to Israel and end to the genocide for months. And so,

06:19these are the stories we have to tell and have to show, because we can't count on them

06:24to really express the political will of the people on the ground. And so, I came here to

06:29this conference and I saw the seriousness and the sacrifice of everyone to continue this

06:36major task we have ahead of us of really, and this is something that Chavez understood

06:41very well and developed in a very sophisticated way here in Venezuela. So, there's a lot that we

06:46can learn from history. There's a lot that we can learn from the work that we're doing

06:50today. And I'm just so honored to be able to take back everything that I learned, both here in the

06:55conference for communications, as well as in the festival for international anti-fascism.

07:02I feel very fortified and it's very rejuvenating to know that people here in Venezuela are paying

07:08attention to the political work that we're doing on the ground there, and that the young

07:11people in the U.S., you know, people of conscience in the U.S. are very curious. All of the content

07:17that I've posted on social media since I've been here, I mean, I have so many friends messaging me,

07:24asking questions, liking it, it's because it completely contrasts what they see in the news

07:30every day. And so, they're hungry. They're hungry to know the truth. They're hungry to hear the

07:34stories of the people on the ground here in Venezuela, and I'm just happy to play a little

07:38part in that. Thank you. Thank you very much. As you see, marvelous. Thank you very much for this

07:45great statement. Great joy facing this great effort, major effort, which has been led

07:54here by Venezuela, but which is also part of other countries' struggle, even in the United States,

08:00as our guest told us. That's why there are representatives of almost 100 countries taking

08:08part in this Congress, who will today discuss more steps of action and maybe possibly a final

08:17declaration indicating more concrete steps ahead. This is for the time being. The Congress is about

08:24to start. Now, already you hear in the background the speeches, so this is for the time being. All

08:30we have to tell from Caracas, Venezuela. Thank you, Juniors, for the updated information,

08:37and thank you to your guest for her statements. We'll stay in touch for

08:41upcoming news brief on everything that is happening at this Fireman's Congress.

Category

Transcript

Recommended