Raúl, Díaz-Canel, and Maduro honored as 'Telesur Citizens' for their commitment to communication media

By Isabel Díaz González, Photos by Vladimir Molina, translated from the Spanish

The leader of the Cuban Revolution, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro Moros, were granted the status of "Telesur Citizen" this Wednesday, as fundamental pillars in the fight for free and sovereign communication media.

This was announced during the closing ceremony of the IV Patria International Colloquium in Havana, which over three days celebrated the 20th anniversary of a project born aiming to break the media siege and give a voice to the peoples of the Global South.

At the University of Havana's Ignacio Agramonte Plaza, which Roberto Morales Ojeda, a member of the Political Bureau of the Party's Central Committee and Secretary of Organization, also attended, TeleSUR president Patricia Villegas emphasized that it is a privilege to recognize three leaders who have promoted the integration of our peoples through resistance and dignity.

These are examples of the urgency today of "coordinating emancipatory communication projects, experiences, and strategies against the dominant models imposed by those who use the Internet as a space to foster hatred, division, and confrontation among peoples," said Rosa Miriam Elizalde, general coordinator of the Patria International Colloquium.

Reading the Final Declaration of the important event, she said the participants recognize that technology, "which has historically served domination and exploitation," also possesses profoundly emancipatory potential when reorganized under principles of social justice and popular sovereignty.

"Today, as we close the fourth edition of this International Colloquium," he stated, "we are committed to building a permanent working network, promoting a Southern Network, aware that ideas only come to life when accompanied by collective and permanent organization."

On behalf of the more than 400 participants from 50 countries, Alina Duarte, vice president of the MORENA Political Training Institute in Mexico, expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to share experiences at an event that brought together intellectuals and academics in the fields of communication.

"Solidarity, rebellion, and the Cuban Revolution allowed us to rebuild our homeland once again," she emphasized, while stressing that it is an effort by everyone to break down these barriers they want to impose on us, "and where we are increasingly more numerous, in this place, where these efforts are multiplying, and with them, Chávez's and Fidel's dream of a great homeland is multiplying."

The gala was enhanced artistically by the talent of the "Entrevoces" choir, directed by Digna Guerra; performances by Yassel Muñoz and his group; the Havana Lyceum Symphony Orchestra; the Johannes García Popular and Folkloric Dance Company; and the Caturla Quartet, along with the Contemporary Dance Group of the University of the Arts (ISA).

This work was translated and shared via a License CC-BY-NC