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