This Wednesday was held the closing ceremony of the 1st International Communication Congress, which was installed last Monday at the Alba Caracas Hotel; with the presence of the president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro.
Following, the full text:
“The delegates gathered in the city of Caracas, capital of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in the framework of the “International Communication Congress”, after the deliberations we have reached the following conclusions:
The peoples of the world are subject to a maelstrom of tensions, conflicts and wars instigated by the capitalist system in its neoliberal phase. The Western powers, allied to the elites of each country, try to impose capitalism in blood and fire through formulas dictated by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to the detriment of the sovereignty of the peoples.
In keeping with these plans, the cultural industry of capitalism shapes subjectivity by controlling the production and dissemination of content to impose the civilizational project of capital. It is a modern-colonial logic that pursues social control, inscribes unique thinking on a planetary scale and underpins cultural homogenization in order to impose the north-south unequal exchange model, favorable to the socio-metabolic system of the capital.
The subjectivity of the peoples is in dispute. Indeed, the communication, conceived from the great capitalist consortiums, has become a powerful tool that makes invisible the diversity of thought, which outlaws dissent, quiets the peoples and aspires to monopolize public opinion by reducing it exclusively to the ideas held by dominant elites. This project of global domination that tries to conquer minds and hearts, is part of the tradition of Eurocentric coloniality that today has its main guardian in US imperialism.
The White House intends to preserve its world hegemony by blocking the liberation of peoples and the emergence of new powers that reconfigure a multi-polar and multi-center world. Our Americas have become an important scenario of great geo-political conflict where the future of the peoples of the continent is played as an important battle in which US imperialism intends to strengthen its hegemony before other powers. This is because Latin America and the Caribbean are an important reservoir of natural wealth, but mainly that in this part of the world a different, more human and sustainable worldview of understanding life flourishes, which is concretized in countries that experience important change processes in the hands of progressive governments.
In the current regional situation, the mass media have played an important role in the discrediting of progressive governments, the discrediting of social movements, the erosion of popular support for change processes through disinformative campaigns that manipulate the facts and impose the post- truth as a constant to modify the understanding of the world and therefore the political behavior of the population. They have even been used on a recurring basis in psychological operations aimed at altering the correlation of social forces and class consciousness based on the interests of American imperialism.
Popular insurrections against neoliberalism in Haiti, Ecuador, Chile, Panama and Colombia, coupled with the electoral triumphs of political alternatives in Argentina and Bolivia, have formed a new regional scenario aimed at stopping the US offensive on the continent. However, the coup d’etat in Bolivia is a brutal attempt to curb this advance, aimed at recolonizing the region and, therefore, it represents an important precedent since in this country is at stakes the future of the democratic struggles of the continent.
The communication veil imposed by private consortia, as in the current situation in the Plurinational State of Bolivia, disguises the interference by the US, legitimizes the repeated violation of public international law by the great powers, conceals the use of paramilitarism in the region, promotes coups d’etat against sovereign governments, “justifies” the use of military and police force, criminalizes the demands of the people and censures those who think differently. However, Bolivia is no exception in the deliberate use of the media and social networks to overthrow governments committed to their national interests. The aggressions against Venezuela are the best example that demonstrates the articulation of the great Western media chains with the military objectives of the United States, the use of paramilitarism, the diplomatic siege and the economic-commercial blockade programmed to reduce popular support and take away the right to independence and development.
The Bolivarian Revolution is an emblem of anti-imperialist dignity that has resisted the incessant attacks perpetrated by the White House and most governments belonging to the Lima Group. This imperialist offensive is the response to a political-social model marked by social inclusion and participatory democracy as a permanent exercise that overflows the framework of liberal democracy. The real political participation of the people is concretized, among other spaces, in the organizations of popular power protected by a new legal framework that promotes the flourishing of community and alternative media that break the private monopoly of communication in the country. In Venezuela the people speak with a voice and media of their own, facing the most powerful consortiums in the world.
With the unwavering civic-military unit combined with the broadest freedoms, which have promoted alternative communication and the strengthening of the People’s Power, in Venezuela the dream of Commander Hugo Chávez has continued, the project is maintained towards socialism and defends the popular will expressed in the election of the Constitutional President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro Moros.
The revitalization of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR), the proliferation of US military bases in Our Americas and the accession of Colombia to NATO, are some evidences of the systematic aggression policy that is implemented against the peoples of the region, offensive which is permanently reinforced with the use of media and digital networks that foster public opinion in favor of military actions.
In this context, the “International Communication Congress” states:
We accompany the general clamor of the Bolivian people that demands respect for their self-determination, the recognition of their pluri-national character and their rich cultural heritage that already constitutes an alternative to the irrational Western civilizational model. Consequently, we condemn the coup d’etat in Bolivia perpetrated under the direction of the White House and with the consent of the OAS.
We denounce the economic-financial blockade against Cuba and Venezuela that violates fundamental human rights by preventing the population’s access to food, medicine and other essential goods for life. The blockade is a genocidal state policy of imperialism oriented to subdue peoples.
We salute the Victory of the Sandinista National Liberation Front and the people of Nicaragua in the face of the attempt of an orchestrated coup d’etat, promoted and financed by US imperialism and the Homeland-betrayers, which the General of Free Men and Women Augusto C. Sandino called «the Rompers».
We acknowledge and support the firm decision of the FSLN, the Government and the Revolutionary People of Nicaragua to continue advancing in the paths of Independence, Sovereignty, Unity, Reconciliation, Work, Peace and Welfare.
We endorse the just demands of the people of Chile that stands against neoliberalism, despite the massive violation of human rights, the communicational veil and the criminal silence of High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet; they can shoot in the eyes of youth, but will never blind their future.
We demand the immediate and unconditional release of journalist Julian Assange, who is being held in the United Kingdom for exercising freedom of expression. We condemn the prosecution against this journalist for complying with the duty to truthfully inform the public opinion.
We question the use of State Terrorism in Colombia and Ecuador that curtails the freedoms of communicators by intimidating, assaulting and in some cases even killing those who fulfill the duty of exercising journalism with an ethical sense. We support the National Strike that takes place in Colombia as part of the legitimate struggles of its people.
We express our admiration and solidarity with the resistance and courage of Syria facing the aggression of the Western imperialist powers and Israeli Zionism in the framework of a partial coverage of the news companies.
We reject censorship aimed at making people’s struggles invisible by the media oligopoly at the service of neoliberal globalization. The best example can be seen in the informative silence to which the current heroic struggle of the Haitian people is subjected.
We raise our voice against governments that censor alternative, popular and community media. This is a blatant attack against the free expression of peoples.
We condemn the spurious use of large communication companies and social networks at the service of factual powers as an instrument to execute psychological operations against the peoples of the world within the framework of the Doctrine of Non-Conventional War.
We demand an ethical exercise in journalism from all media and communicators. We call for a commitment to the truth regardless of your political opinion, religious creed, editorial line, economic status and / or social position.
We denounce the misappropriation of our personal information with the use of “big data” based on communication campaigns that aim to modify the behavior and subjectivity of peoples. We advocate the respect of the privacy of the users of the online platforms. We alert on the use of social networks to persecute those who disagree with neoliberal politics.
We ratify the agreement of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) to declare Latin America and the Caribbean as a territory of peace and, consequently, we demand the government of the United States to immediately cease its interference in the internal affairs of the countries of the region.
The “International Communication Congress” approves the following struggle plan:
-To celebrate each year the “International Communication Congress” with rotating venues at the request of each country. To hold in Nicaragua during the month of February 2020 the second meeting of the International Communication Congress.
– To designate a Congress Commission to create a basic regulation and an operating structure based on the proposals of the participating parties and movements. This proposal will be discussed at the next International Communication Congress.
– To articulate a Network of International Communication Networks constituted by all the delegates as well as by all the political parties, social movements and organizations of the People’s Power present in this Congress. This International Communication Network will be linked to the different communication platforms created within the framework of the Sao Paulo Forum (FSP) and similar networks conceived in the International Congresses and Meetings derived from the 25th FSP Meeting, held in Caracas.
– To create an international cross-platform for the Exchange and creation of Content, attached to the International Communication Congress for the interaction, generation and dissemination of alternative content.
– To create the International University of Communication conceived as a community of knowledge through a platform for training, research, production of knowledge and content, to contribute to the process of liberation of peoples, the search for equality, good Living and social justice.
-To develop a census of communicators, media and communication networks of the different political parties, organizations of the People’s Power and social movements of the Congresses and International Meetings developed in Venezuela during 2019.
– To build, with the struggle agendas approved in the Congresses and International Meetings developed in Venezuela during 2019, communication campaigns from the Network of Networks approved in this Congress.
– To adopt April 12 as the international day of popular communication.
– To create the Latin American and Caribbean award to recognize alternative and emancipatory communication by the International Communication Congress.
Finally, the “International Communication Congress” assumes the Struggle Agenda adopted in the “First International Meeting of Workers in Solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution”, endorsed by the “1st International Women’s Congress”, the “International Congress of Communes, Social Movements and People’s Power”, the “First International Meeting of Indigenous Peoples” and the “International Congress of People of African Descent”, held in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela during 2019, an agenda that includes the following:
1. To coordinate, in the capitals of the world, a journey for next December 9, 2019, the day of commemoration of the Battle of Ayacucho, in order to condemn the interference policies of US imperialism in Our Americas: NO MORE TRUMP!
2. To conduct an international mobilization day in support of the Bolivarian Revolution and against neoliberalism on February 27, 2020, in commemoration of the 31st anniversary of the first insurrection in Caracas against neoliberalism.
3. To convene, for April 2020, a worldwide mobilization for peace in Venezuela, in Our Americas and against the warmongering plans of the United States government.
4. To develop an international journey of repudiation of the Monroe Doctrine against the blockade and other unilateral coercive measures by June 28, 2020.
Approved in the City of Caracas, Cradle of the Liberator Simón Bolívar and Capital of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on the 4th day of December 2019.
AHORA:
