Authorities from the Ministry of People’s Power for Communication and Information of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Sputnik News Agency from Russia signed a memorandum of understanding that will allow the exchange of communication projects between the media of both nations. The agreement, signed in Caracas, was headed by the vice president for Communication, Culture and Tourism of Venezuela, Freddy Ñáñez, and the director of the Sputnik agency, Olga Lisogor.
“They are part of a school that has been fighting fascism and Nazism for at least 100 years, defending the truth of the people and giving a completely unique and necessary point of view in a world where the media are on the shoulders of three or four oligopolies on a planetary level,” said the Venezuelan minister for communication and information.
“There needs to be a diversification of views, a true freedom of expression in the sense that different voices can speak,” added Ñáñez, who also highlighted the future prospects of this agreement, which allows for the promotion of content in defense of the truth and the training of communicators in new technological areas.
“It is a very operational agreement, because it also contemplates the exchange of experiences. Today we are receiving a workshop on the ABC of artificial intelligence in journalism from Sputnik. This opens a very interesting window from a professional point of view and that is what we want, for there to be this exchange of experience and also the participation of Sputnik as a strong media outlet here in Venezuela and, later, to have VTV radio in Moscow and to have any Venezuelan television station to enter other audiences, such as the Russian one.”
For her part, the director of Sputnik detailed the scope of the agreement, which she considered an important step for both countries: “Thank you all very much, I think that the signing of this agreement is very important for our international news agency and for the relations between our countries. This agreement allows us to start in Venezuela, very soon, to open an office and to begin to broadcast our programs on Venezuelan radio”, said Lisogor.
The Russian ambassador to Venezuela, Sergei Melik-Bagdasarov, and the head of the Latin American department of the Agency, Daria Yuryeva, were also present at the signing of the document.
It should be remembered that in mid-October, Minister Ñáñez also signed a memorandum of cooperation between the state television station, Venezolana de Television (VTV), Telesur and the Russian international communication platform TV BRICS. These alliances made by the national government are an expression of cultural plurality and freedom of expression so that the content can reach without filters, without mediation and without bias.
