4th International Patria Colloquium in Cuba: Importance of teleSUR

The president of the multi-platform news platform teleSUR, Patricia Villegas, outlined the keys to communication for the coming era during the inauguration of the 4th International Patria Colloquium.

In her speech, the president of the multi-media outlet, journalist Patricia Villegas, highlighted the work of each and every person involved in this multiplatform: "I am here on behalf of a collective.  It's not just me, it's a collective, a group of extraordinary, wonderful people who work at teleSUR, who for all this time, 20 years or a day, however long I've been involved in this Latin American and Caribbean communications endeavor, have dedicated their lives and convictions to bringing this project forward.  So I speak on behalf of everyone, I speak on behalf of the collective.  It's not just me, we are teleSUR, and each and every one of you is also part of this great communications venture."

Villegas also emphasized the central role that television still maintains in some regions, despite the expansion of other information distribution channels, recalling that teleSUR was founded in 2005 as a traditional television station, promoted by Commanders Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro, with the goal of building a medium that generates true unity.

The president of this media outlet also noted that teleSUR is a project born from the need to have a media outlet “with global distribution capacity from our region but that would be seen all over the world,” thus becoming the instrument for disseminating the realities of the peoples of the Global South. The first occasion was the coup d'état against Commander Chávez, which was not only a military and economic coup, but also the first media coup.

Villegas also emphasized that although the coup against President Hugo Chávez was the first political event that marked the birth of teleSUR, many more stories followed, such as the 2009 coup against the then-President of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, in which TeleSUR also served as a global distribution outlet. This is "the great differentiator between this multiplatform and any other counter-hegemonic alternative communications experience we have undertaken over the years."

For his part, Brazilian journalist Carlos Alberto Almeida, also known simply as "Beto," who is also a co-founder of TeleSUR, highlighted the role this multimedia outlet has played throughout its 20 years of broadcasting in disseminating liberating information: "Here we are, in 20 years to unite destinies, transform lives with information that is liberating, emancipatory, and here we are, with such great joy, 20 years (…) We are here in Cuba, where all the revolutionary and necessary ideas for humanity flourish."

The 4th edition of the Patria International Colloquium began this Monday, March 17th, and ends on Wednesday, March 19th, in Havana, Cuba.  This forum, held in 2022, in the context of Cuban Press Day, pays tribute to the newspaper founded by National Hero José Martí in 1892 to spread libertarian ideas and unite Cubans around the need for independence from the Spanish metropolis.