CubaSí: Our 20th and 21st anniversaries and Joaquín Suárez’s well-deserved acknowledgement

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CubaSí: Our 20th and 21st anniversaries and Joaquín Suárez’s well-deserved acknowledgement
Fecha de publicación: 
24 August 2022
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In 2021, we celebrated CubaSí’s 20th anniversary amid the epidemiological health emergency caused by COVID-19. So we did what we do best: work and support this island in this huge battle for survival, defending the truth of Cuba, a goal that actually defines us, as expressed by Tania Velazquez, President of ETECSA (Cuban Telecommunication Company), to which we proudly belong to and where the initiative to celebrate two anniversaries at once came up.

 

Some may think that 21st is not closed number anniversary, but in anyone’s life, the 21st stands for the beginning of the adulthood. Hence, it is still a nice reason for remembrance, new projects and continued commitments. Manuel Henríquez Lagarde addressed it in the editorial he wrote for this formal occasion:

 

“People work in Cuba every day. The people live under pressure, facing adversity and obstacles with dignity and creativity. The nation boasts important moral reserves. And we should also be proud of our extraordinary cultural heritage: the strength and continuity of a tradition.

 

That is CubaSí’s commitment: show such a wealth without a shadow of chauvinism, triumphalism and with a critical eye and without extremism.”

 

The founding director of CubaSí, Rosa Miriam Elizalde, highlighted the main contributions of the news portal in the development of online press in Cuba, which range from the study of audiences to set agendas and content or interdisciplinary work, to "the most important thing that has kept CubaSi alive until today, which is integration with the main political dilemmas of contemporary Cuba. That is, if you try to find out what is going on, what our conflicts, discussions, fights on the internet have been, reading CubaSí is a must.”

 

Joaquín Suárez honored with Féliz Elmusa Medal Award

 

On a proposal by CubaSí’s base delegation, the Union of Journalists of Cuba (UPEC) presented the Félix Elmusa Medal Award to the official of the Ideological Department of the PCC, Joaquín Suárez González.

 

This way, it sounds absolutely formal, but when he takes the floor, filled with emotions and humbleness, he tells you in detail about each of the battles fought or won by CubaSí while mentioning his professional and private stories with our staff and then, we realize how much he knows us and he identifies with our needs and potentialities as much as any of us. Or when he said that his sole merit has been promoting consensus…It is absolutely clear that Joaquín is part of our team. Nothing is the same without him.

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The other reasons for granting such an award instituted to recognize those who have a relevant record in the service of Cuban journalism, are fully explained in the minutes signed by Ricardo Ronquillo Bello, President of UPEC:

 

"Since his beginnings as a specialist and later an official of the Communist Party of Cuba, Joaquín Suárez González has always been linked to the work of the media, with a constant interest in his professional growing, which led him to take several courses related to the operation and attention to the press.

 

"He was the founder of several of the first media in Cuban online press and a permanent scholar, which allowed him to bring the knowledge gained over time and propose methodologies for the positioning of Cuban media on the Internet.

 

"His direct involvement in the campaign to make others know the truth about the coup d'état in Venezuela in 2002 was paramount, after which the term "information cannon" was coined, Fidel's idea, which led him to conceptualize and then use for the beginning of the media coordination facing the subversive war against Cuba.

 

"From his handwriting, perseverance and dedication blossomed the first content dissemination and Internet access policies approved by the country's leadership, after which he played a leading role in the political and technological assurance of the computerization process of the press sector.

 

"He was the promoter of the Cibermambí Courses carried out by UPEC nationwide for the training, in social networks, of professionals in the sector, Communication directorates and directors of organizations, ministries and main cadres of the country, including members of the Central Committee of the Party, and in this regard, he coordinated the work in social networks to face the media war against Cuba."

 

The well-deserved award to Joaquín was the icing on the cake in an activity where sharing and recharging our batteries to continue “fighting” for Cuba were the common ground.

 

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff

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