By Graciela Ramírez on November 11, 2023
From the moment I was informed that I would be invited to the congress of the Union of Cuban Journalists (UPEC) I felt honored and grateful because It has fallen to us to live through a very complex stage of the world, the region and of this island that we love so much.
Due to the difficult conditions in the country, it had to be held in a day and a half, where not a second was wasted and time seemed to fly.
The first day was for me like a significant reunion with journalists that I admire, have known for almost three decades and have great affection for. And the first thing in the congress was to observe a minute of silence for the colleagues murdered by Israeli Zionism in Palestine, who sadly numbered 46 that morning and there are many more now.
Graciela Ramirez, photo: Bill Hackwell
The Draft Bylaws and the Code of Ethics were approved by the 275 journalist in attendance, the central report for 2018-2023 was reviewed, and a book honoring the memory of Cuban journalism, a compilation by Flor de Paz, was presented and the work of the commissions in other rooms began.
An excellent presentation was given by two great journalists: Rosa Miriam Elizalde and Randy Alonso setting the tone on the necessary transformations in the Cuban press.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel was present throughout the second day. Always attentive, taking notes, and then making an intervention that the colleagues of the press were waiting for.
With the honesty, lucidity and firmness that characterize him, Diaz-Canel recalled how Fidel as the great communicator he was, multiplied in the Cuban people, always indispensable, a source of inspiration to continue fighting and facing so many challenges. Diaz-Canel encouraged everyone present to deepen, investigate, apply the knowledge of culture and science to educate also from the revolutionary journalism. The hall burst into applause several times during his speech, in which he said: “All the important battles have been won with you the Cuban media at the forefront”.
I take this opportunity to send to all Cuban journalists my greetings to the congress and to tell them how important your work is for those of us who, as in my case, are part of the international counter-hegemonic press.
We have had to live through a very complex period in the world, in the region and on this island that we love so much. You are our unavoidable ethical and political reference. Cortázar used to tell us that communication and the word constitute the highest link of the human species, what differentiates us from other animals and plants.
When everything seems dark and gloomy, when we face great political and social problems in our countries, it is you, the Cuban press, who give us the light and strength from the daily example of your resistance, to get up and continue the fight.
I have seen them in these difficult years suffer alongside the people in the midst of the devastation of tornadoes and great storms; search for medicines for sick colleagues, or say goodbye to them without being able to honor them as they deserved in the midst of the pandemic. Living and reflecting tragedies such as the Saratoga Hotel explosion and the fire at the supertanker base in Matanzas; defending in the streets and from the pages, radios and television spaces of their media against the perverse and opportunistic attack of the counterrevolution, when the country was suffering the highest peak of covid and the perversity of the U.S. blockade denied them everything from aspirin to pulmonary respirators.
And to grow proudly celebrating being part of the only country on earth that in spite of being poor, blockaded and besieged by the most abominable power in history, made not one but five vaccines of its own with which it saved the lives of its people and helped save so many lives in other parts of the world.
We were on the first day of the Congress when at the end of the morning we jumped for joy at the 187 against two. The usual two, the serial killers, the United States and its partner Israel, knocked out by this people, by its revolutionary government, by the world and by the work of permanent denunciation of the Cuban press against the genocidal blockade.
I share with you the concerns that you are going through personally and from the editorial offices of your media, the salary and the fuel that is not enough, the urgent need to look for alternatives to help self-financing and growth, to overcome the shortages you face for journalistic development.
The pain caused by the departure of their children in search of better economic horizons and the migration of professionals to higher income sectors.
But I want to tell you that all this will be overcome, this stage is already being overcome, because every day that we are on our feet, working, informing, writing, is a day of victory in the face of the not so silent war that is being waged against you.
You have a homeland, you have a revolutionary government that does not bow down in the face of the worst adversities, and you have human capital of high cultural and political development.
The example of heroic Palestine challenges us now to revalue even the glass of water that we drink with total normality and that is denied to two and a half million Palestinians, 60% of whom are children.
I want to extend to you the embrace and greetings to the congress from our colleagues Wafica Mehdi from Lebanon, our sister, director of Al Mayadeen from the heroic resistance of Lebanon and Palestine, that of Carlos Aznárez director of Resumen Latinoamericano in Argentina, that of Bill Hackwell editor of Resumen in the United States, that of Patricia Villegas president of TeleSur, that of José Manzaneda of Cubainformación, that of the colleagues of Saná from Syria, and that of all of us who believe in the ethics of truth and socialism in journalism.
They can always count on us, on our media and our voices that will never be silenced by blockades or bombs.
To the comrades of the UPEC presidency who will occupy other important tasks within journalism and communication, our embrace and recognition.
To those who are joining the challenge of renewing Cuban revolutionary journalism and leading the highest body that represents them, all the success in the task they assume. Count on our voices, our pages, our love and commitment to always travel with us.
Source: Cubadebate translation, Resumen Latinoamericano – English