Cuba, IV International Patria Colloquium to close with final declaration

teleSUR English

*Final day continues with workshops and exchange of experiences *The event goes deep on the need for greater articulation of counter-hegemonic media

Transcript

00:00And as the International Colloquium Patria comes to an end, we go live with the correspondent in Havana, Cuba, Belén de los Santos.

00:07Hi Belén, what is happening in these final hours of debates?

00:14Hello Ale, it's a pleasure to be with you once again in this third day of the Patria Colloquium here in the University of Havana.

00:22And we continue to speak to all the international guests who have really come from all over the world.

00:28And we really mean that when we say from all over the world.

00:30We are now joined by Destiny Sanchez.

00:33She comes from Great Britain.

00:35Actually, she's now in Havana for some months.

00:38And she is a member of the Revolutionary Communist Group.

00:42And we would like to continue speaking about the experiences that all of the guests are having at this colloquium

00:49that is set to discuss the challenges of journalism, digital communication from a Global South perspective.

00:56So Destiny, thank you so much for joining us in Tell Us Your English.

01:00And I would like to ask you, from your perspective, why is it important to be here, to participate in these dialogues,

01:06to have these discussions about what are the challenges that we are facing at this real context in terms of digital communication?

01:14First of all, thank you so much for having me.

01:16For me, it's really important to be able to have a forum to discuss with comrades from across the world

01:22the challenges that we're facing on the left in challenging this imperialist media narrative

01:28that continues to vilify the left, vilify anti-imperialism,

01:32and build a broad anti-imperialist movement that will challenge the far right that we're seeing growing.

01:38Especially now, when here in Cuba, we've seen the blockade.

01:42In Venezuela, the US and other imperialist countries continue to sanction, sanction, sanction.

01:48When we look at anti-imperialist movements in the AES states, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso,

01:56we're seeing a massive lack of information, disinformation.

02:00And it's so important that we can unite here to really work on this fight back, the resistance,

02:05and to use social media and media communications in general as a crucial tool

02:10to really challenge the imperialist narratives that have prevailed for years and years.

02:16Of course, and one of the key topics of discussion has to do with

02:21how can we counter those imperialist narratives around the world?

02:26And networking and the possibility of building these connections is one of the key aspects of this colloquium.

02:33So, we're talking about the Global South, but I wanted to ask you,

02:37what do you think is the role of the media outlets and also the solidarity movements in imperialist countries,

02:43like those in Great Britain, like the US?

02:47What do you think those roles are in this mission of networking,

02:52of being able to counter those narratives and really speaking about the struggles of our peoples?

02:58It's so inspiring to meet comrades from across the world who are fighting different struggles

03:03and doing different things as part of the global fight back of anti-imperialist struggles,

03:09anti-colonial struggles, movements against capitalism.

03:13And for me, in Britain, we see what the media is like, we know what the media is like.

03:17Under capitalism in Britain, you can't have a progressive media.

03:21You can't have media that's going to challenge these narratives

03:24and actually put the needs of humanity before profit.

03:28So, for us, it's really important as solidarity activists.

03:31I'm in an organization called the Revolutionary Communist Group.

03:34Our newspaper, Fight Racism, Fight Imperialism,

03:37has historic solidarity with anti-imperialist movements across the world.

03:41And for us, it's so important to be active on the streets,

03:44speaking to people, finding out how to actually build this movement in the belly of the beast.

03:50We know what Britain represents, we know what imperialism represents.

03:53The Guardian, which we've done several actions against,

03:56they continue to peddle themselves as this leftist newspaper.

04:01But in reality, they don't support Cuba, they don't support Venezuela,

04:04and they continue to attack Palestine in their resistance struggle.

04:08So, for us, it's really, really important that we take our roles as activists,

04:13going out into the streets, organizing protests,

04:16really trying to build this unity to fight back and resist,

04:19like we're seeing our comrades do in these anti-imperialist struggles in the global south.

04:25And truly, the massive demonstrations that have been held all over the globe

04:30including countries in the north, have been very important and very significant

04:35to understand, for example, the resistance movement and the solidarity movement

04:39for denouncing the genocide in Gaza.

04:43And also, Great Britain has played an important role,

04:46and your activism there has played a very important role as well.

04:49So, I wanted to ask you, in terms of these demonstrations,

04:53how do you see this year to come?

04:56The global context is very complex, with ongoing attacks in Gaza,

05:01despite the ceasefire.

05:03How do you see the possibility of more activism in your country,

05:08for example, in this year, 2025?

05:11So, at the moment, we're seeing massive state repression.

05:14At the moment, in Britain, we have a defense campaign for a comrade

05:18who's been charged under the Terrorism Act.

05:21She's a student at the University of London, SOAS.

05:24So, we've got this massive defense campaign.

05:26We're seeing support for Palestine being attacked by the state,

05:30attacked by governments across the world.

05:32We're seeing it in the US. We're seeing it in Britain.

05:35And this is fundamentally an attempt to not just vilify,

05:39but to kind of try and stop solidarity with Palestine.

05:43And it's really important that we're not scared by these threats by the state,

05:47and we continue to resist and fight back,

05:49taking inspiration from the people in Gaza,

05:52the people in the West Bank that are continuing to fight,

05:55and the fight of the people in Gaza,

05:57the fight of the people in Cuba against the sanctions,

06:00in Venezuela, in the Sahel states.

06:03These are anti-imperialist struggles, fighting back against the horrors,

06:07the warmongering nature of imperialism

06:10that refuses to put the needs of humanity and the planet before profit.

06:14So, for us in Britain, it's so important.

06:17It's our moral duty.

06:19But more importantly, as anti-imperialists, as progressives,

06:22as communists, socialists, we have to be on the streets to fight back,

06:26because that's the only place that we're going to be heard.

06:28We know that we can't appeal to the social democratic governments.

06:31We know that there's a massive opportunist trend in the imperialist world.

06:35So it's really important that, as activists,

06:38we take our role seriously and continue to resist

06:41to support our comrades from across the world

06:44in these international struggles against capitalism and imperialism.

06:48And, of course, taking note of this international effort

06:52and how, really, the peoples around the world

06:55are carrying along the struggles in very similar ways,

06:59despite being very different regions, very different countries,

07:02is some of what this colloquium is also all about.

07:05Thank you so much, Destiny, for joining us here in Telus for English.

07:08It's been a pleasure.

07:10And, Ale, this is something of what is being discussed here.

07:14We will continue bringing you different testimonies

07:17from across the world here, from the university in Havana.

07:20And I go back to you now. We'll stay in touch.

07:25Thank you, Val.

07:27And also thank you, Destiny Sanchez, for all the information.

07:30And we will go back to you.

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