"Sisters and brothers of this family, we count on you to continue consolidating this Homeland that belongs to all of us". Such words were the closing words of the reflection that, on Wednesday afternoon, the President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, shared with a representation of the 400 communicators who took part in the 4th International Colloquium Patria.
The meeting was a prelude to the closing ceremony that took place later in the evening at the University of Havana, the institution that has been the venue for this important event. "I believe that we already form a family with Patria, (part) of an anti-hegemonic platform; it is a true family; we are united by many feelings," the dignitary said from the Amphitheater of the Law School, a historic space where Fidel Castro Ruz also sat, attentive to multiple subjects, in his student days, and where an exchange marked by intelligence, commitment and emotions took place on Wednesday.
"Many of you have already become close friends, brothers", said the Head of State to his interlocutors, to whom he stressed "the way in which Patria is growing as a site of reflection, of critical analysis, of protest; because in Patria we are making many denunciations; in Patria we have denounced the genocide against Palestine, in Patria we are defending the most just causes".
At the beginning of the exchange, Rosa Miriam Elizalde, doctor in Communication Sciences and Cuban journalist, thanked the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party "for being with us for a great part of the day"; and highlighted how the number of people attending the Colloquium has been increasing: "We started with 18, and the count has grown", she said, who announced that the fifth edition will be dedicated to the centenary of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz.
The most important thing now is to preserve the memory of the event, so that each of the platforms can be socialized, said the president. Then, Rosa Miriam affirmed that "there are not many spaces in the world that make this confluence" of knowledge in terms of counter-hegemonic communication.
Patria has been a miracle, but this year even more so, said the president of Telesur, Patricia Villegas, who thanked for the possibility of the event and for the "teachings it leaves us all". Regarding the reality of the island, the expert communicator said that "we all know the strength of Cuba", that they are always telling about it, but that it is quite another thing to live that strength, to go to the neighborhood, to go to the people and walk among such a powerful experience.
The participants asked the Cuban President several questions related to the gigantic challenge of confronting the hegemonic communication matrices, on how to give the new generations the tools to extend in time a battle that must be fought with the already existing technology. Cuba, which arouses admiration and amazement, inspired more than one idea: Beto Almeida, from Brazil, said that the island is a permanent platform of Revolution, "a platform of what we need to change the world". And Alina Duarte, from Mexico, said that the meeting in Havana was beautiful and inspiring, held in a country that has much to teach from praxis.
Someone asked Díaz-Canel how to go beyond the Colloquium and move forward in action. Among other ideas, the president referred to unity as the first premise, and emphasized that it is based on participation and solidarity: "We have many spaces, the spaces that many of you lead", he said, and then highlighted the value of articulating all the forces. In this way, he said, "there is no one who can beat us in the communicational fight".
Moving were the words of Wafica Medhi Ibrahim, director of the pan-Arab multiplatform Al Mayadeen en Español, who thanked, on behalf of "all our peoples", who do not find spaces where to tell the pain of war, who, feeling that they have no father in whom to find comfort, feel in Cuba that shelter, and in Fidel and his legacy, that father.
Víctor Hugo Morales, prestigious Uruguayan journalist and broadcaster, spoke from the point of view of emotion and wisdom. For him -and he made it clear-, "the dose of Cuba (as a vaccine against so many evils) allows us to face the atrocious plague of savage capitalism in the world". He gave heartfelt thanks for the fact that the Caribbean nation "continues to be an example of resilience, a support for the humanist ideas in which any good human being must believe".
"We see that they have difficulties, but we also see that in the hearts of Cubans the Revolution is very firm." He called the Island "the flag that it is worth fighting for the human being". And he was categorical: "After so many years, as never before, it is very clear that Cuba was right". He said this because, in his opinion, "the world is a real disaster", in decline, while Cuba embodies hope and the "humanism we all need".
Graciela Ramirez, from Resumen Latinoamericano, highlighted the heroic resistance of an event held in very difficult circumstances; she remarked that "here we are in a complex stage of humanity"; and therefore highlighted the resistance of "our peoples, of our intellectuals, of this heroic people".
THE MATURE SPACE OF HOMELAND
In his closing remarks at the Amphitheater, President Díaz-Canel spoke about the satisfaction that should be born from the fact that "we have truly created a platform that integrates us to defend the position that a better world is possible". He went on to say that "Patria is already a mature space".
In the future, he said, the important thing is to look for ways to continue nurturing this type of space, whose convening power is growing. Díaz-Canel recalled José Martí's legacy, his sentence that "Homeland is humanity", and that reflection gave way to a detailed explanation of today's Cuba, which suffers from two imperial strategies: that of economic asphyxiation and that of media intoxication.
Those present were able to listen to eloquent data on the war suffered by the largest of the Antilles; and also on strategies that the Revolutionary Government has to face an onslaught that seeks to break the resistance of an entire people.
On the space occupied by young people in Cuban society, and how the Revolution summons them, the dignitary shared with the communicators experiences such as the normative efforts made so that a policy aimed at youth is as comprehensive and deep as possible. He also talked about recent experiences of encounters with history, from visiting places sacred to the Revolution.
The Cuban dignitary brought up the text Vindication of Cuba, written by José Martí while he was preparing the Necessary War of 1895, because at that time it was urgent to defend the Island and the Cubans. In that sense, he commented on the call made by the Revolution to its young people to vindicate the Homeland, every day, from social networks, from those spaces where imperial attacks do not cease and represent a tremendous ideological challenge.
Another way of political communication - "showing one's face" in difficult times- was explained by the President to his interlocutors, with details of the work system that started in January 2024, and which is based on the visit of the country's leadership to all municipalities. Already in a first round, he said, all the small territories were visited, and it is an "experience that gives us lessons, because we see the good experiences", because it serves to make decisions, and because it is based on the certainty that "we are going to overcome" the blockade.
The dignitary shared a long dissertation on the subject of Artificial Intelligence, as a result of the approach he has had to the subject. And in general, in reference to the new technologies whose rails are the monopoly of hegemonic capitalism, he spoke about the potential of leftist thinking for creation, and about the importance of never underestimating "the talent of our compatriots".
The President spoke of creating an anti-imperialist front, an anti-hegemonic front capable of confronting the symbolic onslaught of the centers of power that seek to erase identities and annul the critical thinking of human beings. And he enunciated: "We are going to provide the Patria network with a formal structure that will allow it to function as a direct communication among all".
Finally, Díaz-Canel highlighted "two important moments of the Colloquium": the celebration of the 20th anniversary of Telesur - "a platform created by Fidel, by Chávez, anti-hegemonic, which has not let pass any of the most important events of our peoples of the South..."-; and "the gesture of the organizers" to pay tribute to the legacy of the Cuban Revolution, to the exceptional young Cuban Julio Antonio Mella, as well as to the giants José Martí and Fidel Castro.
