Our America, January 20, 2020
Compañera Patricia Villegas
President of TELESUR
Caracas, Venezuela
Dear Patricia,
It is difficult to gather together so many elements and of such weak credibility, as those used today by the empire’s lackeys with threats and attempts to silence Telesur. These efforts only reaffirm the certainty of the value of this station in the battle of the peoples for their right to truth.
How many times have we, as spectators, felt comforted to see that a Telesur team is in the place where transcendental events are happening for those who have been silenced, for those who have always been excluded, and it reports to us, from within, what is happening. We could not count in how many occasions this was the case, but we can transmit our deep gratitude and respect for such courageous and professional work carried out by the station. Only through Telesur have we been able to learn about the merciless and lethal action of capitalism, the strength of the resistance of leaders and popular movements and the events that have opened up real gaps in imperial domination that have marked the history of our peoples.
The arrogance of the powerful does not support the plurality of visions, of cultures, the transparency of information, or the respect for the spectator. They do not support an in-depth analysis of the facts and their causes, it does not support the denunciation of the transnationals and their dirty dealings, the criticism of the obscene manipulation of the media and networks related to the system. For them, it is essential to silence this platform, one of the great achievements for the decolonization of our America that Commander Hugo Chavez promoted.
It has been 16 years since that meeting in Venezuela in December 2004, where some 400 intellectuals from 52 countries met. It was at this meeting that the Network of Intellectuals, Artists and Social Movements in Defense of Humanity (REDH) was formalized and its final document, known as the “Caracas Call,” reads: “Support the establishment of a television station of the South and independent television and radio media at the service of the interests of our peoples.”
Immediately, President Chávez, with his strategic vision, assumed the commitment to create an audiovisual media associated with emancipation. In this way, the stories of the Network and Telesur are intertwined in a deep and embryonic way; therefore, safeguarding Telesur, its philosophy, its ideals, and its work is not just a position, it is also our obligation.
Today we are facing a decadent empire, increasingly desperate to see its hegemony weakened in what José Martí rightly called Our America, something it needs to ensure its survival. Let us not underestimate these threats. Let us redouble our efforts and remain alert to prevent them from depriving the peoples of their right to truthful, plural and timely information, which, together with the right to work, health, education and culture, continue to be the most expensive aspirations of humanity today, twenty years into this new century.
Dear Patricia, you are actually being honored in a unique way by placing the successful work of the network and your own work as its president among one of the main targets of the Empire. TeleSur is a child of the battle of ideas and of the fathers of this new continental era; Commanders Fidel Castro Ruz and Hugo Chávez Frías. We will win, without a doubt. We assume its defense without hesitation or half-measures. It is an irreversible commitment of all the comrades who make up the Network in Defense of Humanity and many other similar movements.
As the Venezuelan poet Victor Valera Mora said: “The sun of the world we will make/ those who will live greet you”.
Let Telesur tell us what else you need from us, and we will be there!
A fraternal and solidarity filled embrace,
On behalf of the Network in Defense of Humanity, Executive Secretariat
Atilio A. Borón, Argentina
Paula Klachko, Argentina
Stella Calloni, Argentina
Marcos Teruggi, Argentina/Venezuela
Tim Anderson, Australia
Hugo Móldiz, Bolivia
María Nela Prada, Bolivia
Carlos Alberto (Beto) Almeida, Brazil
Marilia Guimaraes, Brazil
Nadia Bambirra, Brazil
Arnold August, Canadá
Florencia Lagos, Chile
Javiera Olivares, Chile
Pablo Sepúlveda Allende, Chile/Venezuela
Dario Salinas Figueredo, Chile/México
Ángel Guerra, Cuba/México
Ariana López, Cuba
Fernando León Jacomino, Cuba
Omar González, Cuba
Irene León, Ecuador
Orlando Pérez, Ecuador
Arantxa Tirado, Spain
Javier Couso, Spain
Alicia Jrapko, U.S.
Hernando Calvo Ospina, France
Camille Chalmers, Haití
Anarella Vélez, Honduras
Gilberto Ríos, Honduras
Luis Hernández Navarro, México
Nayar López, México
Fernando Buen Abad, México/Argentina
Katu Arkonada, Basque Country/México
Ricardo Flecha, Paraguay
Hildebrando Pérez Grande, Perú
Antonio Elías, Uruguay
Gabriela Cultelli, Uruguay
Carmen Bohórquez, Venezuela
Pasqualina Curcio, Venezuela
Pedro Calzadilla, Venezuela
Sergio Arria, Venezuela/Argentina