LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY TELEVISION PRACTITIONERS GATHER TOGETHER FOR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND THE PROTECTION OF CULTURE.
Sierra Maestra, Cuba,
July 15, 2002.

Television Serrana, a community-based independent video organization, that began with IPDC/UNESCO, is hosting a Seminar on Community Television: Freedom of Expression and Protection of the Culture, 15-17 July, with UNESCO’s support.

Some twenty-six journalists, community television practitioners and policymakers from Latin America and the Caribbean have today embarked on the sharing of the experiences and best practices in television-making at the community level,. In an authentic community environment. Jocelyne Josiah, UNESCO Adviser for Communication and Information in the Caribbean, invited all the participants to rethink the role of community media and television and the contribution that this might make to a logical platform for the deepening of Caribbean action and experience in this field , within the rapidly changing global communication and information environment.

The seminar is a direct follow up to the Plan of Action and Declaration of the regional Seminar on Media Development and Democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean held i n Santiago de Chile in 1994, and particularly with regard to awareness raising in the area of freedom of expression. It also has its origins in a 1996 meeting of experts on the production and dissemination of popular video in the Caribbean held in La Habana, Cuba.

The participants are to discuss issues regarding to media, community participation, new technologies, pluralism and cultural diversity, ethnic minorities and the overall question of equitable access in the public domain, as well as legal and ethnical elements of community television. Outputs from the seminar will contribute to the regional preparation for the World Summit on the Information Society, led by the International Telecommunication Union. This event will be held in December 2003, in an effort to promote the urgent access of all countries and especially the developing ones to the new communication and information technologies and knowledge for sustainable development.

This is the first time an event of this nature has been organized in the Caribbean. It is also the first time for it to be held on permises or Televisión Serrana. “We alweys wanted to organize an event like this, here in aur headquarters, with farmers of the community. They are ones who inspire Televisión Serrana and give us strength to develop our community work”, seid Daniel Diéz Castrillo, founder and former director ot Televisión Serrana at the opening ceremony. He also stated that Latin American and Caribbean colleagues must work together in order to “keep aur dreams alive and save aur cultures”.