Booklet with the caption on the front page: UICOM, the International University for Communications. File photo.
On Tuesday, March 15, the International University of Communication (UICOM) opened its doors for students of communication training at the former headquarters of the far-right Venezuelan newspaper, El Nacional, in Caracas. UICOM will be an institution for communication training, content production and information exchange.
At the inauguration, Venezuelan Minister of University Education, Tibisay Lucena; Minister of Communication and Information, Freddy Ñáñez, and the rector of UICOM, Tania DĂaz, were present. They gave keynote speeches to the attendees.
In February this year, the Third Civil Mercantile, Transit and Banking Court of First Instance of Venezuela had handed over the headquarters of El Nacional newspaper, together with the land in which it is located, to National Assembly (AN) Deputy Diosdado Cabello. Cabello has promised to turn the headquarters of El Nacional into a university for journalism or to use the land to construct community housing.
ArrancĂł el Trayecto Inicial de la Universidad Internacional de las Comunicaciones https://t.co/w4Q2hvaGD9#ComunicaciĂłnParaLaLiberaciĂłn #LealesALaRevoluciĂłn pic.twitter.com/DkywleuwZg
— PSUV (@PartidoPSUV) March 15, 2022
The judicial process began on August 11, 2015, when Cabello filed a defamation lawsuit against El Nacional, claiming damages for its publication of a report in the Spanish newspaper ABC, in which the deputy was accused—without evidence—of alleged links with narcotrafficking.
Cabello has declared that UICOM’s goal is to establish a community of knowledge, through research and content generation to combat media aggression and propaganda against people.
In this sense, Tania DĂaz, the rector of the university, highlighted that the institute will teach students to be active in the defense of peace.
“This university is an academic institution with all its legal framework—it is a meeting point, a space for communication,” stated DĂaz.
¡Comunicación para la Emancipación! #LaUICOM pic.twitter.com/wXtRFOLoVl
— UNIVERSIDAD INTERNACIONAL DE LAS COMUNICACIONES (@lauicom) March 16, 2022
The first batch of students joining the university are members of the Agitation, Propaganda and Communication (APC) of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), and JPSUV, the youth wing of PSUV.
The Minister of Higher Education, Tibisay Lucena, addressed the attendees, telling them that they have the opportunity to train in a field of knowledge that is really a battlefield.
“Critical thinking flourishes in the face of all the cynicism in the United States, this is where a university made for media war becomes important,” said Lucena.
For his part, the Minister of Communication Freddy Ñáñez asserted that spaces like this should serve to think about how the revolution will be at the forefront in the world, where virtualization is proposing the abolition of concrete human relations.
Featured image: Booklet with the caption on the front page: UICOM, the International University for Communications. File photo.
(RedRadioVE) by Ana PerdigĂłn, with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/DD
