Havana, Cuba: The emergence of the Institute of Information and Social Communication of Cuba is a vital step to contribute to promoting a culture of dialogue and consensus in society, official Waldo Ramírez said today.
In statements to Prensa Latina, the first vice president of the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television (ICRT) pointed out that the entity considered a Body of the Central Administration of the State (OACE) will allow to prop up the communication processes as pillars of the political and social life of the nation.
According to the interviewee, this step implies communication beyond the media, it impacts institutions and, most importantly, citizens.
In this sense, the new structure must offer coherence to compliance with the Government’s Social Communication Policy approved in 2018, which recognizes information as a public good and a people’s right, he recalled.
Likewise, he endorses the current Constitution of the Republic, which establishes guarantees for citizens to request and receive truthful, objective, and timely information from the State, as well as access to that generated by the institutions and bodies.
In another order, Ramírez clarified that the ICRT is extinguished as OACE and the Institute arises, but the Cuban radio and television remain intact.
The day before Decree-Law 41 came into force, in which the State Council established the Institute of Information and Social Communication, to conduct and control the processes in the sphere and promote their improvement.
In the opinion of the president of the Cuban Union of Journalists, Ricardo Ronquillo, the institution will be able to contribute to solving the structural problems of the sector, and should facilitate progress towards new press models.
“Ahead is pending the approval of a legal instrument, already included in the parliamentary schedule, which offers guarantees to the rights to freedom of the press and expression contained in the Constitution,” he specified.
In addition, Ronquillo pointed out, the Institute has been designed for several years and its appearance is a need accentuated by the rapid immersion of the island in the so-called era of convergence and in the hybrid war scenario facing the country.
