Global South Journalists Meet in Caracas

We turn now to Caracas, Venezuela, where News Five’s Digital Editor Hipolito Novelo participated in a gathering of media professionals from across the Global South. The forum, Voices of the New World, was a direct response to growing concerns about censorship, misinformation, and the marginalization of voices from the developing world. But as more than a hundred journalists from more than a dozen countries gathered, the host nation continues to face serious criticism. Hipolito Novelo files the following report.

 

Hipolito Novelo, Reporting

Held in Caracas, Venezuela, the forum, “Voices of the New World”,  was all about reclaiming space. Journalists participated with the aim at challenging dominant narratives and asserting media sovereignty.” Discussions range from censorship to algorithmic bias mostly against western powers such as the United States. One of the speakers was Christopher Helali, an independent investigative journalist from the U.S., now living in Russia.

 

Christopher Helali, Investigative Journalist

“Whether is telling the truth about Yemen, Palestine, Lebanon, about Russia, It’s telling the truth about Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, we are under pressure because we are seen agents of a foreign power or we are seen as criminals in some way connected with foreign governments and we are not. We are simply truth tellers.”

 

More than one hundred journalists, media professionals and communicators representing more than fifty countries in the Global South participated. Venezuela’s Foreign Minister, Ivan Gil addressed the gathering.

 

Yván Gil, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Venezuela

“He has been able to witness what a revolution truly is, right? A revolution that brings peace, that brings well-being, and that stands as an example to the world. Precisely an example of sovereignty, of bravery, like that of our leader, our President Nicolás, who has given us the possibility of having a position in the world to defend these values that are so threatened today — not only in the case mentioned, but also throughout the Western axis or the Middle East, as it is known, against Iran specifically.”

 

From honoring Palestinian reporters killed in conflict zones to calling for a decolonized media agenda in Africa and the Caribbean, the forum called for a greater push back at “hegemonic powers”.  Venezuela’s President of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez called what’s happening in Gaza right now the worse human rights crime in history.

 

Jorge Rodríguez, President, National Assembly 

“The worst crime committed against humanity in the 21st century is the extermination and genocide in Gaza. The way the immensely powerful media imperialism refers to the genocide in Gaza is telling. It calls war what is actually murder. It uses the word “war” to describe the killing of educators, the killing of journalists, the killing of Red Cross representatives, the killing of children while they are receiving or desperately searching for food.”  

 

Organized by the Alliance of Journalists for Communication from the Global South, the forum also called for the creation of new international media coalitions led by journalists.

 

Ricardo Cartaya, Journalist, Venezuela

“This is a very important space for all the free thinkers of the world and the journalists who do not depend on big companies, the big media because here we have the opportunity to discuss between us, like journalist and influencers, all people who have something to say to the rest of the world about the real information. It is  a very important moment.”

 

But outside these halls, press freedom in Venezuela is classified by Reporters Without Borders as in a “very difficult situation”. The country ranks 160th out of 180 in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index.  According to the report, between July and  August 2024, during the presidential election, Reporters Without Borders and partner groups documented over 200 violations of press freedom, including 8 journalists imprisoned, 29 websites blocked, and multiple expulsions of foreign reporters. But Helali says that people in Venezuela are in control..

 

Christopher Helali

“This forum is being held in Venezuela because in Venezuela the people have power. In Venezuela, the people have control. In Venezuela the people are in command just like Cuba, Nicaragua just like in many other countries around the world. So of course, for Latin American, this hemisphere tha the US considers its own through the Monroe doctrine we know that in this case is the people that are in charge and that is the because threat to those in the United States.” Out: 03:16

And while certainly many of you will not agree with Helali’s statement, the forum was about media solidarity among countries in the Global South and the forum did not unfold without scrutiny and skepticism.”

 

At the forum’s close, organizers read a founding document calling for deeper collaboration and joint production across regions of the Global South.