HAVANA.- The Union of Cuban Journalists (UPEC) has been closely linked to popular struggles in the largest of the Antilles and in the creation of a revolutionary consciousness among professionals in the sector; this is how it was described today, in this capital, by its president, Ricardo Ronquillo Bello, in the political-cultural act celebrated in greeting to the 60th anniversary of the organization.

The meeting, at the Martí Theater in Havana, was attended, among others, by members of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba Esteban Lazo Hernández, president of the National Assembly of People's Power and of the Council of State, Roberto Morales Ojeda, Secretary of Organization, Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento, Secretary General of the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC), and Teresa Amarrelle Boué, Secretary General of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC), together with Vice Prime Minister Inés María Chapman Waugh and executives and representatives of the national and provincial media affiliated with UPEC.

In the central words of the ceremony, Ronquillo Bello valued the current status of the institution and the need for unity among press professionals, just as the urgency of this value was marked at the founding moment.

He specified that Cuban journalism is called to fight in the unfinished cause against the occult, to promote a culture of participation and popular control and to elevate the role of debate and criticism, which should find their natural space in socialism. .

He recalled the usefulness of the teachings of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, who always felt very identified with the profession and in his ethics the conviction prevailed that acknowledging a mistake in the Revolution is preferable to silence.

He also referred to the transformations that the sector is undergoing in recent times, promoted as a result of the approval of a Communication Law where the intention to take action and advance towards a new press model capable of accommodating Cubans is reaffirmed. in its plurality and satisfy the growing needs of the public for information.

All this was contemplated as part of a State and Government Policy aimed at these issues, communication conceived as one of the strategic axes of government management and confrontation with the effects of unconventional warfare and disinformation and manipulation campaigns, he added. .

For the young journalist Mario Ernesto Almeida Bacalao, a professor of Journalism at the Faculty of Communication at the University of Havana, the success of these aspirations will depend on the extent to which the media know how to be dialogic with their audiences and are capable of tell the reality with adherence to the principles on which the Cuban nation is built and a sense of the historical moment.

The occasion distinguished outstanding founders for their journey and example in the performance of the work with the 60th Anniversary medal and recognitions from institutions such as the CTC and the FMC, among others, were delivered to the UPEC presidency.

Founded on July 15, 1963 as a result of the union of the professional groups of the press until then, UPEC has, among its general objectives and obligations, to defend journalists in the legal and ethical exercise of the profession, in the law of access to the sources and in the fulfillment of their work of information and guidance.

One of its functions is to contribute to the training of journalists in the best traditions of Cuban political thought, and in the lofty patriotic, ethical and democratic principles that inspire Cuban society.

Translated by Linet Acuña Quilez