On Jul. 30 in Caracas, Venezuela, some 220 journalists from 50 nations around the planet participated in the “Voices of the New World” conference, which gave birth to the “Alliance of Journalists for Communication in the Global South.”
Invited by Venezuela’s International Communication Ministry, Haïti Liberté took part in this historic gathering, which drew participants from not only the “Global South” (the modern term for what used to be called the “Third World”), but also from Russia, China, Europe, and North America.
“People have the right to truth — to live it, to tell it, and to know it,” states the opening line of the final joint declaration, which was read by U.S. journalist Chris Helali at the day-long conference’s conclusion. “Truth upholds fundamental principles and values for humanity, such as peace and equality.”
Venezuela was a fitting host and location for the conference, given the barrage of lies that the U.S. government and its handmaiden mainstream media (MSM) have leveled against the government of President Nicolas Maduro, who was reelected in July 2024. Washington and the MSM sought unsuccessfully to discredit the sovereign and exemplary polling.
Indeed, on May 12, 2025, the U.S. State Department issued for U.S. citizens a Level 4 Travel Advisory against Venezuela (as they did against Haiti on Jul. 15). “Do not travel to or remain in Venezuela due to the high risk of wrongful detention, torture in detention, terrorism, kidnapping, arbitrary enforcement of local laws, crime, civil unrest, and poor health infrastructure,” warns the advisory. “All U.S. citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents in Venezuela are strongly advised to depart immediately.”
However, the Venezuela that the conference participants observed bore absolutely no similarity to that described by the U.S. State Department. Instead they saw a peaceful, stable nation which has successfully resisted an array of U.S. economic sanctions and begun to rebuild its economy, now growing almost 100% of its own food and producing some 80% of its pharmaceuticals.
On Jul. 31 many of the international journalists traveled two hours west of Caracas to tour the largely state-owned Empresa Nacional del Café, SA (National Coffee Company) mill and the Santa Teresa sugarcane plantation which produces the renowned 1796 Rum (voted the world’s best in the Berlin International Spirits Competition in 2024). All along the pot-hole-free highways leading there, the journalists saw hundreds of road-workers clearing brush, repairing drainage canals, and generally maintaining the immaculate roadways.
Some of the journalists returned to the capital early to see President Maduro touring Caracas’ Comuna Sarria Rebelde popular neighborhood, where he spoke with and gave a trophy to Sahar Emami, the Iranian TV presenter who was broadcasting live when Israel illegally bombed Iran’s state television station on Jun. 16. She was also a prominent conference invitee, who took questions from the audience during the previous day’s conference.
Maduro then played basketball with local kids. He had a very small security detail and clearly enjoyed enthusiastic support from the neighborhood’s residents, who cheered him. After shaking hands with many of the journalists, Maduro left the neighborhood at the wheel of a small jeep.
Camila Fabri, the Deputy Minister for International Communication, did many interviews for the journalists on hand. She is also the wife of Alex Saab, who was kidnapped by Washington in Cape Verde while on a diplomatic mission in June 2020 but finally released in December 2023 after a prisoner swap. Saab today serves as Venezuela’s Minister of Industry and National Production.
“Faithful to the calling that has led us to embrace communication and information as a way of life and as a collective service, we reject lies, manipulation, disinformation, and all practices that promote hatred, discrimination, and the stigmatization of our peoples,” the Voices of the New World declaration states, “because the truth is an inalienable right. Nothing justifies lies or manipulation. Respecting and defending the truth, freedom of expression, and the sovereign and independent development of our peoples is a duty of those of us engaged in journalism and communication with honesty.
“Therefore, as journalists and communicators, we take on the responsibility of reporting the truth, dismantling disinformation campaigns, and serving as the voice of historically silenced majorities,” the declaration concludes. “We also denounce the hegemony of major media conglomerates and digital platforms that distort the reality of our peoples, erase our struggles, and perpetuate colonial narratives.”
