about Venezuela, the Community Media in Venezuela and Aporrea.org

Dear friends,

Aporrea.org has been invited to the "Word Forum on Communication Rights" to be held as a parallel activity to the World Summit of Information Society, since 9th until 12th of December in Geneva. We got a little space to show and discuss about a resume on the Documentary "The Revolution will not be Televised" thanks Myriam and Sean, and we have been invited to a Radio Station to talk about Venezuela, the Community Media in Venezuela and Aporrea.org thanks the Bolivarian Circles of Switzerland. We still want all your help to improve our trip to Geneva (since 8th until 12th) that's why we ask your attention and help to guarantied some new spaces in the other important parallel activities in which you are related or are involved such as parallel events, Bolivarian circles, progressist forces in Europe and Switzerland, we just want to make a very productive and dynamic schedule (Agenda). We have been preparing a set of multimedia information (video, music, presentations, documents, etc.) in digital formats and VCR format so we are prepare to be as versatile as we can around the issues most important for us: Alternative Communication on Internet, Communications Rights, Media Dictatorship, Bolivarian Revolutionary Movement, Coup d'état in Venezuela, etc. We'll be very grateful for all your help in making this visit (and our Agenda) the most successful possible or
at least to multiply this message to those you think can help us to tell the word about our fight against fascist forces in Venezuela. You could read above the initial letter we send to WFCR, there you could find something else about us and our work.

Best regards JRE

-----Original Message-----

Dear Sirs

I'm writing you on behalf of Aporrea.org (www.aporrea.org) a web site in Venezuela that has become a reference for those who don't believe in our traditional mass media (TV, Radio and Newspapers). As you all should know in Venezuela during April 2002 and December-January 2003 the minority -but economic powerful- groups have been trying to outpost our legitimate constitutional President Hugo Chavez who has become the only hope for those who were always marginalized by our old "democracy".
The leaders of those economic groups are the mass media company owners. That means all the news and opinion generated by those media companies were partialize and support the violent way that tries to outpost our President who have been ratified in 7 vote rounds during the last 5 years. The strong government support to community media (Radio, TV) has began to neutralize the media-matrix that only shows whatever the violent opposition wants.
Aporrea.org like an independent initiative of collaborative work that tries to give a voice for those who never expected to be heard, has become a Media Phenomenon in our country because of our ability to reflect what communities do and feel and our ability to break those paradigms that says ICT do not get the poorest.
In that context we respectfully ask you to let us show the word what's happening in Venezuela and how a Webpage can contribute to brake the mass media censorship, how a webpage can help to mobilize the masses that support a democratic government, how a webpage can give the poorest the communication right that has been expropriated for year by those who control de mass media and how a webpage can give voice to poor people.
Therefore we believe we can participate in the Word Forum on Communication Rights in one of these Themes you define: "Communication and Human Rights" or "Communication and Poverty".
We are trying right know to get government support to finance our participation if you decide -as we believe and really need- to accept us to make a Multimedia presentation. In that case we really need some things:
1. -A letter of acceptance (if proceed): These is the most important matter
2. -A list of activities you need us to attend in order to collaborate in the Forum success
3. -And whatever other information you believe can help us to optimize our initiative in order to get government support.

We already sent you an e-mail (Sunday, October 26, 2003) in Spanish in which we expressed our interest and our need for these elements. Venezuela really need to get heard internationally and now more than ever when the only film that shows the reality about de coup d'etat agains the President, in April 2002, was censored in the Toronto Amnisty International Film Festival (see:http://www.petitiononline.com/vendoc)

For more details please ask us whatever you need or visit our section in English: http://www.aporrea.org/english.php

Best regards
Jesús Rodríguez Espinoza (jero...@cantv.net)
Aporrea.org team

for...@communicationrights.org
Coordinator of the Forum, Seán Ó Siochrú, e-mail: s...@nexus.ie

For logistical aspects: Myriam Horngren, e-mail: m...@wacc.org.uk