Latin American news agencies to launch portal

The Latin American Union of News Agencies (ULAN), an alliance of press agencies from nine Latin American and Caribbean countries, is preparing a new portal featuring top stories by public news services from all member countries. The ANSUR portal is set to be launched on August 4 in Quito, Ecuador, and will feature multimedia content in Spanish, Portuguese, and English language, including news stories, photos, infographics, illustrations, audio podcasts, and videos.

The decision was made on Tuesday (Apr. 22) during ULAN's 3rd General Assembly in Havana, Cuba, with attending representatives from news agencies Télam (Argentina), ABI (Bolivia), Prensa Latina (Cuba), ANDES (Ecuador), NOTIMEX (Mexico), Andina (Peru), AVN (Venezuela), Agência Brasil, as well as Uruguay's Secretariat of Communications.

At the end of the meeting, the ULAN representatives signed the Havana Declaration, urging closer cooperation between the news agencies in strengthening ULAN as a diverse, democratic forum for insight from a Latin American and Caribbean perspective.

The organization has also expressed support for the integration of Latin American and Caribbean countries through the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). In January, Havana was home to the 2nd CELAC Summit, where the region's heads of state and government reaffirmed their efforts toward integration, peace, prosperity, sovereignty, and dialogue as a way to ensure a better future for their people.

ULAN has also expressed concern at the US government's operation of a secret social network, as recently leaked by the Associated Press (AP). The network, called Zunzuneo – the Cuban word for “humming bird” – was live between 2009 and 2012, spreading propaganda among youth against the Cuban government.

In another manifesto, ULAN supported the Venezuelan president's Nicolás Maduro call for dialogue as a way to promote democracy and deal with the current issues, and close monitoring by the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). After the meeting, the attendees announced that Argentina's Télam would chair the international body.

Translated by Mayra Borges