Patrisia Monterola Denuda

Observatory on Media and Culture: threatening or phantom power tools democratic? (Note 1)


By Octavio Getino

A new ghost appears to go, if not everyone, at least the interests of powerful media groups in Latin America. Simultaneous and coordinated large multimedia companies from different countries of the region, precisely those where projects have begun to settle political change, such as Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Nicaragua, wield a kind of "cacerolazo" more or less synchronized the ghost of "observatories" that insinuated by some governments to monitor what so far are sectored-exclusive territories and exclusive-of powerful economic and financial groups, local and international.

This topic, like many others, is not difficult to see the manipulation of information by the mainstream media-which includes a network of communications specialists and numerous well-known journalists, leading media to try to oust any attempt to come from the state or society itself, to observe in terms of social status as a sector the media, owners of communication systems-both cultural and educational-more powerful than those that manage their own states to information and democratic citizenship education.

media represent portions of reality. As stated Martín Becerra, National University of Quilmes, "which appears in them and what is omitted (by criteria of newsworthiness always fallible) built himself a part of agenda that installs a few items and set values, to the detriment of others. Media coverage of the field of conflict proved once again that the approach to reality is never fair, that the selection of sources and the testimony there is a tendency, and can erode the position of some actors to promote public image of others. You need to talk about it. It is illogical that in a democracy we can talk about everything except the media. " (The Nation, 12/4/2008)

Every society needs reliable information systems, enabling observatories a better development of individuals, social groups, and public and private companies, and all the actors associated with the transformation, ie the overall improvement of society itself. This explains the existence of National Research Councils, Institutes of Statistics, National Meteorological Services, National Systems of Cultural Consumption, Cultural and Information Systems as part of these and other instruments to learn more and better define the context where our existence, National Observatory, provincial, or local to gather and process information of a different character (cultural policy, economics, women, children, cultural industries, management, discrimination, etc.).. Indeed, in the context of global multi-media expansion, the state not only can but is required to analyze, monitor, and regulate the circulation of content in a scientifically-measurable-that make the health of the population, like pharmaceuticals and foodstuffs. No one would ever leave these tangible products only in the hands of powerful business groups that produce and distribute, with no controls of any kind, under the pretext of guaranteeing a supposed "free enterprise." The most basic common sense cautions that these groups, more that health and healthy eating in a community, care about the amount of profits to be submitted annually to its shareholders or mutual funds on which they depend.

The problem appears when trying to break into the contents intangible, more difficult to assess than the purely material, but which affect the information, education and culture of the population, ie the foundation of public health with much or more power, for better or for worse, that is food or physical health. This field seems to be banned in almost absolute terms to any person or government sector and the pretext is the so called "freedom Press "that as more than once said, only serves those who have the power to exercise, ie big business.
However, press freedom is a social good that is intended is a constitutional guarantee for the whole society, is in order to preserve the collective good, that it protects the various forms of censorship, direct or indirect , which may have on journalists and media.

us agree that censorship is not only the political or ideological character that can come from the state, but large financial corporations are now the de facto power groups that have a capacity higher than that for defining what information must circulate in society or omitted, and how they will be targeted, as appropriate or not their interests, at least in the media that they directly control, such as shareholders, or indirectly, as an advertiser.

Costco 2010 Cosmetic Bush Set

"is a company Techint Argentina? (Note 2)


By Cynthia V. Lana

"Everything comes to rest in the supply of the Americas is in the hands of a dozen parent of Cadiz and another dozen in London and New York. This monopoly is the worst, most vile and limited. The consequence is that Americans are compelled to buy at huge all what they want to sell. And of course buy the wealthy. And this just encourages agriculture and manufacturing, which are the national wealth of every country. "

Bernardo de Monteagudo (" The Censor ", December 18, 1812).


According to the classical definition John Kenneth Galbraith, the benefit of transnational corporations consists of two fundamental characteristics: the use of the asymmetries between the country of origin and host countries of the filing of capital and the expansion of its financial sector.

To this, "said Galbraith in 1967 - firms should be placed first in competition at the national level, because success in this space depends on its expansionism.

currently operating the scheme has changed in some respects. As pointed out by Samir Amin, "U.S. multinationals and was formerly a U.S. state, transnational and British state British, French and a state transnational French-Belgian multinational smaller, and a Belgian state. However, today there are simply transnational, while there is no state that integrates them. "

assimilation between the political and economic, that characterized the dominant powers global market since the emergence of imperialism, lives its period of historic extinction. Today no one can speak of imperialism as an integrated process, but of imperialism, ie dominant transnational capitalist centers in a state of conflict, in which nation states, yet the central countries play a subordinate role.

Dissemination and policy instruments

however, has not gone the need for a common economic management of the global market by multinationals. The difference with the recent past is that there is no centralized political instrument to carry it out. The G7 and other attempts like that have not been particularly successful.

Here again, we turn to the incomparable definition of Samir Amin: "Capitalism is made up of contradictions and the entire capitalist enterprise is at the same time associated but also in conflict with the neighbor, but this does not stop them have common interests. Conflicting commercial, I would say, in constant competition, but also have common interests and common interests are the new basis of collective imperialism. "

De Bolivar

UIA Transnational dominant in our subcontinent are trying to convert the MERCOSUR as an instrument of the characteristics identified, in an inclusive regional political common economic management.

line seems to be expressed in the statement that the Industrial Union of Argentina (UIA)-controlled by Techint, circulated a few days ago about the possible nationalization of the company Sidor by the Bolivarian government of Venezuela.

The text "acknowledges the efforts being made by the Argentine government aimed to defend the project Terniun Sidor, a project that successfully embodies the policy of integration between Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela."

But more than integration, we would say that "the project" Sidor Terniun system is a classic transfer of wealth: the steel is sold cheaply to its own companies abroad and then imported, more expensive, seamless pipes (which are essential for the Venezuelan oil industry). This is a "value added" that is generated in the productive process itself and through which the transnational corporation carries out the various stages in different countries.

This is the business system that houses the neodevelopmentalist trend that emerged in Latin America as a result of the neoliberal crisis. The same process leading monopolies sheltered in the monetarist orthodoxy or the denationalization of the productive and now, as Claudio Katz, "oiled to maintain links with the financial capital, promote more industrial courses to encourage the development of new transnational 'Multilatinas' (as Slim, Odebrecht, Techint)."
"These companies," continued Katz, profited from privatization, but now industrial businesses prioritize and rank the regional market. "

The time for decisions

Following the announcement of the nationalization of Sidor, Techint is threatening to lead a boycott of Venezuela's state oil industry, failing to sell the strategic input while warns Argentina over the consequences of his retirement in the labor market. This prompted an understandable concern in the conduct of the Metal Workers Union, to the point that its leaders sent a letter to President Hugo Chavez calling for the crime.

President Cristina also seems to have taken up the matter with the aim of safeguarding the assets of "an enterprise Argentina."

But as we saw in these notes is not a company Techint Argentina. Be clear on this means nothing less than give the MERCOSUR project category reuniting of the Patria Grande and not a simple extension of the labor and consumer markets to transnational integrated and diversified, which are key centers of imperialism spread today.

therefore depend on the region's leaders know implement policies that build hope in our villages or maintain the status quo that, sooner or later, will prove to be another disappointment.