News agencies from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay and Venezuela decided to join efforts to create the Latin American Union of News Agencies (ULAN, Spanish abbreviation), aimed at facing negative campaigns undertaken by communication monopolies from the United States and Europe.

President of the Venezuelan News Agency (AVN), Freddy Fernandez, said the information this Wednesday, after a meeting held with Cuba"s Prensa Latina president, Luis Enrique Gonzalez.

Next June 2-3, news agency representatives will meet with Venezuela"s Communication and Information Minister Andres Izarra, with the aim to endorse a main accord on ULAN"s work and information exchange system.

“The main element for us is the possibility of building an information reference for the whole continent, capable of looking at the reality of the Latin American and Caribbean nations with our own eyes, not with the eyes of the North or Europe,” Fernandez said.

AVN director added that Latin America is the single region in the world which still lacks of an agency of the kind.

“We have a variety of opinions here about several communication issues. That will significantly enrich ULAN"s effort. Besides, we will face different political realities. It is a union of diverse news agencies.”

Meanwhile, Cuba"s Gonzalez expressed that the initiative, arisen during the World Council of News Agency -carried out in Argentina late in 2010-, represents integration and strengthening of the communicational work of these countries.

“Governments of our region will set up the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States in about a month and we have to accompany them on that effort of integration and rapprochement,” he said.

Telam (Argentina), ABI (Bolivia), Agencia Brasil, Prensa Latina (Cuba) Andes (Ecuador), AGN (Guatemala), Notimex (Mexico), IP (Paraguay) and AVN (Venezuela) are the news agencies making up the project.