The Institute of Information and Social Communication appoints former director of the state media system as the new vice president

The Board of Directors of the Institute of Information and Social Communication (ICS) appointed Master in Communication Sciences Xenia López González as vice president of the organization on December 23, as reported by the Cuban News Agency.

López holds a degree in Law and has an extensive background within the state media system.

He joined the former Cuban Institute of Radio and Television (ICRT) in 2013, when he took on the deputy director position of the Educational Channel.

Two years later, she was appointed director of that channel, a position she held until 2018, the source specified.

That year, he took charge of the International Relations department of the ICRT, a responsibility he held until March 2024.

During that period, she was involved in the international projection of the official communication system, in a context marked by a hardening of the institutional discourse against independent media and digital platforms.

Before her appointment as vice president of ICS, López served as the general director of Advertising and Sponsorship at the Institute.

The ICS was established in August 2021, following the dissolution of the ICRT as an agency of the Central State Administration.

According to Decree-Law 41, its mission is to lead and oversee the social communication policy of the State and the Cuban Government, as well as to propose its improvement.

Since then, the ICS has steadily expanded its powers. In November 2024, the entity accredited the first group of social communication inspectors, subordinate to the Institute, with the stated goal of "controlling and supervising" communication processes in the country, a measure that raised alarms due to its potential impact on freedom of expression and censorship.

Law 162/2023 on Social Communication formalizes the role of these inspectors and grants them the authority to oversee content and communication practices in organizational, community, and media settings, both in physical and digital spaces.

This legal framework consolidates the ICS as a central actor in the state's control of information, in a context where the appointment of new managerial figures reinforces the continuity of that policy.