A delegation of official Cuban media, led by Liudmila Álamo Dueñas, identified by the state agency Prensa Latina as the deputy head of the Ideological Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), advocated this Saturday in Beijing for equitable access to artificial intelligence and the fight against misinformation, in a speech that contrasts with the political control that the one-party system exercises over the state media on the island.
The setting was the VII World Media Summit, organized by the Chinese agency Xinhua and the Beijing municipal government under the theme "Media in the Intelligent Era: From Consensus to Action."
The meeting brought together nearly 500 delegates from approximately 330 media organizations, think tanks, and institutions from 112 countries.
Alongside Álamo Dueñas, executives from various Cuban state media outlets traveled. The Vice President of Prensa Latina, Alejandro Gómez, stated that "it is essential to prevent technological gaps from widening and to promote an AI development that brings societies closer together and places humanity at the center," and he emphasized the need to provide Global South nations with infrastructure, training, and digital tools.
The director of Ideas Multimedios, Randy Alonso, stated that "access to AI should be equal and not limited to wealthy countries or the owners of major media outlets," and added that technology "will not be able to replace human emotions or the role of the journalist."
The director of Cuban Television, José C. Zaragoza, warned that AI "can also be used as a tool for information manipulation" and urged to maintain "vigilance, data verification, and the dissemination of truthful and objective information."
None of the statements collected by Prensa Latina addressed editorial independence, media pluralism, or restrictions on independent journalism in Cuba.
The contradiction is hard to ignore. The Ideological Department of the Central Committee of the PCC is precisely the structure that guides the editorial line of Cuban state newspapers, broadcasters, and television channels. Its presence at the head of the delegation in Beijing illustrates the organic relationship between the party apparatus and the official media.
The legal framework reinforces this control: the 2019 Constitution prohibits private ownership of mass media, and the Social Communication Law, in effect since June 2024, only recognizes media linked to the State, the PCC, and mass organizations as legal. At least 23 independent press sites remain blocked on the island.
The immediate context is particularly revealing. According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), in the four days leading up to the Beijing summit, three independent Cuban journalists were detained: Adelth Bonne Gamboa on November 2, Camila Acosta the following day, and Yoani Sánchez on November 5, who was released after about nine hours.
In its 2026 press freedom index, RSF ranks Cuba 160th out of 180 countries, with 29.22 points, making it the second worst country in the Americas, only behind Nicaragua.
The Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and the Press documented 1,188 violations of freedom of expression and the press in 2025, a 54.7% increase compared to the previous year, according to a report published in October 2026.
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