Mérida, September 20th 2011 – The Libyan Resistance News Agency (ANRL) was inaugurated yesterday in Caracas at a forum in the Gallegos Foundation Centre for Latin American Studies (CELARG). It aims to break the “information blockade imposed by the international mass media” regarding what’s going on in North Africa and the Middle East.

The agency came out of an “autonomous” proposal by popular collectives and national and international journalist movements, according to the coordinator of yesterday’s forum, “Palestine, Libya, and Syria: Between Revolution and Counter-revolution”, Venezuelan journalist and a founder of the agency, Hindu Anderi, speaking to the Correo del Orinoco.

The initiative is independent of the Venezuelan government, receiving no financial or technical support from it or from any Venezuelan government institution.

Among the other founders of the news agency are journalists Cristina Gonzalez, Marcos Salgado, Richard Penalver, Miguel Cova, Hernan Cano, and members of the La Piedrita collective, a group “dedicated to Guevaran volunteer work” and grassroots work to solve community problems. The ANRL also has the support of Cuba Periodistas, the journalists’ union of Cuba.

“We are open to all the international collectives who want to participate in this initiative,” Anderi said.

The agency’s website is Al Mukawama - Resistencia Libia, where it has sections for the latest information, “Specials”, analysis, video, audio, and features. The site is currently only in Spanish.

“It’s an initiative responding to the need in the world for information that isn’t distorted. That’s why any project like this is welcome,” Anderi said.

“Analysis will be made of all the information coming out of the different spaces, about the conflict in our North African brother nation,” she added.

In terms of sources the agency will use, Anderi said they would include “direct sources”. “Remember that much of the media that broadcasts information from Libya is censored by the system. In Libya there are many resistance groups and there are, we might say, communication initiatives that are going to be consulted. Also, of course, [we’ll also use] all those websites for the resistance and progressive international agencies linked to our approach,” she explained.

Another member of the news agency, Basem Tajeldine, said that the “Libyan companeros” also put out a lot of information through websites such as Twitter, Facebook, and blogs, from which the agency will also compile information and reports.

Tajeldine said the new news agency would also supply “correct information to the different community, national, and international radio programs, and also to the Venezuelan public media”.

Source: Venezuela Analysis