For the fourth consecutive year, Miami Dade College hosted a group of former presidents, heads of state and regional leaders from Latin America and Spain who participated in the forum “Fake News, A Threat to Democracy?” on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. The forum, held at Wolfson Campus, was organized by Mezerhane Endowed Chair at MDC and the Iniciativa Democrática de España y las Americas (IDEA), analyzed the democratization of communication promoted by the rise of social networks and the challenge that this phenomenon represents for governance in the region. The forum was conducted in Spanish with English translations. Fomer MDC President Eduardo Padrón was honored at the forum’s dinner. Interim President Rolando Montoya, who was a member of the consular corps before beginning his career at MDC, convened the leaders and delivered the welcome.
Among the leaders and personalities who attended were the former president of Bolivia Jorge Quiroga; Colombia’s ex-president Andrés Pastrana; former presidents of Costa Rica Laura Chinchilla and Miguel Ángel Rodríguez; former presidents of Ecuador Jamil Mahuad and Osvaldo Hurtado; former presidents of Spain José María Aznar and Felipe González; MDC’s interim president, Dr. Rolando Montoya; and the executive director of IDEA and MDC visiting professor, Dr. Asdrúbal Aguiar. Panels and presentations addressed the role of mass media as the new articulator of political power and the ethics of journalism in the social media and globalization era as well as “fake news.”
Publications
In partnership with Cátedra Mezerhane, Miami Dade College has published three books that develop and explore some of the themes that have been discussed in the various forums.