CIESPAL and the development of education and research in communication in Latin America

Abstract

As a regional international organization focused on education and research, the Centro Internacional de Estudios Superiores de Comunicación para América Latina (CIESPAL) played a key role in institutionalizing the field of communication studies in the so-called “Third World” countries. Founded in 1959, in Ecuador, it is an initiative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) with the objective of implementing a set of strategies to improve the training of journalists and academics in the area. Referring to the Cold War context, its development was linked to other international organizations and political-cultural entities, which ended up stimulating the formation of an environment marked by relations of cooperation and cooptation, but also by resistance. By reconstructing the 60-year trajectory of this Latin American center, the aim is to show how its role has been dynamic and is related to the political and social changes that have taken place in the region, notably the rise and fall of military dictatorships in South America.