Galo Fernando Altamirano Zamora, a student majoring in communication in our branch campus in Cuenca, presented the results of his research during the first Congress organized by the Communication Researchers Network – Ecuador RICE 2019, held in the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLASCO), in Quito. 

Altamirano presented his paper entitled "Analysis of xenophobic discourse in the comments of posts on Facebook pages of local newspapers "El Mercurio" and "El Tiempo" regarding Venezuelan migration" in the section on Public Opinion and Social Movements. congressional.

The study, carried out under the direction of Professor Ángel Torres Toukoumidis, is based on the quantitative-qualitative analysis of the different comments made on the Facebook pages of the aforementioned local newspapers regarding the phenomenon of the mass exodus of Venezuelan migrants who are victims of the economic crisis in their country, and the negative perception people have regarding these social groups.

"Of the total number of comments that were analyzed (788), 44% are xenophobic," said Altamirano, "it is necessary to understand some concepts in order to determine the causes and consequences of this negative perception that triggers in hate speech. "

Within the comments that were analyzed, it is evident that Venezuelan migrants have the image of "criminals", "thieves" or "murderers". A general idea of an isolated event in order to reinforce this stereotype and maintain a hate speech.

Daniela Idrovo, student of the Master's degree in Cultural Management at UPS, also participated in the congress and presented the paper "Soy chola, soy vieja, soy rural, ¿qué soy?: Design of a digital platform for decolonization", which rescues the experiences of the true chola Cuencana in society.

Researchers from Spain, Bolivia and Colombia also participated in the event.