Doctor Hilda Saladrigas Receives the Carlos J. Finlay Order

December 26, 2022

The dean of the School of Communication at the University of Havana described the field of communication as a symphony and Cuba, in all the splendor of its social particularities, as the band that performs that musical composition with its tempos and tones.

"In the professional field of social communication – she said – all its practices are important, each one must be done with responsibility and in balance with the others"; but – she asked – "how do we put those musical notes on a score that in Cuba functions as an orchestra?".

To clarify that and other questions, she has dedicated 35 years of a life as a researcher that, this Wednesday, December 21st, was recognized with the Carlos J. Finlay Order, granted by the Council of State to national and foreign figures for their valuable contributions to the development of natural or social sciences.

For Hilda, there is still "much to research about Communication and its complexity in order to improve our society and its human relations and also as a way to counteract manipulative and unprofessional practices, put at the service of dirty maneuvers such as cognitive warfare".

That is why that Order – she affirmed – represents the anonymous work that is done in Cuba to research, from its own academic field, Communication"; its systematicity and organicity – she added – will grant it the deserved legitimacy.

Her diploma, master's, doctoral, and other more recent studies have made Hilda recognized with national and international awards, such as the one granted by the Latin American Federation of Schools of Social Communication and the Prize of the Academy of Sciences of Cuba in 2018.

The symphony of communicative praxis that Hilda leads trusts in social commitment and also in the power of the dose of love and utopia necessary to direct that field in the country. Like music, communication embodies change and dynamism: two elements that – the dean expressed in 2020 – continue to be essential for shaping the country we want.