Paris, October 2024. The participation in the International Conference of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme offered a favorable setting to enhance Cuba's cooperation with UNESCO in documentary heritage. At the important event, Cuba was represented by the Director of the Document Management Center of the Cuban Foreign Ministry, Saylin Sánchez Portero, who was accompanied by Maria del Carmen Herrera Caseiro, Cuban Ambassador to UNESCO, and Raysa Rodríguez Gómez, Specialist of the Center.
During her stay in Paris, the island's official held a fruitful exchange with the Assistant Director General of UNESCO for the Information and Communication Sector, Mr. Tawfik Jelassi, in which they evaluated formulas to deepen cooperation. The negative impact of the blockade on Cuba's efforts in these areas was recognized in this space, particularly in terms of conservation and digitization of documentary heritage.
As part of the program, the Cuban official visited the UNESCO archives and spoke with its directors and specialists.
Cuba has a rich documentary heritage. The country has registered three materials in the International Register of the UNESCO Memory of the World Program, namely: José Martí's Stationery (2005); ICAIC Latin American Newsreels by Santiago Álvarez (2009) and the Collection “Life and work of Ernesto Che Guevara, from the original manuscripts of adolescence and youth to the Campaign Diary in Bolivia” (2015).