Barcelona, 1 October 2025. The Minister of Culture of the Republic of Cuba, Alpidio Alonso Grau, headed the Cuban delegation participating in the Third UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development (MONDIACULT 2025), held in the city of Barcelona, Spain.
During his intervention in the ministerial forum, the Cuban minister underscored the central role of culture as a foundation for peace, social justice and international cooperation, as well as the need to translate this political consensus into concrete actions that strengthen cultural exchange, the protection of identities and cultural diversity in the context of current global challenges. In this framework, he denounced the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba, as well as the genocide against the Palestinian people and the aggressions against the sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
On the first day of the Conference, the Cuban delegation participated in various sessions, including the presentation of UNESCO’s Global Report on Cultural Policies. Bilateral meetings also began, notably those held with the Minister of Culture of Spain, Ernest Urtasun, and with the Minister of Culture of the Government of Catalonia, Sònia Hernández, aimed at enhancing the quality and level of cultural relations.
On Wednesday morning, the Minister of Culture was received by UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Culture, Ernesto Ottone. During the meeting, the state of relations between Cuba and the Organization was reviewed, the development of MONDIACULT 2025 and the Transcultura programme was positively assessed, and new avenues for cooperation were discussed, including the restoration of the Cubanacán Schools of Art and the promotion of books and reading.
Previously, Minister Alonso Grau participated in the 22nd Ibero-American Conference of Ministers of Culture, held on 28 September, where he intervened on two occasions on issues related to the Ibero-American Cultural Charter, cultural rights, the culture of peace and contemporary cultural challenges, with an emphasis on proposals to be implemented following MONDIACULT.
During the working sessions, the head of the Cuban delegation held exchanges with representatives of numerous countries and organizations, including meetings with the delegations of Uruguay, Venezuela and Angola, as well as with the Director of the Cervantes Institute, Luis García Montero. He also met with the Association for the Development of Culture, Environment, Sport, Education and Scientific Research (CEMEDIC) and with the President of the Catalan Agency for Peace, Xavier Cutillas, with a view to strengthening cultural cooperation.
MONDIACULT 2025 was closed with an address by UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, who highlighted the broad consensus reached on the recognition of culture as a pillar of sustainable development and its fundamental role in education, environmental protection, ethical reflection on artificial intelligence and peacebuilding.
MONDIACULT is the world’s largest conference on cultural policies. The 2025 edition brought together delegations from 163 countries, 118 of them headed by Ministers and Vice-Ministers of Culture, with the participation of 2,569 attendees, including representatives of more than 100 non-governmental organizations, 48 youth representatives from 34 countries, around 90 intergovernmental organizations, 20 ministerial thematic sessions and 195 side events.