Kingston, Jamaica, 20 October 2019. With the projection of the Cuban film Inocencia, Cubans residing in Jamaica, members of the Cuban Diplomatic Mission and other guests celebrated the Day of Cuban Culture.
The occasion was equally conducive to pay tribute to the legendary ballet dancer and choreographer Alicia Alonso, who passed away on October 17 in the Cuban capital.
Addressing those present, the Third Secretary of the Embassy, Mr. Ulises Calvo Borges, referred to the validity of one of the most relevant events treasured in the Cuban history, the intonation for the first time of the National Anthem. He stated that this event is a symbol of the Homeland and a concrete expression of the patriotic character of the Cuban people.
Quoting Graziella Pogolotti, a prestigious essayist and outstanding Cuban intellectual, Mr. Calvo Borges said: “For peoples like ours, culture and nation are inseparable processes of permanent construction. And symbols belong to the field of culture. On October 20, the bold act of cutting off the Gordian knot that tied us to the metropolis crystallized in the Anthem of Bayamo. Along with political freedom, in La Demajagua Carlos Manuel de Céspedes emancipated his slaves and invited them to participate in the common effort to build a nation, which could only come true if it belonged to all, breaking the chains imposed by Spain and the infamous shackles welded by the Creole planter aristocracy.”