New York, March 26, 2018. In 2007, the United Nations declared March 25 the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, aiming at offering the opportunity to honor and remember those who suffered and died at the hands of the brutal system of slavery; as well as raising awareness about the dangers of racism and prejudice today.
Around 1.3 million Africans arrived in Cuba between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, and became a fundamental pillar of the formation of Cuban nationality and identity. As a tribute to their history, the representation of the island to the United Nations, actively participated in the activities programmed by the world organization today, including the Commemorative Meeting held at the General Assembly.
The last session of the program was precisely an exhibition of the culinary and cultural legacy of the victims of the transatlantic trade, in which Cuba showed traditional Cuban dishes related to the African trace. The mojito closed the day, to remind us that the famous Cuban rum was made with the sweat of the slaves who worked endlessly in sugarcane plantations and sugar mills.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations