On August 24th, as part of the program for the Cuban delegation participating in CARIFESTA 2025, the panel "Talking about Cuba and Fidel. The Enigma of Cuba as a Reference Point for Caribbean Civilization" was held in Barbados' historic Golden Square Freedom Park.For more than two hours, the Cuban Revolution, our beloved Fidel, and the Cuban people took center stage in this discussion, as discussed by the panelists. The panel included Cuban cultural figures Gloria Rolando, renowned Cuban filmmaker, and poet Nancy Morejón, accompanied by officials from the Cuban Ministry of Culture, Lizzet Mártínez Luzardo, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Culture of Cuba, Jorge A. Fernández Torres, Director of the National Museum of Fine Arts, and Amanda Sánchez Vega, specialist at Casa de Las Américas.
Under the leadership of His Excellency, Mr. David Comissiong, Ambassador of Barbados to CARICOM and a loyal friend of Cuba, each of the speakers expressed to the audience present in the hall their personal experiences in meetings with our Commander in Chief, Fidel Castro Ruz, and how those moments with him were enough to inspire the artistic work and/or those experiences of the panelists.
This encounter with the History of Cuba and Fidel's revolutionary thought confirmed how much we have in common with Caribbean identity and culture, beyond the presence of Barbadian settlements in our national territory. In addition to the presence of these two glories of Cuban culture who were part of the panel, the audience was able to enjoy a cultural exchange with a special moment from the Right Honorable Barbadian Cultural Ambassador, "Mighty Gabby," a performance by Cuban poet Sinecio Verdecia, director of La Casa de la Poesía, who recited and sang some of his poems from the volume "Canto Anónimo," and a dance performance by two dancers who are part of the Cuban delegation to CARIFESTA 2025.
This exchange was a stage and witness to the good bilateral relations between our countries, and once again made clear Barbados' solidarity and admiration for the Cuban people, for our resilience and perseverance in the fight to lift the blockade imposed by the United States government, and for our ongoing demand that Cuba be removed from the list of alleged sponsors of terrorism.