Young members of the "José Martí" Brigade of Voluntary Work and Solidarity with Cuba visited today the headquarters of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, in Cienfuegos.
On its 50th visit to Cuba, this Brigade is mostly made up of young Europeans and sought to commemorate the 170th anniversary of the birth of the Cuban Independence Apostle José Martí, the 64th anniversary of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution and the 70th anniversary of the National Rebellion Day.
Although the Brigade's main activities took place between July 17 and 30, these five young people from the Spanish communities of the Basque Country, Valencia and Catalonia decided to stay longer in Cuba and visit their cities to learn about the reality of Cuban life.
These young people will then visit Trinidad, Sancti Spiritus, the Che Guevara Monument in Santa Clara and places of historical and cultural interest in Havana.
"The blockade is not only commercial, it is also cultural and communicative, because the reality is that if you do not come to Cuba to learn about its reality here, you will only see what is published in the mainstream media, which is not interested in talking about solidarity in Latin America or Africa," said the young Catalan Marina Oro Arbonez.
After the last EU-Celac Summit, the importance of the Peoples' Summits that are held in parallel became more evident, because there the solidarity movements and civil society can meet and discuss outside the politicized agendas of the right, said the young woman trained in Philosophy.
The young members of the Brigade debated with members of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples in this south-central province of Cuba on the importance of pedagogy in teaching patriotic values to young people, as an element to save the Cuban revolution.
They were also interested in the current economic and social changes and the development of the Cuban economy despite the measures of the US economic and commercial blockade against Cuba.