The Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph E. Gonsalves and his wife Eloisa Gonsalves, attended the emotional political-cultural meeting held at the Embassy of the Republic of Cuba to pay tribute to Commander in Chief Fidel Castro in the first year of his physical disappearance.
Those attending the activity, which brought together personalities from the political and cultural Vincentian life, Cuban collaborators and residents, Vincentians graduated in Cuba and members of the diplomatic corps, shared their experiences, anecdotes, reflections and even the relics of their meetings or contacts with the Commander in Chief.
In her initial intervention, the Ambassador of Cuba, Vilma Reyes Valdespino, said that the importance and usefulness of Fidel's legacy will be in our capacity to analyze the facts and circumstances from the prism of Fidel's thought, which is equivalent to bringing Fidel to our battles of today and tomorrow.
Those present listened to the exciting testimonies of Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves about his friendship with the Commander in Chief and about lesser known moments of the nexus between the two. Gonsalves described Fidel as an extraordinary and surprising human being, full of humanism, life and love for life.
After intervening several times and interacting with the interventions of other participants, Gonsalves pointed out that Fidel was his friend, his brother, who he is going to miss him and who, in fact, he already misses.
Ex-Chancellor Michael Browne, former Ambassador Dexter Rose and the CEO of VINLEC Mr. Thornley Myers, a graduate of Cuba, shared memories of the circumstances and emotions of their personal encounters with Fidel.
The President of the Association of Cubans living in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Arianna Taylor, recounted with gratitude, the incredible story of the participation of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro and Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves in a decisive episode of her personal life.
Angela Jackson, on behalf of the Vincentians graduated from Cuban educational institutions, expressed her enormous gratitude to Cuba and Fidel for the possibility of receiving an education of such high level and for having made reality, what for them, being children of humble people, was simply a dream.
The lawyer Rene Baptiste, President of the Association of Writers, Producers and Artists of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, praised the role of Fidel in the development of Art and Culture, not only in Cuba, but also in Latin America and the Caribbean. She also highlighted the role of Fidel as the inspiration for the International Book Fair of Havana, in which she participated on two occasions.
The testimonies of the Venezuelan revolutionary combatant, Lídice Altuve, who pointed out that Fidel's action and thought, are at the base of his political and ideological formation, were shared with particular sensitivity.
During the friendly exchange the videos of the songs "Riding with Fidel" by Raúl Torres, and "Lo prometí" by Lachi and Yasel were shown. The audience also enjoyed the performances of Arianna Taylor and the Vincentian folk group "resistance drummers"