In the City Council of Arona, Tenerife, Canary Islands, the Islamérica Festival has been one of the most recent initiatives to “revitalize the cultural, social and historical ties between the Canary Islands and Latin America; in addition to reconnecting with the brotherhood and solidarity of those peoples from the other pond who gave so much to our grandparents, and to whom we owe so much ”.
During almost five weeks, between debates, book presentations, documentary projections and concerts of traditional Cuban music, its participants revived the strong bond that over the years fused and gave birth to new movements of their own. A whole historical and cultural heritage, which revives the riches of the present settled by traces of the past.
José Alberto Delgado Domínguez, Councilor for Tourism and Institutional Relations of Arona exclusively to CubaSí explained to us how from the heart of Spain, there are many people who keep and organize as many stories as links could arise between both nations. This first edition was baptized as, Cuba: El rencuentro.
“Cuba is a country with which Arona has been twinned since the 1990s and which we have never forgotten.” He also assured us that “today many aroneros continue to live on the Caribbean island as a result of the emigration that took place between 1895 and 1930 to work in the sugar mills, mainly in Manzanillo and Camagüey.”
Via WhatsApp, he reminded us of how the emigration from Arona to Cuba at that time and for a time caused “to take root there, on that Caribbean island, customs, traditions, words that Cubans, especially from the countryside, have molded to their character and idiosyncrasy, so we can affirm that guajiro and islander are synonymous ”.
Likewise, he stressed that “this programming of cultural significance took place at a very opportune moment to value such a precious territory for the Canaries as Cuba, which is going through a difficult economic and social moment as a consequence of the effects of the pandemic. of the Covid-19, seriously accentuated by the North American blockade ”.
The Councilor for Tourism and Institutional Relations reiterated that his council will continue to “support our sister island in these complex moments, using culture not as a weapon of division, nor as a subversive or confrontational strategy, but as a tool for union, and respect for the sovereignty and cultural diversity of the peoples ”.
“As a show of solidarity with the Cuban people, in the month of June, from the Municipal Plenary of the Arona City Council, we condemn the cruel US blockade against Cuba, through a constitutional declaration, in which we demand the end this policy suffocates the Cuban people, violates their human rights, international legality and UN resolutions, “he added.
Watch: Arona City Council is with Cuba and rejects the US blockade.
Like this, there are plenty of examples to show that the Cuban revolution is not alone in the world and it does have brother peoples and friends who support it in its political and social work, as well as, oppose and support it in its struggle for the cessation of the criminal and unjust economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the US government against these people.
To mention, the donations of medicines, resources and medical equipment, more food, show that not only in the most difficult moments not only for this island, but for the entire planet, the Greater Antilles has the happiness of having friendship , the affection, respect and admiration of nations from America itself, Europe and Asia.
The brotherhood of Cuba, with a huge list of countries, such as Mexico, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Russia, China, Italy and a good part of the countries that make up the African continent, was created, consolidated, and today lasts because of the reciprocal of the relationships that for decades our leader Fidel Castro Ruz was faithful to preserve, due to their human character and principle of solidarity.
Brotherhood between these ties of union have been the basis of years of stories in common, but, above all, culture, each of the arts among themselves, continues to be that bridge that does not allow us to forget authors and history books and novels, compositions musicals, photographs, sculptures, paintings, and all kinds of decorative arts that were part of heterogeneous births.
