Cuban-American activist Carlos Lazo, director of the Puentes de Amor solidarity project, and members of the Buena Fe duo, from the Caribbean island, joined forces today in Panama to reject the United States blockade of that nation.
Lazo first led a march through central streets of the isthmus carrying the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre to ask from another latitude for the end of Washington’s unilateral coercive measures to suffocate Cuban families.
The participants in the pilgrimage, another of the initiatives of the Martiana Association of Cuban Residents in this country (Amcrp), whose national coordinator is Humberto Pérez, left the Don Bosco Church, in this capital, to the Casa de la Cultura Cuba- Panama, La Vitrina, where the Mambisa virgin will rest, as a symbol of unity.
Along the way they made a necessary stop at the Belisario Porras park, next to the busts of General Antonio Maceo and the National Hero, José Martí, a stop they dedicated to ratifying the commitment to continue the struggles of these times, until the North American administrations put end to the hostile policy.
The solemn installation ceremony of the Virgin, who is popularly called Cachita, was marked by the blessings pronounced in an emotional speech by Monsignor José Domingo Ulloa, Metropolitan Archbishop of Panama.
In his words at the liturgy, which was also attended by the Cuban ambassador to the isthmus, Lydia Margarita González, the religious leader affirmed that speaking of Caridad del Cobre is a way of acknowledging the soul of the Cuban people and the awareness of their identity.
She, like the flag, as she said, unites everyone in spirituality and is a symbol of Cuban identity, for what it represents for identity, integration, unity and reconciliation among all. A woman who is venerated in El Cobre, but is carried in the hearts of all Cubans, she remarked.
In a gesture that consolidates the brotherhood and solidarity between both peoples, Monsignor Ulloa also donated to Casa Cuba an effigy of the Virgin Santa María La Antigua, recognized since 2000 as Patron Saint of Panama, another symbol of what woman means, creator of life and to be revered, as indicated.
The attendees sang religious musical compositions and as closing of the evening the notes of the National Anthem of Cuba.
In exclusive statements to Prensa Latina, Lazo stated that he was sensitively impacted by the new actions of Amcrp, which he has the honor of accompanying along with a group of compatriots who live in Miami, Florida, and the Buena Fe duo from Cuba.
These initiatives even have a close semantic relationship, he commented with a certain metaphor, when we affirm that Puentes de Amor con Buena Fe were founded in Panama to condemn the inhumane siege.
The program, as indicated, will culminate for now with the inauguration this Saturday of the Casa Cuba, a favorable setting also to banish hatred, break the harsh blockade, offer love and continue building bridges that unite the families of the common Homeland for the sake of of your greatest well-being.
