Last week, a delegation of 5 Belizean artists, teachers, and community activists went to Havana, Cuba on mission to foster a renewed spirit of solidarity and friendship with Cuba.
These Belizeans included Yasser Musa, YaYa Marin Coleman, Carlos "Lito" Quiroz, Katie Usher, and Delmer Tzib. They had a very filled itinerary, meeting with influential Cubans in the fields of art, education, and community activism. A press release says that they had discussions with Casa de Las Americas, a Latin American publishing and cultural organization to collaborate on projects that they would like to bring to Belize.
The group then participated in the March of the Torches, a pilgrimage from the steps of the University of Havana to the Martian Forge, to re-enact the journey that the Cuban National Hero Jose Marti endured when he was imprisoned and forced to perform labour for his captors.
There were several other important events that the delegation participated in, but, you get the point. They were well received by their Cuban hosts, and today, Yasser Musa told us that he and the other participants were impressed by the hospitality of their Cuban counterparts:
Yasser Musa - Participant
"It is very rare where artists, community activists, poets, writers - come together to journey to another nation, and in this case, Cuba, which was a special moment for all of us. For one, when we arrived a tornado hit the same day. So, we express then, and we express again our solidarity with that disaster and the people of Cuba who are going through that. But, we also had an opportunity during the week, to cover a wide spectrum of activities. In art, we opened an exhibit, Caniar, which is a graphic art exhibit with Belizean artist Carlos Lito Quiroz, and a world renown Cuban illustrator, Falco. They specialize in art that is very provocative socially and consciously aware, and that exhibit opened. In addition to that, we also had a presentation at the same space, the Pedagogical University of the Bembe Vision book that we had published last year. And that's important because the Bembe Vision book represent the historical narratives of important and significant women in Belize who have been obviously erased."
"One of the moments which I found very powerful is when we met Pedro Rodriguez, who is a top world- renown Cuban intellectual, who wants to come to Belize to trace the footsteps of Jose Marti. Marti, who is the Cuban soul of the revolution, he was in Belize as a child, British Honduras then in 1863, way back. But the Cuban intellectual in seeing what he came to Belize for. So, we really want to collaborate on that level."
"We were overwhelmed, I would say, by the level of solidarity being expressed. We met for example with the Yo Si Puedo program, which is a literacy program that we would want to bring to Belize to teach people who need to learn how to read and write. And they were very encouraging because that program has worked in 30 countries, already around the world, in many languages, including indigenous languages. We met with the Fernando Gonzalez, who is the president of ICAP, the solidarity group organization, who is a national hero in Cuba. He's a part of the Cuban 5. And he sat with us and discussed with us as if - we see ourselves as just artists, writers, and community activists. But, we felt this level of respect and level of seriousness about engaging with us on a mission to come back to our own society to make some important moves."
The trip was made possible through the Belize-Cuba Solidarity Movement, with the support of the Cuban Embassy in Belize, as well as Belizean Ambassador to Cuba, Lissette Perez.
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