Militant/Martín Koppel

Audience at October 20 presentation of the book Our History Is Still Being Written in Santiago de Cuba. In attendance were numerous leaders of the Cuban Communist Party and the provincial and municipal governments, members of the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution, Chinese-Cuban residents of the city, cadets at the José Maceo Military School, and members of several mass organizations.

Among those attending were members of the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution, Chinese-Cuban residents of Santiago, cadets at the José Maceo Military School, municipal workers, and members of several mass organizations in the city, from the Federation of University Students to the Cuban Women's Federation. Misael Enamorado, first secretary of the Cuban Communist Party in Santiago province, and Rolando Yero, president of the provincial People's Power, were among the numerous party and government leaders present.

It was from the balcony of the municipal government building here that Fidel Castro, on Jan. 2, 1959, addressed the jubilant people of Santiago after the Batista dictatorship's forces had surrendered the city to the Rebel Army, sealing the final victory of the revolutionary war.

In addition to Sío Wong, speakers at the presentation included Iraida Aguirrechu of Editora Política, the publishing house of the Cuban Communist Party's Central Committee, and Mary-Alice Waters, editor of the book and president of Pathfinder Press.

Earlier in the week Sío Wong, Aguirrechu, and Waters had spoken at meetings in the cities of Ciego de ávila, Holguín, and Bayamo. Gen. Armando Choy will speak at two similar events in Quemado de Güines and Corralillo, both in Villa Clara province. And all three authors—Choy, Sío Wong, and Gen. Gustavo Chui—will speak along with Aguirrechu and Waters at a meeting in Havana.

The initiative for the presentations came from the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution. The seven-city tour was hosted in each area by the municipal government and the Cuban Communist Party in the province. In addition to Santiago, in Holguín and Bayamo as well the first secretaries of the party, Miguel Díaz Canel and Lázaro Expósito, were introduced along with the presidents of the municipal assemblies and other government and party officials.

The Ciego de ávila presentation was highlighted by the participation of more than 60 members of Min Chih Tang, the local Chinese-Cuban association. They opened the program with a performance of the Lion Dance and demonstrations of tai chi and martial arts. After the meeting, leaders of Min Chih Tang invited the speakers and other guests to their hall for a Chinese banquet they had prepared. The Holguín meeting also took place in the local Chinese cultural center, and Chinese-Cuban residents participated in the book presentations in every city.

In Bayamo, in the eastern province of Granma, the meeting was held in the patio of the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Museum—the house where the leader of the 1868 independence war against Spain, known in Cuba as "the father of the country," was born. Afterward the speakers and other guests joined hundreds of city residents as honored guests at an outdoor cultural gala held as part of the nationwide celebration of Cuban Culture Day.

More than 200 copies of Our History Is Still Being Written, along with other Pathfinder titles, have been snapped up by those attending the meetings, which have been widely covered by the Cuban media, both local and national, including television and radio.
 
 
Related articles:
UCLA panel in LA to discuss book on Chinese-Cubans in Cuban Revolution
Cuban media cover widely 7-city book tour  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home