HAVANA — The First International Fidel Colloquium: Legacy and Future opened here Aug. 10. René González Barrios, director of the Fidel Castro Ruz Center, which is organizing the four-day event, told participants that the 1,500 people attending include over 1,000 from 63 different countries, including the United States — a demonstration of solidarity in face of Washington’s deepening attacks on the Cuban people and their socialist revolution.
“Fidel Castro’s thought continues to be the most precise compass to navigate the storm that the Cuban people are living through,” Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said in his speech at the opening session. Fidel taught us “that socialism is the only road to save humanity from the abyss.”
Díaz-Canel noted that just coming to Cuba today in face of the tightening blockade and imperialist hostility “is an act of militant solidarity that honors the legacy of Fidel Castro.” There are large delegations from Mexico, Puerto Rico, the U.S., Brazil and elsewhere in the Americas, as well as Europe, Asia and the Pacific.
The opening program included greetings from international representatives. “No one can speak of freedom in Africa without mentioning Cuba,” said Tjitunga Elijah Ngurare, prime minister of Namibia. More than 400,000 Cuban volunteers fought alongside Angolan forces over the 16-year struggle to repel repeated invasions by the U.S.-backed apartheid regime in South Africa. The victory of the Angolan, Namibian and Cuban forces at Cuito Cuanavale in 1988 “led to the independence of Namibia,” which had been a colony of South Africa, and to the end of apartheid itself, he said.
The colloquium includes dozens of panel discussions on the legacy of Fidel Castro, covering topics ranging from the internationalism of the Cuban Revolution to questions of education, healthcare, culture, the emancipation of women and much more. There are book presentations and cultural events as well, and the closing session Aug. 13 takes place alongside events nationwide marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of Castro.
The conference coincided with the 34th Havana International Book Fair, which had been postponed in February due to Washington’s oil blockade and multiple additional economic sanctions aimed at crushing the example of the socialist revolution opened by Cuban working people more than 65 years ago.
“No matter how difficult the circumstances, we could not fail to hold this fair, dedicated to Fidel,” declared Juan Rodríguez Cabrera, president of the Cuban Book Institute, when it opened. From the earliest days of the revolution, Castro was “our greatest promoter of books and literature.”
It is a tremendous effort to carry out these major political and cultural events under the conditions Cubans face as a result of Washington’s blockade, growing sanctions and war threats. The lack of fuel means there are extensive blackouts, virtually no buses or other public transport, and daily challenges just to obtain food, water and other basic needs. Nevertheless, Cubans visiting the book fair Aug. 11 said it was important to come, by foot, electric tricycle, and any other means, as an act of dignity and sovereignty. The book fair runs through Aug. 16.