September 21, 2024
the author and other delegates at the Bridge to the Future conference
Remarks given by Yasel Toledo Garnache at the International Meeting of Young Leaders of Latin America, the Caribbean and China in Dunhuang City, Gansu Province.
Brothers and sisters from Latin America and China
Participants in this edition of Bridge to the Future:
It is an enormous pleasure to be here, to share among people of our generation, coming from various countries, with different ideas, but with the ability to build friendship, to smile, to make jokes and also to talk very seriously about what is happening in our nations, and especially about the better future we want globally.
During these days we have visited places of great cultural and historical interest in this beautiful land, which is China. We have entered into part of its noble soul. We have learned more about its rich art and civilization.
China is a cradle of good, intelligent and industrious people. There are many of us in the world who feel deep love and admiration for this people.
We live in complex times at the international level, of great disputes in the economic, military, scientific, symbolic and cultural fields.
In this context, one of the greatest challenges is to achieve a world of greater solidarity, in which respect for differences and help in all directions are the order of the day.
If only the entire planet were a kind of huge family, in which we all take care of each other and help each other, in which our individual goals are always aimed at being useful to others, to society in our countries and to the international community.
I am very excited that the great majority of the people participating in this exchange are closely related, professionally, with journalism and communication, with art and politics. These are fundamental pillars for transforming contexts and increasingly interconnecting nations and their inhabitants through sensitivity.
We must think of concrete projects that have this objective, with the use of new technologies, and with creative ways that allow us to think and, above all, to act in favor of our countries.
The young people of Latin America and China, of the entire planet, have to propose a fairer world, which always has at its center the welfare of the people. In this sense, we can learn a lot from the Chinese culture and way of being.
There are many verses in the daily efforts of our people from Latin America and the Caribbean: from Peru, Colombia, Chile, Venezuela, Argentina, Honduras, Mexico, Brazil, Cuba and also from China.
I come from Cuba, an archipelago small in geographical extension and with less than 10 million inhabitants, but with a heart, courage and gallantry without limits.
For more than 65 years our people have resisted a cruel economic, commercial and financial blockade by the United States, which aims to suffocate us and kill us with hunger and needs; a blockade that affects all areas of society and prevents, for example, the arrival of medicines for Health, resources for Education, Transportation, Culture, Science, Agriculture…
A blockade that is increasing, with new measures, but Cuba is home to good and beautiful people, who do not let ourselves be defeated nor do we lose our joy, with that huge source of music and culture in general that accompanies us. In Cuba we dance and sing even in the most difficult moments.
What could Cuba do without the blockade? Why don’t they remove it? Why don’t they respect the will of the world community, which for more than 20 years has shown its support for our country through votes in the United Nations Assembly?
They are afraid of our example and the capacity of our people to develop. It hurts them that, barely ninety miles away, we remain faithful to our ideas and to the path we have decided to follow, always with dignity. Each person has the right to choose where to walk and so does Cuba as a nation. That deserves respect.
That small country was able to create its own vaccines to defeat Covid-19, and offer them to other peoples, as China also did; it won several gold medals in the recent Olympic Games and also in the Paralympics. By the way, one of its athletes, Mijaín López, became the wrestler with the most gold medals in the history of the Olympic Games, and many consider him the best wrestler in history.
Cuban doctors and trainers continue to offer their help in other countries. Hundreds of foreign students are trained in Cuban schools. Thousands of Chinese, for example, have studied Spanish in Havana.
Despite the limitations, culture and young creators are a priority in our country. I represent the Hermanos Saíz Association, which brings together young writers, researchers and artists under 36 years of age.
We ourselves organize nearly a hundred events, such as the World Festival of Artistic Youth, Romerías de Mayo, and the Hispano-American Meeting of Writers, which is currently taking place in the province of Villa Clara. We have a platform of more than 50 scholarships and awards, covering all artistic manifestations, radio and television programs, we make artistic presentations in communities, in cities and also in mountainous areas.
We Cubans have a lot to thank China for its constant support. Even in the wars for the independence of our homeland in the 19th century, sons and daughters of this kind land fought alongside Cubans.
In Havana we have the Chinatown and a constant presence of your culture in our society. You keep defending just causes, and represent a real alternative to the evil and neo-fascist manifestations that exist in some parts of the planet.
“Bridge to the Future” is truly a bridge of hope, a platform to meet, exchange, dream and also to be better citizens of the world. Hopefully it will be the impetus for other more comprehensive projects.
We must keep in touch and generate more projects in favor of our countries, think about how to be more useful to our societies and also to the international community.
Thanks to China for its dignity and example, for making spaces like this possible and for uniting us a little more as a generation, regardless of languages or what music we prefer.
May poetry, love and solidarity accompany us always.
Yasel Toledo Garnache is a Cuban ournalist, essayist and narrator, National President of the Hermanos Saíz Association and director of the magazine El Caimán Barbudo.
Source: Cubadebate, translation Resumen Latinoamericano – English