Debates, outreach activities and cultural events are some of the activities held so far in the centres for higher education in Cuba as part of the preparations for the Seventh Congress of Latin American and Caribbean Students (CLAE) scheduled to take place from August 17 to August 22 in Managua, Nicaragua.
These meetings, in which students exchange on their experiences about the cause of the Cuban Five, the fight against terrorism, the right to free, public, quality Education and the Latin American integration are the main contributions of Cuba to this event, which is called to create a strong political movement of commitment and participation in the region.
Nirza García Valdés, member of the National Secretariat of the University Students Federation (FEU), told Juventud Rebelde newspapers that the meetings – held already in universities in Havana, Las Tunas, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, Santiago de Cuba and Isla de la Juventud— stand out for the initiatives to spread the spirit of the Congress nationwide.
She said that these meetings contribute to feeling closer to the event in Nicaragua, to extol the principles inherited from the University Reform of Cordoba, contribute to the student movement of the continent and to its role in the process of Latin American integration and in defence of the underprivileged in the face of the new imperialist wave.
The student leader said that these meetings are not only a space to link our students to those demands, but to the thousands of foreign students currently training in Cuba, who shared their realities in Education and political participation, turning these events into a fiesta of worldwide solidarity.
García Valdés also underlined the workshops promoting the history and the present of the Continental Organization of Latin American and Caribbean Students (OCLAE), which has been presided over by Cuba’s FEU since its founding over forty years ago and is the only platform in the region that represents and upholds the interest of the student youth.
Panels, lectures, exhibitions, dialogues of generations, meetings with past presidents of OCLAE, university outreach projects, fair of the nations, friendship bonfires, sports championships and the performance of representatives of the movement of amateur artists of FEU are some of the activities held for the Seventh Congress.
The student leader said that these activities – which will unfold until June 14- will contribute solid proposals to the agenda and to the lines Cuba will defend in the international congress, dedicated this time to Hugo Chávez and to the traditions of the Nicaraguan people, who celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Sandinista People’s Revolution.
VICTORIA FRIENDS OF CUBA • Solidarity & Friendship 