Photo: teveo

By María Josefina Arce

Every year the mountains of Cuba are filled with magic. Cuban culture, always at the service of the people, arrives to these areas of limitless but intricate beauty by the hand of artists.

The theatrical and literary brigades and crusades have already become a tradition and are eagerly awaited by the inhabitants of those areas, whose joy, amazement and enthusiastic participation is the best reward for those who know no difficulties.

The mountainous regions of Cienfuegos, Villa Clara, Guantánamo and Santiago de Cuba are familiar with this project, which began decades ago and to which new artists join every year.

Precisely, the XIII Artistic-Literary Crusade of the Saiz Brothers Association, which brings together the youngest exponents of art and which recently celebrated its 35th anniversary, has just concluded.

Photo: portal cubaThe mountainous areas of Cienfuegos and Villa Clara once again witnessed during the first week of November this movement, which supports the Revolution's policy of bringing culture to all and making it a true patrimony of the people.

For the first time, brigades from the two central provinces of the country joined forces to take the different artistic manifestations to dozens of mountain communities.

For these young people, committed to their time and their country, it is an unforgettable experience to which they bet every year, because they feel extremely useful to contribute to the welfare and spiritual growth of the inhabitants of the hills.

This initiative has made it possible to influence the aesthetic taste, capacity and artistic appreciation of these people, who are already accustomed to this cultural project, but which never ceases to amaze them and with which they feel identified.

Over the years, social workers, cultural promoters, art students and journalists, and even art exponents from other countries have joined these brigades.

In his words to intellectuals in 1961, the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro (1926-2016), noted, "The Revolution wants artists to put the maximum effort in favor of the people."

And it is that effort that the members of these artistic brigades deploy every year in the depths of Cuba, where they weave bonds of friendship, give life to dreams and fantasies and rescue those traditions that are part of our identity.