Havana, July 5 (RHC)-- On the occasion of the Caribbean Festival underway in the eastern city Santiago de Cuba, the International Colloquium entitled “Hugo Chávez, the passion that unites us”, opened on Friday.

The two-day event will conclude with a rally of solidarity with the people from Venezuela

Mercedes Salazar, director of the Venezuelan System of Popular Culture, cultural personalities invited to the Caribbean Festival, Chavez scholars, as well as representatives of mass and political organizations were present at the inaugural ceremony held in the Hall of Santiago´s Antonio Maceo Revolution Square.

At the opening, Juan Carlos Vaillant, delegate of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with Peoples -ICAP-, in the eastern city, thanked the guests for attending the fourth edition of the event that seeks to learn from the life and work of Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro and discuss ideas to preserve their legacies.

The program of debate and exhibition of the Colloquium was initiated by Cuban journalist Jorge Legañoa with the conference entitled “Chavismo, continuity or rupture?,” which versed on the current challenges being faced by the Venezuelan people