Cuban and Belizean flags

Belmopan, October 22 (RHC)-- Belize's Minister of Education, Culture and Science, Francis Fonseca, said that Cuba constitutes an example of solidarity and humanism, despite the restrictions of the U.S. blockade on the island.

Fonseca highlighted the cultural richness of the neighboring nation and the historical relations of reciprocal cooperation, while participating in this capital in the celebration of the Cuban Culture Day, which every October 20 commemorates the date on which the people sang the National Anthem for the first time, in 1868.

The Cuban embassy in Belize said in a note that the House of Culture of Belize City, its former capital, was the site chosen to evoke that event, considered one of the most relevant in the history of the country.

On the occasion, Ambassador María Caridad Balaguer highlighted the special meaning of that combat hymn, which the people called La Bayamesa when Mambi troops under the command of the leader of the independence cause, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, liberated the city of Bayamo.

Balaguer said that her fervent notes have accompanied millions of fellow countrymen since that day in transcendental moments for the nation.

The diplomat thanked the people and government of Belize for their firm rejection of the unjust economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed against Cuba, in addition to their permanent support and solidarity.

The evening was attended by the Governor General, Dama Froyla, the Minister of Public Service, Constitutional and Political Reform and Religious Affairs, Henry Charles Usher, and the Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Immigration, Ambassador Amalia Mai.

Also in attendance were the Director General of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Technology, Dian Maheia; members of the Board of the National Institute of Culture and History, representatives of the cultural sector, collaborators and Cuban residents in Belmopan.