Cuban prima ballerina assoluta, Alicia Alonso, welcomed Puerto Rican freedom fighter, Oscar López Rivera, at the Cuban National Ballet headquarters.

López Rivera gave a bouquet of white roses to the Cuban dance legend, who praised the Puerto Rican freedom fighter’s heroism after having being unjustly locked in US jails for almost 36 years for Puerto Rico’s independence. With the attendance of Cuban Friendship Institute President, Fernando González, the meeting highlighted the friendly ties between Cuba and the sister Caribbean island and the links of the Cuban National Ballet Company, directed by Alonso, with Borinquen. 

«Cuba and Puerto Rico are the two wings of one bird», added Alicia Alonso, quoting Puerto Rican poetess, Lola Rodríguez de Tió, highlighting the importance of being aware of what being free means.

Concerning the sister island’s current situation, López Rivera said that Puerto Rico is still being colonized, because the US government is reluctant to return the homeland to them, but <<we will never give up>>, López Rivera added. The Puerto Rican patriot said that Cuba and his nation share the same dreams and there will come a time when all countries of the region will be together in an Antillean Federation, a dream by Cuban National Hero José Martí and Puerto Rico’s Eugenio María de Hostos.

The Director of the Cuban National Dance Museum, Pedro Simón, mentioned the bonds between the Cuban ballet company and the island nation, some of whose dancers and teachers were Cuban National Ballet company members. Simón presented López Rivera with a DVD containing a documentary produced by the National Dance Museum about the life and work of the famous Cuban prima ballerina.