National Youth Seminar on Martí Studies kicks off online

HAVANA, Cuba, Feb 24 (ACN) The passion for Cuba, its history and the most universal of its sons, José Martí, will mark the final sessions of the 45th edition of the National Youth Seminar on Martí Studies, virtual for the first time and starting today, 126 years after the Cuban people restarted their independence struggles.

On such a glorious date as February 24, our cry cannot be other than the Independence or Death! of the Mambises and the Fatherland or Death! of Fidel, as there is no other formula to win than preserving that unity of the patriots, for which the Apostle fought so hard when organizing the necessary war, declared Yusuam Palacios Ortega, president of the Marti Youth Movement (MJM) to the ACN.

It is unity that has allowed us to defeat again and again the giant of the seven leagues and it is that unity that the enemies of the Cuban nation are aiming at with their campaigns of hatred, vile deeds and intrigues, which even though the times are different, they are very similar to those faced by our National Hero in his redemptive work, said the also director of the Fragua Martiana Museum.

Intense and fruitful will be, therefore, the days of today and tomorrow, of great rejoicing, exchange, reflection, learning and also of revolutionary reaffirmation, in a forum that will become a tribune and trench of combat against the servile and their masters, who seek to sow chaos, division, fear, hopelessness, and attack everything that is sacred to the people of Cuba, he emphasized.

It will be Palacios Ortega who will inaugurate the meeting this morning and his words will be followed by a lecture by Dr. Luis Toledo Sande, renowned scholar of the life and work of the Hero of Dos Fríos, author of the biography of Martí "Cesto de llamas", National Critics Award, and Honorary President of the national jury of the XLV Seminar.

Since its debut in 1972, each edition of these annual events has strengthened its value as an exercise and process that involves thousands of children, adolescents and young people, as well as the family, the school, the community, society as a whole and its institutions.

The 45th edition has been no less -even in spite of the pandemic- and an excellent example of this are the 65 works chosen by the national jury, among nearly 200 entries from all over the country, which will be presented today by their authors through videoconferences from their respective territories, in working sessions in commissions that will occupy the rest of this first day.

As dissimilar as the topics are the ways of approaching and honoring the Master and, thus, this selection of selections includes valuable projects, research, pedagogical and community work experiences, software, plays, dance and plastic arts, audiovisuals and musical and literary compositions.
On Thursday, meanwhile, two panels are scheduled, one on the outstanding intellectual and revolutionary Armando Hart Dávalos, to whom the XLV Youth Seminar of Martí Studies is especially dedicated and pays tribute, and the other on the theme Martí, Fidel and the year 1961: a true cultural revolution.

Tomorrow's agenda also includes a workshop for the exchange and socialization of projects and work experiences of the MJM, the Marti Chairs and the provincial branches of the José Martí Cultural Society.

In the afternoon, the awards and closing session will take place, during which the call for the 46th edition of the National Seminar will be made public, and the Movimiento Juvenil Martiano will present its highest award, the Joven Patria award, to several personalities and institutions.
From their accounts and pages on Facebook and other social networks, the Union of Young Communists and the MJM will broadcast live these days, and those who wish to enrich the debate with their opinions, reflections and messages may use the following tags: #45YouthSeminar, #PatriaOMuerte, #MartianosHoy, #MartiVive and #ConElRemoDeProa.