Colloquium on Martí and the U.S. opens its virtual sessions today

HAVANA, Cuba, May 12 (ACN) The online International Colloquium The United States in José Martí's pupil starts today in honor of the National Hero and Apostle of Cuba's independence on the 126th anniversary of his fall in combat.

Organized by the Center for Studies on José Martí (CEM), these meetings—held every year on May 19—address important topics for discussion, and the one chosen this time is not the exception: January 3 marked the 141st anniversary of Martí’s arrival in the U.S.A. to dodge his second deportation to Spain and keep raising support for a war doomed to end prematurely a few months later.

He could not have imagined then that he would stay in that country for almost 15 years, lead from there the future pro-independence effort, and write truly essential and visionary texts.

During his stay—the most fruitful of his political and literary work—he witnessed the realization of what he described as "the open approach of the era of U.S. predominance over the peoples of America", which he resolutely and brilliantly confronted in the Monetary Conference of 1891 in Uruguay.

While in the U.S., Martí enriched his thinking and learned about the scientific and technological advances of the time, but he soon noticed the country’s dark side and true nature, a truth that until the end of his days he kept revealing to the peoples south of Rio Bravo.

The relevance and importance of the Colloquium are undeniable, so much so at a time when the Empire is trying to establish a new era of predominance over Latin America and the Caribbean while escalating a war of culture and symbols against Cuba and building smear campaigns, deception, manipulation, distortion and slander.

The virtual forum will also delve into Marti's views on U.S. society and culture and his profuse literary work in and about the United States. It will also celebrate the 130th anniversary of Martí's famous Versos sencillos (Simple Verses).
The opening session will be followed by the panel Martí and the truth about the United States and the conference With the oar of the bow, a tribute by the “new pines” to the National Hero of Cuba on the 126th anniversary of his fall in combat and ascent to immortality.