Convention Center in Havana, a living memory of events in Cuba (I)

If we talk about places in Cuba that have hosted major events in the country, one of them is undoubtedly the Convention Palace in Havana (Palco).

The Center's opening could not have been more active, given that its inauguration, on September 3, 1979, took place during the 6th Summit Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement, which began on that day.

Conceived by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz; Celia Sanchez Manduley, heroine of the Revolution; and the Commanders of the Revolution Juan Almeida Bosque, Ramiro Valdes Menendez and Guillermo Garcia Frias, the site is now in its 43rd year of existence.

More than four decades after its creation, it continues to be a living memory of events where the most important decisions of the political, cultural, sports, scientific, legal and economic life of the Caribbean island are taken and exposed, and it is a scenario for countries from the rest of the world to share their knowledge with this Caribbean nation.

The most valuable aspect of the great Havana palace that is Palco is its human capital, since it combines youth and experience to guarantee the comfort and organization that characterize its facilities and events.

The first generation of the Center

Of the 43 years that the Havana Convention Center has held the event, Zosima Lopez Ruiz has 41 in her service record as a professional organizer of congresses, from the initial design and conception stage to its culmination.

She says that she arrived in late 1981 because the organization needed foreign language graduates to work as Room Officer at the 68th Conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

From her resume at Palco, she confessed that the 5th edition of the 1997 Pedagogy Congress marked her life, due to its volume, magnitude, complexity in the organization and logistics, since it surpassed 6,000 foreign participants.

"Pedagogy 1997 demanded changes regarding accommodation and transportation in Havana, in that period the real occupancy capacities were lower than the current ones and it was necessary to move visitors from Conventional Tourism to hotels in the outskirts of the city", she recalled.

Lopez Ruiz commented that the Karl Marx Theater, with a capacity of 5,000 people, was not enough for the official opening, so they subcontracted the Cristino Naranjo Social Worker's Club (next to the theater), so that those who could not access the place could watch the ceremony, which was attended by Fidel, through screens.

She considers Palco to be the ideal school when it comes to event organization, and recommends that the new generations of the entity be trained in the doctrine of know-how to contribute and apply scientifically based tools as updated, competent and responsible professionals.
Clara Jaimes, a lifetime dedicated to Palco

Clara Jaimes witnessed the growth of the foundations of the Convention Center when the institution barely existed in 1978 and she was not yet 40 years old.

Now, when she is 84, she told the Cuban News Agency what it has been like to reach this 43rd anniversary in a leading place in the organization of national and regional events.

Since she began her work at the Center, Clara has performed the same job: "I am head of the cleaning brigade and in that square I assisted in the beginning all the offices, together with four other colleagues.

"We worked side by side and although now there are only two of us left to clean half of the facility, we feel good," she added.

For Jaimes, the greatest honor of her time at Palco is having worked with the Commander in Chief and meeting all the presidents of the world who were in its halls.

"I still keep a photo that says "To Clarita Jaimes, affectionately, Fidel Castro" and that for me has an incredible value", she stressed.

To the new staff Jaimes advises honesty above all and to put a lot of love in each task, because for her the generation that today fills every corner of the Center not only contributes with new ideas, but also constitutes the successor of those who saw the birth of such an emblematic site.