Students and professors of the Venezuelan Institute for Culture and Cooperation “Hugo Chávez Frías” in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines expressed their solidarity with the Venezuelan people and government at the academic and cultural activity corresponding to the January-March 2019 trimester of the Institute.
The activity was held on Tuesday, April 2nd, 2019 with the firm purpose of publicizing the academic and cultural experiences that the Institute has developed to keep the Venezuelan and Caribbean identity alive.
Tanika May and Davina Roberts, level 4 Spanish students in their responsibility as the masters of ceremony expressed their commitment and support to the Bolivarian Revolution.
They recalled that thanks to the government of Commander Chávez and Nicolás Maduro they managed to graduate with a university degree in a Venezuelan institution, thanks to the scholarship program developed by the Venezuelan nation for Vincentian students.
The head of the Venezuelan mission in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Francisco Pérez Santana congratulated the students for achieving their promotion to higher levels of Spanish, at the same time, he detailed the economic, political and media blockade affecting the Venezuelan people due to the continuous aggressions of the international right wing led and promoted by the US Government.
Pérez presented a video that denounced the theft of Venezuelan gold by the Bank of England and the responsibility of the US government of promoting an invasion in the Bolivarian homeland.
Pérez Santana stressed the effort made by the Bolivarian Government to maintain this type of educational, cultural activities of brotherhood among the peoples of the world in the midst of the economic and criminal warfare to which it has been subjected “Despite the brutal aggression that the United States is carrying out against the Venezuelan people and the Bolivarian government, we follow the legacy of Commander Chávez, we make a huge effort to maintain the Institute and the academic and cultural activities, I thank the teachers who have decided to continue offering Spanish classes to the young Vincentian people, rain, sun or lightning “.
Currently, the Venezuelan Institute for Culture and Cooperation has 63 students in different levels of Spanish, from level 1 to level 5, this was announced by the Academic Coordinator, Andreína Bermúdez: “One of the most important things we do here is to teach Spanish to facilitate communication between people
. To serve as an exhibition, training and promotion center for the cultural aspects of Venezuela. We promote national and American identity by studying the emancipatory thinking of our America. We continue working; we continue doing what we know best to promote the battle of ideas and culture, “he added.
The activity was attended by Vilma Reyes Valdespino, Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba in SVG; Emil Dougan, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, Commerce and Information Technology and Aldia Gumbs-Dyer, Senior Education Officer of the Curriculum Development Unit of the Ministry of Education at SVG.
In this regard, Mrs Gumbs-Dyer thanked the Bolivarian Government for the work done with the Vincentian students for the knowledge of the Spanish language and the contribution to their personal and professional development. Gumbs-Dyer sent a message of solidarity to the people and the Venezuelan government, through which she assured that the SVG government will continue supporting Venezuela “we are all with Venezuela”.
Level 4 spanish teacher, Lotier Rose expressed her gratitude and support of the Venezuelan people and said that as a Cuban she understands the difficult situation that Venezuela is experiencing “I want to say thanks on behalf of the Institute’s group of teachers for giving us the opportunity to work here.
I consider this a privilege to be able to teach another language, with a group of disciplined students who are really interested in learning the language. I am a Spanish teacher in high school and sometimes teaching is difficult because not everyone is interested in knowing the language but here I enjoy my class and it is a privilege for me and for all teachers. We remain in solidarity with the people of Venezuela. “
The students Pamecia Ollivierre, Level 1; Ashelle Morgan of Level 2; Brenton Quammie of Level 3; Lenford Guy of Level 4 and Maxine Bowne of Level 5 shared their experiences in this trimester and thanked the Bolivarian Government for the opportunity, they expressed their support to the Venezuelan people by raising their voices and saying “Viva, viva Venezuela”.
In this regard, Morgan expressed her immense gratitude to the Bolivarian Government and the people of Venezuela, for giving her the opportunity to learn Spanish and the Venezuelan culture for free.
“I am very happy because here at the Institute we have the possibility of studying a language for free, in addition what I liked the most is getting to know the Venezuelan culture, study the emancipatory thinking of some Venezuelan, Latin American and Caribbean heroes and heroines. We condemn the interventionist actions of the United States against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, “she said.
In the context of the academic-cultural activity, the students of level 1 recited the poem written by them “Venezuela for me”; level 2 presented a dialogue referring to a daily situation; level 3 students showed several “tongue-twisters”, level 4 students read a story based on the life of Commander Chávez from the book “Los cuentos del arañero” and level 5 livened the activity by dancing and singing the song ” viva la vida”.
The students that make up the music workshop, Ave María Williams, Justine Douglas, Quammie Brenton, Terron Scott, Abiola Oyeobu (Nigerian Student) performed the Margariteño polo “El Cantar”, through which they showed their talent when executing the Venezuelan cuatro. The students Chantel Legair and Calvern Gordon, from the cooking workshop, read some texts in English and Spanish about the origin and manner of preparation of two typical Venezuelan meals, such as: Tequeños and Tizana, of which they made a sample to the delight of those present.
In the context of declaring solidarity with the Venezuelan people, the Conversation Workshop group presented a staging called Emancipatory Ideas, which consisted of the declamation of ideas and relevant thoughts about some heroes and heroines that have marked an ethical, political, historical and counter hegemonic reference in Latin America and the Caribbean, such as: Joseph Chatoyer (SVG), Simón Bolívar (Venezuela), Manuela Sáenz (Ecuador), Ernesto Ché Guevara (Argentina-Cuba), Frida Khalo (Mexico), Gabriela Mistral ( Chile), Rigoberta Menchú (Guatemala), Eva Perón (Argentina), Fidel Castro (Cuba) and Hugo Chávez (Venezuela).
Dressed according to the character they represented, they performed the song “The Drums of Peace” asking for a world without wars or threats and exclaiming “Enough is enough … the drums of the earth sound, the drums of peace, burn the drums of war so they do not sound more, so they do not sound … Blood for oil, No! “
To conclude, Professor Bermúdez said that in the Bolivarian Government: “We believe and act in accordance with the principles of equality, equity and humanity, because where there is a person who needs to learn Spanish and know Venezuelan culture, the Venezuelan Institute of Culture and Cooperation Hugo Chávez Frías will do everything possible to continue giving “The greatest sum of social happiness”, as our Liberator Simón Bolívar said.
The Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in SVG continues to develop strategies for the collective creation of knowledge to promote spaces of solidarity and defense of the homeland of Bolívar and Chávez.
