Under an inclement midday sun, young people from Holguin and other parts of the world gathered this Tuesday in Holguin’s Calixto Garcia Iniguez Park for a new edition of the Fiesta de los Abrazos (Festival of Hugs). A symbolic act that, beyond its festive character, served as a platform to denounce two global crises: the U.S. economic blockade against Cuba and the conflict in Palestine.
The activity, organized by the University Student Federation (FEU in the Spanish acronym) as part of the Romerías de Mayo, combined art, music and peaceful protest. Attendees formed a human chain while waving Cuban and Palestinian flags in a gesture of solidarity that transcended borders.
Since 1962, the U.S. blockade has marked the lives of Cubans. For the students gathered on May 6th, the Fiesta de los Abrazos was a way of resisting what they described as an “obsolete and cruel policy”.
“The blockade is not only a political issue, it is a reality that limits our access to medicines, technology and development,” said Luis Angel Rivera Castellano, president of the FEU at the University of Holguin. “But today we show that, despite everything, we are still standing.”
If in previous editions the event focused exclusively on the Cuba-U.S. conflict, this year the gaze was broadened to the Middle East. “We young Cubans cannot remain indifferent to the massacre in Palestine,” declared Jorge Pichardo, a young doctor from Holguin. “The embrace today is also for them, because the struggle for dignity is universal.”
At the meeting, the repentist known as El Kíkiri de Cisneros improvised verses to the rhythm of the controversy. While theatrical groups staged performances alluding to the resistance.
Art is another form of struggle, the young people came to the Hugs against the blockade not only to protest, but to create. This traditional space in the Romerías de Mayo demanded an immediate end to the economic blockade against Cuba. A peaceful and just solution for the Palestinian people and respect for the self-determination of peoples.
The Festival of Hugs made it clear that, for this generation, solidarity is not a slogan, but a practice. And while the sirens of war sound in other continents, in Holguin, the message was simple but forceful: No wall will be able to stop the strength of those who unite.
Translated by Aliani Rojas Fernández
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