With the performance of the Children's Orchestra of the El Cucalambé Professional Arts School (EPA) from Las Tunas, the Assembly of Balance of the Provincial Direction of Culture began in the Major General Vicente García Revolution Plaza.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- The smiles and applause won by the children of the Artistic Education with their performance, precisely in the General Hall of the institution, summed up the motives of all those gathered there, people who day by day, from different scenarios, defend our culture, aware that there are still many challenges.

This was demonstrated by the opinions expressed during the debate, in which issues such as the need to better defend heritage, with emphasis on our sculptures, museums, and monuments, were highlighted. The museum in Puerto Padre, for example, is still closed. In this regard, Darlenis Urquiola, provincial director of Culture, said that this issue concerns them and steps are being taken to reverse the situation.

For his part, Abel Sastre, director of this entity, stated that they have not stopped their work, bringing heritage to the community. He also reflected on the importance of all institutions being linked to compliance with Law 155, which defends heritage values, and insisted on the need to strengthen the work of local historians so that they are more socially visible.

Visual artist Leonardo Fuentes, on the other hand, pointed out how fruitful has been the insertion of the Zona Creativa project as part of the collateral program of the 15th Havana Biennial. "It has allowed us to explore new ways of doing things, it has encouraged convergence, that necessary exchange," said Fuentes, also the president of the Plastic Arts Branch of the Provincial Committee of UNEAC.

Darlenis Urquiola also stated: "Although the process of removing around 170 sculptures from the territory was completed and ten of these were restored in 2024, they still need to continue working on it, especially in achieving a real responsibility on the part of the organizations and institutions to take care of the works."

Nurys Cantallops, director of the El Cucalambé Professional Arts School (EPA), explained the results achieved by the institution in the past calendar and expressed her gratitude for the repair process to which the center has been subjected. However, she reiterated the need to restore the theatre and the boards of the school, an urgent need for the good development of the Dance specialty.

During the meeting, chaired by the Vice-Minister of Culture Lizette Martínez Luzardo, the work of the Provincial Book and Literature Centre was also praised, as it has been revived in recent times. The birth of new spaces such as the Encuentro Nacional de la Crítica Literaria and the Cruzada Literaria, the latter in conjunction with the Asociación Hermanos Saíz (AHS in Spanish), attest to its intention to defend the world of literature here better and better.

From Manatí, Julio Peña Ferrales argued the importance of work in the community, the systematic training of cultural promoters, and promotion, something the municipality has tried to promote. Others such as Marina Lourdes Jacobo, president of the Nicolás Guillén Foundation (FNG, in Spanish), and Ramón Batista, director of the El Cucalambé Ibero-American House of the Décima, called attention to the need to eliminate the indiscipline that exists on the boulevard of the main city, where the motorbikes are usually driven at full speed at any time of the day, the machete of the statue of Vicente García in the park of the same name was stolen again, among other inconceivable issues, which the intellectual Carlos Tamayo has denounced on social networks - with his pride as a ‘tunero’ to the surface.

Ileana Bascomb, director of the Provincial Heritage Centre, also spoke of the defense of cassava as a tradition in Las Tunas and the joy of contributing to its declaration as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

In general, it was a fruitful assembly that far from empty and complaining statements demonstrated the will to do more for what Fidel called "the shield and sword of the nation." Nor did it fail to honor artists and institutions with outstanding work in 2024.

Among those honored were the intellectual Carlos Tamayo, the first vice-president of Uneac Nelson Acevedo, the concertmaster Elvira Skourtis, the filmmaker Waldina Almaguer, the plastic artist Leonardo Fuentes, the municipal director of culture of Majibacoa María Cristina González Llanes, the director of the museum of Puerto Padre Abel Julio Sastre Matos, the group Los Dandy del 50, the FNG, the Uneac, the AHS, the CPLL, the EPA, the Centro Provincial de Casas de Cultura, the brigade of art instructors José Martí and others.