A multimedia pieced together by the UNESCO offices in Havana and Port-au-Prince and entitled “The Slave Route” was officially launched on March 13 in a ceremony organized by UNESCO’s Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean and the House of Africa attached to the Havana Historian Office. The presentation ceremony of Memorial Sites depicting “The Slave Route” in the Latin Caribbean, held at the Ambos Mundos Hotel in Old Havana, was attended by Alberto Granado, director the House of Africa, and Herman Van Hooff, head of the UNESCO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean. The official launch counted on keynote speeches delivered by Margarita Ruiz, chairwoman of Cuba’s National Cultural Heritage Council, and celebrated Cuban writer and ethnologist Miguel Barnet, president of The Slave Route Cuban Committee. Mr. Barnet’s remarks paid tribute to the victims of slavery around the world, especially those who suffered under the ruthless trade in the Caribbean region. The diplomatic corps stationed in Cuba, researchers and boldface names of Cuba’s cultural life also attended the ceremony. |