Santiago de Chile, April 23.- The Society of Writers of Chile (SECH) has launched a solidarity campaign with Cuba, which is currently focused on collecting medicines and school supplies to assist the country in the face of the intensifying North American blockade.
Isabel Gómez, president of the group, stated that it is an ethical duty to support the island at such a sensitive moment, as the siege imposed by the United States for 65 years intensifies with the purpose of breaking this brotherly people.
She noted that the writers' headquarters in Chile has always been closely linked to the literary history of Cuba. "Many Cuban authors passed through here, including Roberto Fernández Retamar, whom I had the privilege of seeing again at the Casa de las Américas in Havana," she said.
Edmundo Mouré, Secretary General of SECH, specified that the idea for the solidarity campaign with Cuba was conceived in conjunction with the Unión del Sur Editores and is rooted in the deep love that has grown between the two peoples throughout history.
In statements to Prensa Latina, Mouré affirmed that the group considered it just, necessary, and imperative to carry out this initiative, particularly due to the extraordinary symbolism of the Cuban Revolution.
When asked about his message to the Cuban people at this time, he responded that, along with a heartfelt embrace, he conveys all the readiness to continue fighting with the means available.
In particular, he added, "we will stand with that people through the word, which is the weapon of writers and poets."
Shortly before, during the campaign's presentation, Mouré recalled that after the 1973 coup d'état, Cuba served not only as a refuge for thousands of Chileans but also as a place for comprehensive educational training, with a real impact on people.
The poet Víctor Escobar also participated in the event, recalling how Fidel Castro, at a certain point, asked his people to grant Chile a portion of their sugar quota, and all Cubans supported that initiative.
Escobar read fragments of his own texts dedicated to the Caribbean nation: "I pronounce Island and you, Cuba, look at me with a new sun to the sound of music that cheers our life and nature. Solid and supportive land, your people, stem cells, are healing the world, illuminating the future."
At the end of his message, he noted that while he hopes it never happens, if the United States were to launch an aggression against the Caribbean nation, an internationalist brigade would undoubtedly be formed to defend it, and he requested to be enrolled in it.
The Cuban Ambassador to Chile, Oscar Cornelio Oliva, thanked the SECH initiative and recalled that literature has always united the two countries.
He mentioned that the Chilean Nobel Prize in Literature, Pablo Neruda, included in his work España en el Corazón verses dedicated to the Cuban commander Alberto Sánchez Méndez, who fell in combat defending the Republic during the Battle of Brunete in 1937.
