A Mural about Cuba to Be Unveiled in Plaza Simón Bolívar, Caracas

«De América soy hijo y a ella me debo» is the phrase by José Martí chosen to title the mural that will be inaugurated on May 23rd on the north wall of Plaza Simón Bolívar in Caracas, Venezuela.

This monumental work is created by Abdusalan Terán Tase, a Cuban artist residing in the Venezuelan capital, who serves as the artistic director of the José Martí Cultural Society in the city.

According to Rubén Rodríguez, president of the Martí institution, who informed Radio Enciclopedia, the project is a joint effort between the Government of the Capital District of Venezuela and the Cuban embassy in the Bolivarian nation. Its location is significant as the square houses the statue of the Liberator, which Martí mentions in his essay «Tres héroes,» published in the magazine «La Edad de Oro.»

The mural measures eight meters in length and two meters in height, is painted with acrylic on textured plaster, and aims to «reflect various historical, heritage, and cultural sites of Cuba and Venezuela, as well as moments, figures, and heroes of our independence, intertwined in the political, military, cultural, and historical chronicles of both nations, in various contexts that reaffirm our shared expression of brotherhood in history, progress, solidarity, and the interlinking of both countries and cultures within our American context,» explains Rodríguez, also the project’s manager.

Isabel Messuti, a Venezuelan plastic artist who has discovered Cuba with love, also accompanied the realization of this artistic work.

The inaugural event will feature speeches from three orators: Nahum Fernández, Head of Government of the Capital District; Dagoberto Rodríguez Barrera, Ambassador of Cuba to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; and Rubén Rodríguez.

The phrase that names the mural, widely recognized in the historical struggles of the Cuban people after the triumph of the Revolution, is taken from the farewell letter dated July 27, 1881, that the Apostle of Cuban Independence sent to Fausto Teodoro de Aldrey, director of the influential Caracas newspaper «La Opinión Nacional,» where Martí published several of his writings. This phrase encapsulates the Americanist spirit of the Cuban people.

Venezuela was dear to the National Hero of the Republic of Cuba, as reflected in many of his ideas, such as the one expressed in the same letter: «Let Venezuela tell me how to serve her: she has a son in me.»

Photos by Rubén Rodríguez