Forty Vincentian students last week received certificates for passing Spanish language courses at levels 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 7, and have now advanced to the next level of learning the language and the Afro-Latin American and Caribbean culture.

The students received their certificates on Thursday, December 10, at a ceremony held to mark the 190th anniversary of the last Proclamation of the Liberator Simón Bolívar (December 10, 1830) and the 8th anniversary of the Last Proclamation of Commander Hugo Chávez (December 8, 2012).

The ceremony was held by the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in St Vincent and the Grenadines through the Venezuelan Institute for Culture and Cooperation and marked the closure of the September-December 2020 term of the different Spanish courses and the training workshops on Caribbean music, conversation and literature.

Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, took the opportunity to read out his Government’s congratulatory letter to the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro: “The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has been known for its commitment to free and fair elections, competitive democracy and respect for international law. This heroic country of our America has made this commitment magnificent in law and in practice. The recent elections for members of the National Assembly are exemplars in this regard”.

In St Vincent and the Grenadines “we stand firm in supporting all attempts at democratic construction and very firm against all those who seek to interfere in Venezuela’s internal affairs, including those who want to include military intervention”.

Francisco Pérez Santana, Head of the Venezuelan Diplomatic Mission denounced the imperialist attacks against Venezuela: “After 4 years of unilateral coercive measures by Trump’s losing administration, in 2020 its imperialist and colonialist policies have been persecuted and blocked; any transaction that any private company would like to make, the ships chartered for the sale of oil hijacked by American pirates belonging to its armed forces, and then sell it and seize those monies belonging to all Venezuelans. A total of 116 billion have been stolen from Venezuelans and the person directly responsible for that theft is the puppet called Guido; he is Trump’s accomplice for the perpetration of this massive robbery”.

Pérez Santa recalled Commander Chávez’s last speech and stated: “(…) the enemies of the country do not let go and will not rest in intrigue, in trying to divide, and above all, to take advantage of circumstances like these, well.

So what is our answer? Unity, unity and more unity. That must be our motto!” Pérez also referred to the latest proclamation of the Liberator Simón Bolívar and emphasized the importance of the deep study of Bolivian thinking as an ethical and political basis for achieving unity and emancipation of our peoples.

The academic coordinator of the VICC, Andreína Bermúdez, remarked that “The experience that has developed since the Venezuelan Institute of Culture and Cooperation Hugo Chávez Fríguez in recent years has focused on developing pedagogical and cultural strategies for the study and promotion of Afro-Latin American culture and Caribbean identities emerging in the Anglophone Caribbean and its historical and cultural connection with Venezuela” and highlighted another “another world is possible, and it is only possible through love for education, culture and the arts”. Bermúdez stressed the need to continue to deepen cultural relations between Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on the basis of possible educational agreements to be established with the Vincentian government.

The Vincentian students showed what they learned during the classes; Level 2 presented 9 Mornings, a Vincentian Christmas festival, the Level 3 group talked about Christmas Eve, Level 4 presented a poem in homage to Alí Primera, which they wrote themselves and Level 5 students performed a dynamic of riddles in Spanish with the audience present.

In the background, with the flags of Venezuela and St Vincent and the Grenadines, participants of the Afro-Latin American and Caribbean Literature Workshop recited two poems from Caribbean writers: In the field of the Vincentian poet E McG “Shake” Keane and The Liberator Speaks from Jamaica, Lorna Gibson.

As is tradition, the participants of the music workshop demonstrated their skills, getting people to dance, sing and applaud at the rhythm of parang and acoustics Niño Lindo, Fuego al Cañón, Faltan 5 pa’ las 12, Moliendo café and Viva Venezuela, a presentation that was made in conjunction with the students of the literature workshop with a beautiful display of the national tricolor.

The Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in St Vincent and the Grenadines gave important recognition to the members of the Solidarity Group, who have always stood alongside the Bolivarian Revolution and the cause of the people who are in constant resistance against imperialist aggression.

At the end of this important event, the Prime Minister accompanied the Head of the Venezuelan Diplomatic Mission, the professors of the VICC and the students to hand them the respective promotional certificates at the next level.

The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela congratulates the Vincentian students participating in the classes and workshops organized by the Hugo Chávez Frías Institute and invites them to continue to learn and share Venezuelan culture within the framework of the brotherhood of the peoples of the Caribbean.