Caracas is the venue of a cultural and political meeting of countries from Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa, united by the drums, heritage of struggles and identity of the different peoples. From Caracas, our correspondent Leonel Retamal, gives us the details.
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00:00Caracas is the venue of a cultural and political meeting of countries from Latin America, the
00:08Caribbean, and Africa, united by the drums, heritage of struggles, and identity of different
00:13peoples.
00:14From Caracas, our correspondent, Leonel Hertamal, with the details.
00:19For this representative of Barbados, drums are a language that allows communication and
00:24a return to the roots between Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
00:28It's an image that sums up the power of the beating of the highs at the depth of what
00:39it means to the Afro people.
00:46When the British in Barbados realized that we could communicate with each other through
00:52language, through the drums, they banned the drums for the duration of slavery.
00:58So it had a great effect on the African people, not only in terms of enjoying themselves culturally
01:03and musically through their drums, but psychologically it had a great effect on them.
01:10In Latin America, the drums are crossed by religious traditions, which were unified and
01:14amalgamated to generate an identity of the people, not submissive, but religious.
01:23The diverse religiosity of the Caribbean, also in that richness, in that complexity,
01:28is also a form of resistance against invasion, against transculturalization, against what
01:33is a form of domination in this 21st century.
01:37Religiosity is political, inasmuch as it continues to be an instrument for the liberation of
01:41peoples.
01:44The Dance of the Alba is a meeting organized by the Bolivarian Alliance for the People
01:48of our Americas to strengthen ties through culture.
01:51All members attend along with guests from Central America and Africa.
02:04This type of meeting allows us to remember that colonization, colonial domination, is
02:09not the past, but the present.
02:12It is the present for many peoples in Africa, in South America, even here in Venezuela,
02:17where we have known for many years that imperialist and colonial, neo-colonial attacks have intensified.
02:27Along with the forums and debates, there are musical exhibitions open to the public, where
02:31different groups from Bolivia to Benin parade.
02:34Venezuela, as the owner of the house, shows off the different drums that each region has.
02:40I think the sound is almost the same thing.
02:43I think we have the base of our ancestors.
02:46Our Africaness is unique, here and everywhere.
02:50The sound of the drums always represents us, the Afros.
02:56Until Sunday 23rd, they will be exhibiting the culture of each town, and the drums of
03:00the people will resound.