Nicolas Guillen Int’l Music and Poetry Festival in Cuba

Havana, Apr 2. – The 8th Nicolas Guillen International Colloquium and Music and Poetry Festival "I Came on a Slave Boat" will be held from April 2 to 6 in this capital, with the participation of important figures from over seven countries.

At the opening session of the event, representatives from Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Honduras, Canada, the United States and Cuba will meet in the Main Lecture Hall of the University of Havana.

The festival will be dedicated to the 110th birthday of Cuban National Poet Nicolas Guillen (1902-1989) and will mark the 200th anniversary of the Aponte Conspiracy (1812) and the 100th anniversary of the brutal repression of the Colored Independents (an organization of Free Blacks).

The Aponte Conspiracy was a slavery abolitionist movement, led by José Antonio Aponte, which emerged in Cuba in 1811 and 1812 with the goal of severing ties with Spain to create a society based on equality.

The Colored Independents' Party, composed of descendants of former slaves, thousands of whom were killed, organized the rebellion of the Colored Independents in 1912.(Prensa Latina)