Fidel in the heart of Romerillo
• The historic leader of the Revolution on January 8 visited the Art Laboratory, an innovative socio-cultural project led by Kcho in Romerillo, a community within the Havana municipality of Playa’s Cubanacán Popular Council district

Amelia Duarte de la Rosa / Fotos: ESTUDIOS REVOLUCIÓN

It was no accident that Alexis Leyva Machado (Kcho) chose to inaugurate his Laboratorio para el Arte in Romerillo, this past January 8. The artist wished to commemorate, with residents of the community, the 55^th anniversary of the Freedom Caravan’s arrival in Havana. In some ways, he commented to this reporter, creating motivation and general interest through art, sowing and developing cultural values amongst the people, was also the dream of the young rebels led by Fidel in 1959.

On the corner of 7^th and 120^th, just after 9:00 pm, as artists, intellectuals and Romerillo residents gathered at the entrance to the community center for the unveiling of a plaque commemorating the historic date, the best of surprises appeared among those in attendance, Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro.

There was applause, joy, emotion and cheering. The faces of children, young people, adults and the elderly lit up as they divined, through the van’s window panes, the unmistakable profile of our Comandante, in the very heart of one of the most humble neighborhoods in Havana.

His first stop, once inside the Kcho Estudio Romerillo (Laboratorio para el arte), was the Martha Machado Art Gallery, conceived as an educational community museum, where, in addition to the presentation of national and international expositions, art appreciation workshops for children and adolescents will be offered.

Fidel entered, with slow but sure steps, to view the Wilfredo Lam exhibit, Lam, eres imprescindible (Lam, you are indispensable), a significant collection of original works by one of Cuba’s most renowned painters.

It was amidst Lam’s paintings, those which evoke Cuba’s Chinese, African and Caribbean origins and unite the human, animal, plant and divine worlds, when Fidel began to speak of his concerns, questioning, commenting and noting, especially, the work of Telesur journalists and the event held in Venezuela commemorating the 55^th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution’s triumph.

As lucidly as ever, he referred to his most recent readings; to environmental problems; epidemics and illnesses which are consuming society; the search for information on websites and his preferences; and the importance of people being informed about what is occurring around them and throughout the entire world.

Next he toured Kcho’s exposition, El pensador (The Thinker) displayed in a hall named La Nave (The Ship), a space dedicated to contemporary art which also houses the Comandante de la Revolución Juan Almeida Bosque Library, equipped with all media and resources needed for studies, as well as the Romerillo Experimental Graphic Workshop and the Tocororo theater.

Fidel shared his thoughts in Romerillo for more than an hour as he toured the Laboratory’s facilities. He told Kcho, with a trace of a smile, that he wouldn’t offer his impressions since he might make a blunder, but that, really, the project appeared to him to be very good.

Before leaving, he presented Kcho with his book, La victoria estratégica, and signed it with a beautiful message, "For Kcho, a genius of culture and education, with my sincere recognition for the dignity with which you have dedicated your life to the happiness of others."

As he departed, Fidel greeted the people gathered in the street and left those present with the joy and satisfaction of having witnessed an historic moment, of having seen him, greeted him and, once again, thanked him.