We have been on the right path for 2 years, fortunately. It was not good, but bad, that Valledupar and its region remained on the side of the path of cultural development of other cities in the country. There is a lot of creative talent here for all kinds of art manifestation; My daughter Margarita works at the Valledupar House of Culture, and she tells me that a careful nursery of the fine arts has been cultivated there for some time and crescendo: folkloric and classical music, various dances, ancient and modern theater, tragedies, comedies, linguistic styles, painting of paintings and murals, sculpture; Well, how wonderful. We need to disseminate it more, popularize it more, exhibit it, make it something everyday, soak up that, which is cathartic. All the cultured peoples that have existed in the world have produced those creations that serve that noble purpose.
The recent second Valledupar Book Fair was magnificent. What excellent writers and book promoters visited us. Thanks to the efforts on this matter made by Juan Carlos Quintero Castro, our newspaper EL PILÓN and other excellent sponsors. I had a lot of fun and had the opportunity to intervene, spontaneously, on some occasions. I gave many of them some satisfactory laughter and even applause.
I had the very pleasant news, if true, that our Municipal Mayor, Ernesto Orozco Durán, a great public manager – whom I always saw in the front row accompanied by his wife Milena, at all the events of the Fair -, had acquired for the Municipality a large property located in the center of the city, to build a large theater there, for the representation of the respective plays. I am indeed happy about this.
Dear Mayor, dear Governor, it is necessary, it is imperative, to build a theater in each neighborhood and in each municipality of Cesar; Theaters bring culture and thoughts to the people, in an economical and fun way. We will always have climate changes, but sweltering afternoons, for example, will be better spent attending a great play.
All ancient people until now have performed and seen plays. Humanity has had great playwrights who have shown their people our own human condition, and it has served as a healthy catharsis. We already have folklore platforms, statues to display the memory of our troubadours and minstrels, Olympic sports villages, religious temples.
Museums are fine, but now we need to make our own history. Governor and mayors of Cesar, now, without further delay, mobilize resources and good citizen spirit to build theaters, more schools and universities.
Rest assured that this is your best government program. Every educated child in a family is its crown of glory and a better citizen of the State. Both institutions gain in coexistence. Along with material development, man needs the cultivation of the spirit, and this can only be achieved with a greater self-conscious understanding of himself and the world.
Rodrigo Lopez Barros
