The political-cultural gala, directed by Eliades Quesada, was initiated by the renewed Madrigalista Choir, the oldest in Cuba, under the direction of maestro Ariel Rodríguez León, and they were then awarded the Raúl Gómez García Distinction for 20 and 25 years of uninterrupted work in the sector:
Orlando Zapata Rodríguez, from the Provincial Film Center; Rachel Salas Vega, from the Cutumba Folkloric Ballet; Francisca Cumbá Savigne, from the Center for Books and Literature; Rafael Lorenzo Fong Castellanos, from the Miguel Matamoros Music and Entertainment Marketing Company; Graciela Natacha Stable Ríos, from the Provincial Directorate of Culture; Juan Ernesto Salazar Salas, from the Office of the City Conservator; Vicente Martínez González and Luis Alberto Varona Palacios, from Radio Titán, station in the Mella municipality; Adielyeivys Texidó Odio, director of the San Luis station, and Jesús Orai Sánchez Rivero, from the House of Culture of the Songo-La Maya municipality.
The activity took place in the Art Room, an extension of the Emilio Bacardí Museum, in front of Céspedes Park, when Yenni Vaillant Neyra, member of the SPTC Secretariat, announced the resolution by which the National Secretariat of the CTC granted the three conditions of National Vanguard: for the first time to the Santiago de Cuba branch of the Cuban Fund for Cultural Assets (FCBC) and the Artistic Representation Company (EPRA) and for 20 consecutive years, to the popular Karachi orchestra.
For example, EPRA is a group of 24 workers very committed to socialist emulation and shows very stable economic growth; It is distinguished by the quality of the services it provides and by having a catalog of excellence made up of units in different artistic manifestations. It is also the only one of its kind in the country and has been able to extend the cultural work of artists from Santiago and other provinces. Director Antonio Hernández Reyes received the award along with a group of workers.
In the case of the FCBC, the director Juan Leonardo Huepp Ramos and several members of the group received the Flag, a recognition for the 36 years of hard work of the center and its 48 workers, several of these representing the seven points of sale in of which wood carving, furniture and fiber and various crafts stand out.
The Karachi orchestra, with almost 48 years on the stages of Cuba and abroad, is a tenacious group, with a lot of professionalism and dedication. Its members, with director Fernando Álvarez Caula at the helm, and José Ángel Busqueta as “second in command” who received the flag, are unsurpassed when it comes to responding positively to any call, hence the “secret” of its enormous popularity; why they call it “The People’s Orchestra”, and why it has been the National Vanguard (VN) for 20 years.
Yunieski Cintra Vázquez, general secretary of the Provincial Committee of the SPTC, when making the conclusions, congratulated the award-winning groups and workers; She recognized the impact of this work in promoting culture brought to the people at the base, and assured that the Culture Union will have an enthusiastic and massive presence at the upcoming May Day celebration in Santiago de Cuba.
Eliécer Lora Martínez, head of the Ideological Department of the Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba; Orlando Beltrán Minier, general secretary of the CTC in the province, and Yunieski Cintra Vázquez presented the awards and greeted, one by one, those honored with the “Raúl Gómez García” and the VN centers.
