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.
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