Havana, Cuba.- Education, culture and emancipatory thinking will focus the 43rd Conference of Caribbean Studies Association (CSA), inaugurated here today and with Cuba as president.

‘From over 20 countries arrived hundreds of students, scholars, scientists and artists, to give us the honor of being one of the annual conferences of greatest participation in the history of the CSA,’ assured the president of this conference, Yolanda Wood, during her welcome speech of the event.

Since Cuba assumed the leadership on July 9 in the Bahamas, the entire preparatory process was intensely worked in collaboration with many people and institutions, and ‘with the only interest in revealing the historical and cultural significance of our country in the Caribbean area,’ Wood added.

He also stated that the thematic issues proposed on this occasion: education, culture, emancipatory thinking ‘were a call for all of you, we need you. Each one of the papers, panels and workshops confirm its humanistic dimension and its social importance for the current times ‘.

This year, the program will be compact in its structure as the only possible solution for over a thousand projects presented or at least the vast majority of them were represented here, he explained.

The rector of the University of Havana, Gustavo Cobreiro, officially opened this forum, describing the CSA as a unique space for scholars, intellectuals, public servants and community leaders to share visions and experiences in a common effort to bolster the field of Caribbean studies worldwide.

The 43rd Conference will take place from June 4 to 8 after 26 years of absence, co-sponsored by the University of Havana, institution that celebrates its 290th anniversary.

Founded in 1974 by 300 Caribbean people, the CSA currently counts out over 1,100 members.