Havana, Cuba.- Casa de las Americas (House of the Americas) on Tuesday hosted a meeting between Cuban intellectuals and members of a US delegation that is paying a visit to the island, about concepts such as negritude, racism and anti-racism and their social and cultural influence.

During the meeting at the Manuel Galich hall, writer and researcher Zuleica Romay spoke about the terrible institution of slavery in both countries and how their hunted and kidnpapped ancestors arrived in this region.

The essayist mentioned that, in Cuba, the abolition of this regime in the 19th century was a gradual process, and even freed slaves received the same severity, punishments and physical and psychological requirements than their ancestors.

Romay is the author of “Cepos de la memoria,” a book that established her, according to experts, as one of the indispensable researchers of racial discrimination in Cuba and all territories with plantation economy and slave trade.

The meeting also included the presentation of the book “Madrigal para un príncipe negro” with poems dedicated to Georges Floyd, by poet Nancy Morejon, recipient of the National Literature Prize, and the speech of poet, essayist and lawyer David Lopez.

On Monday, the US delegation attended the unveiling of a plaque at the headquarters of the National Union of Artists and Writers of Cuba (UNEAC) to commemorate the friendship between Cuban poet Nicolas Guillen and American novelist Langston Hughes.

There, Iraqi-American artist and social activist Andy Shallal, head of the US delegation, said that the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by Washington hinders this type of cultural exchanges.