With the visit to El Ermitaño coffee plantation, in Monte Verde and Jagüey, in the Yateras Municipality, as well as the headquarters of the Tumba Francesa Pompadour Santa Catalina de Ricci, in this city, the French Presence Meeting in Guantanamo begins that will take place from November 21 to 22.
The meeting, whose main objective is to rescue the traditions and culture of Gallic that remain in the customs and buildings in the East of Cuba, is attended by academics from the Chair of Franco-Cuban and Caribbean Studies Montaigne-Montesquieu, from the University of Oriente, and the French Alliance, of Santiago de Cuba.
During two days of conferences, workshops and panels, the experts will deal with different topics such as the influence of the Gauls in the culture of the Greater Antilles, the coffee plantations as a heritage resource, as well as the ways of life of the families Riveaux, Girard, Manet Petit and Beneguí, settled in the province.
Sponsored by the UNEAC and the Provincial Directorate of Culture, this cultural event reconsiders the need to rescue the ruins of the coffee plantations of French origin existing in the Yateras, El Salvador and Niceto Pérez municipalities, an agricultural activity with impact on the economic, demographic development and patrimonial of the population of the territory.
The French Presence Meeting in Guantanamo commemorates the 215th anniversary of the purchase of the Santa Catalina herd by a French association and the arrival of immigrants from that European nation and Haiti to this province, where they left a lasting impression on the life of the Guantanamo people.