Ampliare
José Ángel Pérez Socarrás
Ampliare
Ampliare

Sustainable pillar of a culture in alliance

When executives and employees of the joint venture Cultural Fund of  the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of our America (ALBA, acronym) and some of their closest friends raised their glasses to the opening of the new premises of its trade agencies Paradiso and Presencia -now on the 12th floor of the tower Banco Lara, Caracas downtown- nobody knew how many of the will go back in time and think of all the efforts they made almost five years ago. 
Cuban Jose Angel Perez Socarrás, current president of the Fund, made his thoughts public in a brief speech of gratitude and remembrances. He recalled that May in Havana in 2011, when a meeting between the Ministers of Culture of Cuba and Venezuela was the most profuse supplier of ideas that he later would bring to reality. He was given the assignment of creating two agencies, agencies that today a bear strong/powerful name. Paradiso and Presencia could not be delayed to come to life.
Jose Angel declares: "What was missing? A distribution channel, and with Presencia we have shown that it can exist. We have promoted performances by Cuban musicians in Peru, Colombia and other countries. There have been many difficulties, but worked it out with teamwork. This year we have a challenge in the Cultural Industries Market of the South (Micsur, acronym), which will take place in August in Bogotá, Colombia. By then, we must consolidate an agreement among the national coordinators of ALBA countries to launch, through the Fund, a comprehensive sample of Caribbean music. There will be nations of the Common Market for the South (Mercosur, acronym) framework in which we have three Alba members (Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela). The idea is to present and defend a cultural product and its potential, also on behalf’s of Cuba, Nicaragua and the islands of the Eastern Caribbean that are not part of Mercosur.
"For these new paths, exploring, opening doors and always taking steps forward, we will continue to grow, even in fields of culture other than music."