The 'Culture: Shield and Sword of the Nation' reflection panel was held on Wednesday at the provincial branch of the Jose Marti Cultural Society (SCJM).

Still recent are the echoes of the Day of Cuban Culture and the panel discussed issues such as the precedents of Cuba's cultural policy and its continuity within the revolutionary process, a paper presented by Juan Eduardo Bernal, SCJM president in Sancti Spiritus.

The forum also analyzed the institutional system in culture, and women and other minorities in the cultural processes. The latter was presented by writer Yanetsy Pino, 2018 Casa de las Americas Award winner.

'The Cuban people's resistance is an exercise of life, a long path that started in the very beginning of what we are. It is part of our condition as Latin Americans and an island country', she noted.

In statements to Prensa Latina, Pino noted that the literary work 'Espejo de Paciencia', by Silvestre Balboa, from the Canary Islands, and considered the first epic poem written in Cuba, shows for the first time the discourse of resistance.

The SCJM is a non-governmental organization which contributes to promoting the thinking of Cuban National Hero Jose Marti (1853-1895) and to make culture the foundation to defend national identity and sovereignty.