2023-10-19 14:00:00
Already the birthplace of the Great Lady of Trova in Cuba: Maria Teresa Vera, looks different from how we found it two years ago. It is not in danger of collapsing and its structure no longer supports that French tile roof that represented a splendid era in Guanajay at the end of the eighteenth century and beginning of the nineteenth century. The same one that protected and put at risk the dissimilar inhabitants of it, but never stopped being there with meaning and history.
The leak marks on its walls and the green stains caused by humidity were erased. There are no weeds surrounding its position on the corner of 66th Street, and at last the bad smell, the broken windows through which curious or admirers peeked, the darkness, and also the threat to those who reside there or walk nearby, have been eliminated. from your sidewalk. It looks different, retouched, and the commemorative plaque to the right of the main door looks like a simple black rectangle where today its unmatched distinction is hidden.
Gray tones carefully cover its walls, and its cover is resistant. The windows do not let in a ray of light, and in its crowded and firm portal there is a huge shelf of jams, pastries, bottles and even lights!
It remains open for many hours, and the walker stops to satisfy one or another basic need, perhaps without knowing who was born there 128 years ago.
Many of us would have wanted it to be a place with other purposes, but the property had an owner and given the delay in obtaining a subsidy that would at least restore security, he decided to sell it to another citizen who, with all his rights, found a space for his venture. And so ended the story of the unique little house of which we could say, is the greatest pride of the Guanajayenses.
Today we understand that the house was nothing more than that: a “common premises”, a piece of land of the people with names and surnames, which despite its significance, was never declared Heritage of Cuban Culture. And although the reasons are sufficient, the generations of the current century see a lost jewel like no other.
Some time ago, this reporter investigated the state of Maria Teresa Vera’s birthplace before the most recent purchase-sale was completed. Its owner was completely willing to sell it to the municipal government or exchange it for another under his conditions, but there were never any agreements.
The parties did not understand each other, and incredibly with none of the previous owners there was a worthy outcome to honor the memory of the troubadour, thus expanding the much-needed cultural offerings in this territory, and even having a route for national or foreign tourists.
Alternatives were also sought in the Heritage commissions, however, it was once again a failure. The purpose of turning the property into a must-see site was ultimately frustrated, and there were no more cards left on the table. The decision rested in the hands of its owner, who had to sell it and abandon it, among other reasons, due to the failure to obtain a subsidy to repair its roof.
Two years after that journalistic investigation that failed to lead to a solution, the reality is very harsh. The first home of the distinguished composer, where she learned to talk, walk, slept in cribs and was baptized, is now a private point of sale. It was there that she first came close to music and the place blessed by joy and glory, with only unremodeled walls left.
Despite what some believe, Maria Teresa Vera is not exclusively the name of a very important distinction, nor the representation of a festival, colloquia or talks. Her name should be looked at with the eyes of Cuba, because she encloses the world, and it is time to pay, in her native land, the debts that have been erased by apathy and oblivion.
It would be good to focus on the issue now that we as Cubans commemorate the Day for National Culture, and put it high in meetings, plans, assemblies and congresses. It is urgent to finish asking ourselves: how do we expect our children to know their past without feeling it close? What is the formula to forge more Homeland without passion and admiration for the past?
Guanajay is a town to which much is owed from its river, its theater and infrastructure. It is true that it is not a task for some, it is for everyone, but one cannot put blinders on a fact like this – much less repeat it -, “because culture runs through the nation and because the growth of spirituality is a way of construction of a more just society”, as Dr. Graziella Pogolotti said.
I… and so many, dream of seeing a sculpture dedicated to Maria Teresa Vera where the life of the town moves at a hectic pace: on a bench in the central park accompanied by her guitar, or perhaps walking along any of its streets. We want to see her alive because only traces of her remain – memory is not enough – and we cannot afford to lose her.
I keep thinking about his little house, and what it could have become. The group of absent Guanajayenses will have a big surprise this year, when they return to sing the Veinte Años hymn in their ritual in front of the building – without the immense Alicia Pineda -, and find a vestige of inadmissible modernity, which fills the soul with pain, like a love that is leaving us.
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