Beyond its cultural, historical and linguistic, the Caribbean as a whole has a unitary essence, said today the director of Casa de las Americas, Cuban writer Roberto Fernandez Retamar.

During the inauguration of the International Symposium on Cultural Diversity in the Caribbean, Retamar, also essayist indicated that this region has been felt more from the last few years, after decolonization processes.

This area has a strong connection with Africa, but is also significant European presence, Hindu and human groups from various regions and embedded here to form the so-called new towns, Retamar said.

Referring to the poet from Martinique, Edouard Glissant, to that is dedicated the edition of this event, he said he had a debt of gratitude because he owes him much of his Caribbean consciousness.

The workshop "Edouard Glissant, the tout Caraibe entiere" opened the theoretical sessions of this symposium, in which artists and intellectuals of Aruba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Brazil, France and Cuba, among others are taking part.