The Dulce Maria Loynaz Center hosted the event, where journalist Fernando Sosa, researcher Juan Nicolas Padron, and Lucia Sardinas—a founding member of the Ministry (Mincult)—shared anecdotes regarding its establishment on December 2, 1976.

  Attendees also heard firsthand accounts concerning the National Council of Culture (the ministry’s predecessor), the mistakes made, the role of former minister Armando Hart (1930–2017), and some of the cultural policies adopted.

  Its creation undoubtedly improved relations with the artistic community; for many of them, the Council of Culture’s decisions had strayed from the path set by the Revolution following the speech *Words to the Intellectuals* (1961).

  According to the event’s participants, Hart played a key role as the first Minister of Culture; he was open to meeting and listening to people with differing views and always sought to hear the opinions of young people.

  Hart’s brilliant Marxist, Marti-inspired, and Fidelista thinking is something that should be shared with today’s youth; he was a man of deep Cuban identity who, through his political life, contributed to the development of ideas in Cuba with a mindset that was innovative for the time, Sosa noted.

  Currently, Mincult directs and implements cultural policy within its sphere of competence while working alongside other institutions to defend and enrich Cuba’s cultural heritage.

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