Its recognition was highlighted during a cultural event at the Mexican Embassy in Rome, chaired by Cuban and Mexican Ambassadors Mirta Granda and Carlos Garcia de Alba, respectively.

Carlos Garcia de Alba noted the efforts made by both Latin American nations to make this achievement with the joint presentation to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) of a dossier entitled “Bolero: Identity, Emotion, and Poetry turned into a song.”

UNESCO chose December 5, 2023, to include this musical genre in its list of intangible treasures, a precious heritage resulting from the encounter of different cultures. This living tradition embraces the essence of the Latin American identity, mainly from Cuba and Mexico, Garcia de Alba said.

Granda, in turn, noted that music is the soul of the countries, as the patriot of his country, Jose Marti, said. In the Cuban soul, “bolero is rooted as a legacy of the authentic poetic and musical expression of that nation’s song.”

Among its exponents, she mentioned Jose “Pepe” Sanchez, Sindo Garay, Manuel Corona, Miguel Matamoros, Benny More, Cesar Portillo de la Luz, Vicentico Valdes, Maria Teresa Vera, Jose Antonio Mendez, Omara Portuondo, Elena Burke, Marta Valdes, and Ivette Cepeda, among many other Cuban singer songwriters of all times.

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