UG Latin American culture focus follows geopolitical advances
DEAN of the School of Education and Humanities at University of Guyana, Professor Al Creighton said, Monday, that there have been advances of a geopolitical significance to Guyana. Consequently, this country is moving from its English Caribbean destiny to becoming more closely linked to its continental neighbours, like Brazil, Venezuela and Suriname and UG has been placing a focus on the culture of Latin America as it looks toward Latin American studies, he said.
Creighton was speaking at the commencement of a lecture programme, on which the UG School and the Mexican Embassy, hosted Professor Eliff Lara.
He explained that it was yet another occasion in a series of events at which the tertiary institution and the Mexican Embassy have collaborated.
“It is a continuation of what has proven, so far, to be a rich series of events,” Creighton said, recalling that the Mexican Embassy recently made a donation of books to the UG Library and co-hosted, also with the School, a Mexican film festival.
Creighton said the other factor that gave rise to the exchange has to do with what he called an important catalyst to the link on Latin American relations, the appointment of Mexico’s first Ambassador to Guyana, Mr. Fernando Sandoval, who has been described as  a friend to UG.
He said, too, that there are several possibilities for the development of academic programmes, citing the Spanish Language and anthropology in a wide range.
Lara’s lecture, entitled ‘Mexico: Words and Colours, an introduction to Mexican literature and visual Arts’, was delivered in the Education Lecture Theatre (ELT) on Turkeyen Campus, Greater Georgetown.
The lecturer said some of the most popular artists in Mexico drew the inspiration for their work from poems written by Mexican and other Latin American poets, including Amando Nervo, Ruben Dario, Jose Marti, Octavio Paz and Elsa Cross.

POEMS
Lara said their poems were represented in works of art by Julio Ruelas, Frida Kahlo and Rufina Tamayo, among others.
He referred to the early periods when those writings were in revolt against new political thinking which, at the time, they felt was robbing them of their religion and culture.
Lara said, for example, Amando Nervo’s ‘Increpacion’ was an appeal against the concept of positivism which was being promulgated by many Latin American governments.
He said Julio Ruelas made several pieces of art, illustrating his interpretation of the poem, giving the verses dark and, sometimes, graphic interpretations.
An information sheet circulated to the audience, said Lara has a Bachelor’s degree in Hispanic Linguistics and Literature from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and has completed graduate studies in literature at the same university.
Issued by the Head of the Department of Language and Cultural Studies, Mr. Alim Hosein, it informed that Lara is currently attached to the Philological Research Centre of UNAM and is a professor at the Matías Romero Institute (Diplomatic Studies Institute).
The handout said Lara’s research work has been published in several national and international magazines and he has lectured at Mexican and international academic institutions.