Carlos Tamayo with the already late renowned writer Carilda Oliver Labra

His prose has always shed light on national and local identity. Titles such as Miedo a Vicente García, Vuelvo la lira a pulsar, Juan Cristóbal Nápoles Fajardo, el desaparecido, among many others attest to this. Carlos Tamayo Rodríguez is the writer, but he is also the insightful professor, the tireless cultural promoter, the lucid intellectual. His words express Cubanness, they speak of the artist committed to Cuban history and culture. With an organization that has contributed a lot to the spirituality of our people.

60 years after its foundation, Uneac grows together with its artists. Carlos Tamayo has founded and grown from there. From that social vocation put to the test for so long, from that profuse union between art and society.

He was 30 years at the head of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba in the province of Las Tunas. Years that demonstrate his consecration and dedication. UNEAC has been and is for him the opportunity to join forces and wills to contribute to artistic and cultural development. To create and grow from that Union.

The defense of national identity is a priority of the country's Cultural Policy. In your books, this aspect is visible with a marked intention of revealing little-known aspects of the lives of relevant figures of our culture and history. How were your first approaches to these personalities?

Since I was in elementary school, I became interested in the life and work of Juan Cristóbal Nápoles Fajardo, El Cucalambé, and Major General Vicente García González. Already in Senior High School, I made readings about them, then I began the investigations. In Santiago de Cuba, while studying for a Bachelor's Degree in Literature, I deepened my knowledge about El Cucalambé, with the advice of Juan Andrés Cué, Vicente García biographer, and the guidance of Ricardo Repilado in research techniques. To graduate, I presented the diploma work on the local bard, I already had the project of what later would be my book of journalistic genres Miedo a Vicente García.

I collaborated profusely with the newspaper 26 and others, I published texts about Mercedes and Tomasa Varona, and many historical-literary topics, always about the culture and history of our country.

In your work, research and literary language complement each other to tell the events pleasantly and interestingly. Which of these aspects do you consider most important when writing a book?

For me, it is as important to expose the content with scientific rigor, as it is to motivate the readers with narrative and poetry resources, in terms of language. A book of great interest for its content can be spoiled by carelessness in the writing, excess of data, which causes disinterest, boredom. History is literature, not just social science.

Many years at the head of UNEAC in Las Tunas, how did you start in the institution? What does it mean in your professional and personal development?

I joined Uneac in 1987 and was elected vice-president. Two years and months later, Cristino Márquez, the first president, due to the different responsibilities he had, asked me to assume the presidency, which was later ratified by the members in different elections during the 30 years I exercised that responsibility.

Professionally, I shared with great representatives of Cuban literature and art and I belonged to working commissions to prepare documents for the congresses. The most important were the dialogues with Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, in the congresses and meetings of the National Council.

On a personal level, I cultivated the friendship with national presidents, from the mandate of Abel Prieto to the current one of Luis Morlote. I will always be grateful for the support I received in my work from Carlos Martí, José Loyola, Sergio Corrieri, and Miguel Barnet. For me, it is a great pride to have shared for decades with true friends from all the provinces, who honor the word Union. I also remember with affection Humberto Rodríguez Manso, who came to Las Tunas with Lisandro Otero when the constitution of Uneac was being gestated here.

How much does Uneac contribute to the social projection of culture?

In the Culture System, Uneac is one of the most important social organizations. It contributes to the improvement of the Cultural Policy of the Cuban Revolution, its community projects -in general socio-cultural- have contributed a lot to the spirituality of our people, to the development of Artistic Education, to the artistic appreciation, to guide which are the values that distinguish the Cuban identity; to value the cultured, the popular, to not promote the uneducated and the populist. The national ballet is as cultured as the rumba de cajón, there is no dichotomy in this regard.

But it hurts to see how denigrating attitudes, the indecency, are sung and danced. UNEAC will not abandon this battle against mediocrity. It is considered that the members of the Union are part of the cultural vanguard, which in the case of Cuba, is an unquestionable expression of sovereignty and independence.

60 years after its foundation, what would be the main challenges for the organization and its artists?

UNEAC has a social vocation that has been tested for so long; its members are an inextricable part of the people. The roots of Cuban culture are eminently popular, mestizo, and because it is nurtured by the best in all artistic manifestations, it has made contributions to what is called universal culture, in a process of cultural exchange, which exhibits internationally recognized names. Currently, in our country, there are artists and writers of the highest level. In the Statutes, we recognize the leading role of the Party as a major force in society. The support to the new political leadership has been evident in these days of provocations, financed by the Yankees, charged by Cuban mercenaries.

You have participated in several congresses. Is there one you remember in particular? Why?

I have been a delegate to represent the writers and artists of Las Tunas, from the IV to the IX congresses; I have also been a member of the National Council. Those events have had great transcendence for the Cuban society because we are not an elitist guild; we have defended socialism, we have suffered and faced the Yankee blockade, and supported the just causes of the peoples and governments that do not submit to imperialism. The one I especially remember is the fourth because it made me reaffirm my commitment, forever, with Fidel and the Revolution.