A few days ago, the 19th International Underwater Photography Championship and the 5th Underwater Video Championship, organized every two years by the World Confederation for Underwater Activities (CMAS), ended. For the first time, Cuba was chosen to be the host country, while Varadero, its seabed and the Melia International Hotel organized all the activities around this event, in which about fifteen countries participated, including Turkey, Spain, France, Chile, Croatia, Italy, Portugal and Cuba, of course. , countries that all won many medals.
During the ceremony of awarding the medals, which were awarded in six categories, we could see and admire on a giant screen the best underwater videos and photos and discover, for those like me who do not dive, the seabed of one of the most beautiful places. Beaches of the World, opposite the majestic Melia International Hotel in Varadero. An unexpected and colorful world, where fish, crustaceans, invertebrates and corals of many and often surprising shapes coexist in harmony.
During these days of competition, more than 1,500 deep dives (about thirty meters) lasting fifty to fifty-five minutes were carried out, and about twenty boats were needed to transport photographers and videographers out to sea and their equipment including Nitrox air tanks. . Each delegation consists of six people: two photographers, two videographers, a captain and an assistant.
Three judges – Cuban and two from outside the host country – are responsible for reviewing and evaluating the exclusive photos and videos. At the end of the tournament, the participants enjoyed a dinner show in the elegant continental cabaret, which ended, as is customary in Cuba, with a lively tune! ¡olé!, a DJ who takes care of entertaining the guests.
There are many well-known diving sites in Cuba. Besides Varadero, there are those in Ciénaga de Zapata (Playa Girón), Cienfuegos (Rancho Luna), Trinidad (Ancón) and Cayo Largo del Sur, all in the Caribbean Sea, with equipment rentals possible on site.
No to the siege!
In a few weeks, on November 1 and 2, the United Nations General Assembly will once again be called upon to declare, for the thirty-first time in a row, since 1992, against the economic and trade blockade of Cuba. Over the past years, this resolution introduced by Cuba asking the United States to end the economic and trade blockade imposed on the socialist island has always been adopted by a large majority of countries, but this resolution has always remained a dead letter, despite the consensus. It constitutes. This blockade constitutes a blatant and systematic violation of the United Nations Charter, and has caused irreparable damage to the Cuban people for more than sixty years.
Thus, for the year 2022, it is estimated that the damage to the Cuban economy amounts to 4 billion 867 million dollars, while the figures over the past 60 years are staggering: more than 159 billion dollars. For a small country like Cuba, without significant natural resources, and without a real industrial infrastructure, it is like trying to ascend without ever succeeding. There is something Machiavellian in the US Government’s insistence on doing more every day to stifle the Cuban people, for example by including this country on the list of countries that encourage terrorism.
While Venezuela, also suffering from a blockade from the United States, has managed to get out of it as best it can, thanks, among other things, to its oil and its numerous natural resources, there are only signs of an easing of tensions between this country and Venezuela. The American empire seems to be making itself felt, and nothing indicates an easing of coercive measures against Cuba, which is going through hard times, despite all its efforts to invent new gimmicks. For this reason, Cuba deserves all our admiration and support.
