The Bolivarian Government of Venezuela called for a grand national celebration following the recent declaration of Joropo as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This distinction marks the eleventh Venezuelan cultural expression to receive such international recognition.

During a telephone interview broadcast on Venezolana de Televisión, the Minister of Popular Power for Culture, Ernesto Villegas Poljak, speaking with President Nicolás Maduro, emphasized the significance of this declaration.

RELATED:

Indigenous Peoples Call for Peace in Venezuela

“We are calling on all cultural practitioners, artists, and creators from all artistic disciplines, and our people in general, to make this declaration a national celebration because we are all united in Joropo,” Villegas stated.

Joropo, a central expression of Venezuelan identity, encompasses a wide range of artistic manifestations. “Circus arts, theater, poetry, literature, sculpture—all expressions of art and culture are included because joropo is Venezuela,” the minister emphasized.

He also recalled that this achievement is part of a process initiated in 2012 by Commander Hugo Chávez with the declaration of the Dancing Devils of Venezuela, to which ten other cultural expressions have been added, most recently.

Immediate Celebration with Cultural Practitioners

As part of the commemorative activities, joropo dancers were invited to the San Carlos Barracks, headquarters of the Alí Primera House of Culture and Liberty, to begin the celebrations on December 9.

For his part, President Maduro praised the diversity of joropo, which includes Llanero, Tuyero, and Eastern styles, and its presence throughout the national territory, from the Llanos plains to Caracas and Carabobo. “We will never dance, never, to the rhythm of any foreign empire. We will continue dancing joropo, as in Carabobo, as in Ayacucho,” the president declared, while linking traditional music with cultural resistance and national sovereignty.

IN THIS ARTICLE