ÁLVARO SÁNCHEZ CORDERO
APRIL19 is a memorable day for Venezuela. It was in April 1810 that for the first time a junta government was formed in Caracas to run the country. This was the first step to political independence from Spain.
But that's not all. April 19 is also a very meaningful date for both Venezuela and TT because in 1963, only seven and half months after TT became independent, Venezuela launched the famous Venezuelan Institute for Culture and Cooperation, the IVCC, in Port-of-Spain, with the aim of strengthening friendship and a better understanding between both countries through cultural and educational exchanges.
Originally named after the brilliant 18-century-born Venezuelan philologist, diplomat and teacher, Andrés Bello, the IVCC has taught Spanish, Venezuelan culture and music, mainly cuatro and mandolin, to more than 50,000 Trinidadians/Tobagonians over the past 60 years.
Indeed, several of those 50,000 have contributed widely to the development of TT in areas such as tourism, education, trade, banking, energy, aviation and communications, among other fields. Hence, we can confidently say that Venezuela has been - and will always be - supporting TT to achieve its goals while fully engaging in cultural and education co-operation.
As you walk in the IVCC at the bottom floor of the Venezuelan Embassy on 16 Victoria Avenue, right behind a bust of Bello, you can read a quote, written on the wall by a prominent student of the institute, Winston Dookeran, a former TT foreign minister. His quote epitomises the vision of the institute:
'It was a privilege for me to enroll as a student several years ago, as I knew then that Spanish would become an indispensable tool for the conduct of diplomatic relations. Today, as Minister for Foreign Affairs, I am even more convinced of the importance of the Spanish language, and I want to commend you for the contribution which you have made in fostering better conduct between our two nations.'
Former minister Dookeran wrote this message in 2015.
However, just like any other dynamic institution, the IVCC has not been static. It has gone through changes, and it has ultimately adapted very well.
In terms of its physical location, the IVCC was initially on 9 Longden Street, near the centre of Port-of-Spain, but years later it moved to 9 Rookery Nook Avenue, Maraval, until the IVCC found its latest and current location on 16 Victoria Avenue, sharing the same building with the Venezuelan Embassy.
For many years, students from San Fernando and Tobago also benefitted from the lessons by the IVCC. Indeed, as I was revising several papers and old clippings about the IVCC to write this piece, I came across an IVCC graduation programme from 1997, which stated that half of the graduates were from San Fernando.
The diversity of TT students has not only been geographical but also occupational. A press release sent to the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs to celebrate the 30th a
