Representing Cuba, the Head of Mission Mercedes L. Martinez Herrera, participated in the official launching of Liberia's Bicentennial celebration held at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex.
The event was attended by the Presidents of the Republic of Sierra Leone H.E. Julius Maada Wonie Bio, the Republic of Gambia H.E. Adama Barrow, the Togolese Republic H.E. Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, and the Republic of Niger H.E. Mr. Mohamed Bazoum as special guests.
The event featured a military and cultural parade in which all the counties of the West African country participated.
Liberia, a nation founded by freed American slaves in 1847, celebrates the arrival of the first ship of freed slaves in 1822 on the Mayflower.
A group of eighty-eight free black men and women set sail from New York for the then British Colony, known as The Loin's Mountain (now Sierra Leone) and in 1822 organized the first immigration of blacks to Africa to a land called the “Green Coast” now the Republic of Liberia.
In July 1847, Liberia became the first African republic to proclaim its independence and is the first and oldest modern republic in Africa. The nation was one of the few countries to maintain its sovereignty during the scramble for Africa.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Cuba’s Representative Office Abroad.
