BY BORIS LEONARDO CARO -Granma International staff writer-

                   MARIA quickly covers the cards with her hands. She’s wrong again, and the
                   two girls smile. María observes them very seriously, but when she is with her
                   two granddaughters, Victoria and Marti, tenderness swiftly wins over.

                   A call to dinner comes from the house. The grandmother walks slowly towards
                   the piano. The other diners sit around the big family table. María’s glance rests
                   on one of the portraits hanging from the dining room wall. “Grandma,”
                   Victoria exclaims. “Who is that young man in the photos?” Next to her, her
                   father whispers, “That is your great-grandfather, José Martí.”

                   Many years later in Havana, the granddaughters of María Mantilla once more
                   listen to the piano at one of the gatherings during their visit to Cuba. The
                   music inevitably takes them back to their Uncle Cesar’s house in Los Angeles,
                   California, where they knew their grandmother. At the time they were too
                   young to realize who that man was that some called their great-grandfather.
                   They also couldn’t imagine that they would come to Cuba to learn about a
                   history that belongs to them because of their legacy of family and of memory.

                   Victoria and Marti Romero came to Havana for the second time on Friday,
                   January 23. They had come the year before, thanks to coordination between
                   the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) and the
                   Cuban-American Alliance for Education. The latter organization maintains
                   constant cooperation with a number of Cuban agencies in matters related to
                   humanitarian aid.

                   Their visit this time included a detailed tour through sites bearing witness to
                   the life and work of José Martí. In addition, María Mantilla’s granddaughters
                   were received in educational and health centers and in various cultural
                   institutions. On January 28, they participated in the event commemorating
                   the 151st anniversary of the birth of the Cuban national hero.

                   In a press conference the two women gave at the ICAP office, they told of the
                   donation of a letter written by María Mantilla to her son César. The 69-page
                   document tells the story of the most important events of her life, and especially
                   her association with José Martí.

                   Marti Romero thanked the Cuban people for their efforts to preserve the
                   memory of María Mantilla and to keep alive José Martí’s ideas. “We are very
                   moved by the love that everyone has shown us in Cuba,” she said. Victoria
                   described how impressed they have been by children’s knowledge of Martí’s
                   works. “I hope that English-speakers will soon be able to read Martí and learn
                   from him,” she said.

                   The Romero sisters are to return to the United States on February 6.