Cuban president awards important distinction to prominent African writer

Wole Soyinka, Nigerian writer and Nobel Prize in Literature, received today at Casa de las Americas the Haydee Santamaria Medal, awarded by Miguel Diaz-Canel, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, on behalf of Cuba and at the proposal of the Minister of Culture.

As reported by the Presidency on X, Jorge Fornet, director of the Center for Literary Research of Casa de las Americas, in his remarks of praise, said that awarding Soyinka the medal that bears the name of that extraordinary woman is an act of justice that honors us.

After the ceremony, Diaz-Canel held a meeting with Soyinka, where he thanked her for his visit in such a complex moment for Cuba.

It is the visit of a brother who has always been fighting for the most just causes, the president noted.

The Haydee Santamaria Medal is conferred to national and foreign citizens and groups who, over the years, have shared the main objectives of the Casa: the enrichment, defense and integration of the genuine cultures of our region and the entire South.

This event also celebrates Wole Soyinka's 90th birthday and the 60th anniversary of his first visit to Cuba, where he has returned on several occasions.

The Nobel Laureate in Literature, who during the tribute had stated that “Cuba is also my home”, referred during the meeting to the strong ties that unite the island and Africa.