"Cuba has shown many times that both the pen and the weapons of liberation are worthwhile and useful," said the Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka yesterday in the Villena hall of Uneac, when he received the Dulce María Loynaz International Prize, during the celebration of the 63rd anniversary of the founding of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba.
"It is very good to be back in this creative family. I have had very good adventures, great adventures, both political and creative, in Cuba," said the Nobel Laureate in Literature, who, recalling his origins in the mother continent, "yours and mine," said he was well aware of the role Cuba played in the liberation of the continent, "something we can never allow ourselves to forget," he said before a large audience that included Alpidio Alonso, Minister of Culture, and Miguel Barnet, Honorary President of Uneac, among others.
The Uneac prize - with words of praise from Omar Valiño, director of the National Library of Cuba - was presented to the distinguished visitor as Marta Bonet, president of the organization, concluded her congratulatory message to her colleagues.
Bonet reviewed the mission of the organization, from its founding to the present day, and recalled that this year we are in Congress. "Only unity will bring victory, a unity that, in Cintio Vitier's metaphor, is a parliament in a trench. Fidel leads us and with Guillén we are here, she concluded.
