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Miguel Diaz-Canel, president of Cuba, has conferred a national medal of honour on Wole Soyinka, Nobel Laureate.
The Haydee Santamaria Medal was bestowed on Soyinka at the Casa de las Americas in Havana, Cuba, on August 23.
In a statement issued by the Cuban presidency, Diaz-Canel said Soyinka’s visit to the country is “very significant, it is the visit of a brother who has always fought for just causes”.
The president said awarding Soyinka the medal is an expression of many feelings for Cuba, adding that the Haydee always harped on the importance of culture to revolution.
“With you, we share ideas, dreams, commitment to human improvement,” Diaz-Canel said.
Jorge Fornet, director of the Centre for Literary Research of Casa de las Americas, said awarding Soyinka the Haydee Santamaría Medal, which has been previously received by many of the most outstanding figures of Latin American, Caribbean and other world intellectuals, “is an act of justice that honours us”.
The event also celebrated Soyinka’s 90th birthday and the 60th anniversary of his first visit to Cuba.
In his remarks, Soyinka emphasised the importance of strengthening ties between Africa and Cuba, adding that the South American country is also his home.
“Our ties with Cuba are not limited to art and literature, but also to liberation,” Soyinka said.
“I grew up listening to Cuban music, in those days when there were gramophones, when there was no electricity.
“This has been a wonderful way to bring me back and remind me that Cuba is also my home. And it is proof that Yoruba is everywhere here, and that completes the spiritual aspect of people like me.”
The medal is awarded to Cuban and foreign groups and citizens who have contributed to making the objectives of the Casa de las Américas a reality.
The Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba also presented Soyinka with the Dulce María Loynaz International Prize.
Omar Valiño, a theatre critic and theorist, described Soyinka as a “consistent man”, saying his intellectual work draws on the ancestral wisdom of Yoruba culture.
Soyinka was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986.
