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• 04 / 29 / 2009

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Roberto Fernandez Retamar, president of the Havana-based Casa de Las Americas cultural institution, was bestowed the Jose Marti Order, Cuba´s top distinction, by President Raul Castro during a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of that emblematic institution.

 

The ceremony paid tribute to heroine of the Cuban Revolution Haydee Santamaria, of whom Fernandez Retamar said that without her exemplary life and work he would not have been the person he is today. Haydee was the first president of the Casa de Las Americas institution.

 

Retamar received the Jose Marti Order for his outstanding contribution to Cuban and Latin American culture, for his work as professor of generations, poet, essay writer, researcher and for his firm defense of the Cuban Revolution.

 

Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon also paid homage to Haydee Santamaria and he recalled the various tasks and works undertaken by Casa de Las Americas, acn reported. “Casa de Las Americas has encouraged us to resist and has contributed to defeat the isolation policy on Cuba,” said Ricardo Alarcon in his statements during the ceremony, which concluded with the presentation of renowned singer Omara Portuondo.

Source: CubaNow