SINGER-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez has received in Havana the Pablo de la Torriente Brau Award, a prize given by the Cultural Center bearing the name of the revolutionary Cuban intellectual to figures and institutions in national and international culture. The award was given to the distinguished trova singer for his songs, ideas, persistence and courage, according to the words of Victor Casaus, director of the foundation.

Instituted in 1998, the Pablo de la Torriente Brau Award, a tribute to the writer and journalist who died in combat as a member of a Cuban internationalist brigade during the Spanish Civil War, proposes to acknowledge the work and development of those who have distinguished themselves in the promotion of values related to cultural identity and solidarity.

Numerous cultural figures such as City of Havana Historian Eusebio Leal and Argentine director Fernando Birri, among others, were present at the prize-giving ceremony, which concluded with a much- awaited concert.

Silvio received his award, a medal and a diploma, with a natural simplicity and recognized the arduous labors of the cultural institution. "Thank you to all those who work here because they do it for Latin American culture, with solidarity and for solidarity, and thanks as well to Pablo for having existed," he affirmed.

(Granma) January 8, 2003