The director of the Cervantes Institute of Beirut receives the Cuban head of mission
Ambassador Jorge León Cruz, Chargé d'Affaires a.i., was received by the Director of the Cervantes Institute of Beirut, Dr. Yolanda Soler Onís, who offered him a cordial welcome and, during the tour of the Institute's facilities, gave him an extensive explanation of the work being carried out to promote the teaching, study and use of the Spanish language to contribute to the dissemination of Hispanic cultures in Lebanon.
During the fruitful exchange, the possibilities of collaboration between the Institute and the Embassy in the translation and publishing program Poetas Cervantes en Árabe (POCENAR), with the aim of translating into Arabic the works of the Cuban poet, essayist, journalist and lawyer Dulce María Loynaz y Muñoz, were positively assessed.
The Cuban diplomat thanked the director for the friendly hospitality and the gifts of the books, in Arabic and Spanish, "En resumidas cuentas", by Mexican writer José Emilio Pacheco, winner of the 2009 Cervantes Prize, and "Cuadernos de Baalbek" by Lebanese writer and filmmaker Talal Haidar.
Considered one of the leading figures of Cuban and world literature, Dulce María Loynaz was awarded the Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra Prize in 1992.
The greatest Cuban writer of the 20th century received numerous national and international distinctions. She was decorated in Spain with the Order of Alfonso X the Wise (1947) and with the Order of Isabella the Catholic (1993). She was awarded by the Ministry of Culture of Cuba with the Distinction for National Culture (1981) and decorated by the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba with the Alejo Carpentier Medal (1983) and the Félix Varela Order of the First Degree (1988).