Miguel Barnet Receives Honorary Doctorate in Yucatan

HAVANA, Cuba, Oct 21 (acn) Miguel Barnet, president of the Association of Cuban Writers and Artists (UNEAC), received on Tuesday an honorary doctorate during the International Festival of Mayan Culture, under way in Merida, Yucatan.

The Cuban narrator and ethnologist thanked the University of Oriente (UNO), of the municipality of Valladolid, for the honorary title and said he received the award on behalf of Cuban artists and intellectuals.
According to international media, the author of the novel Biografia de un cimarron (Biography of a Runaway, 1966), recalled his teachers in his speech, as well as Mexican doctor and anthropologist Ricardo Pozas and Cuban Fernando Ortiz, to whom he dedicated the medal.
The ceremony was held at the Ek Balam Hall of the Grand Museum of the Mayan World, and was chaired by Jorge Esma, president of the 4 th International Festival of Mayan Culture, and Carlos Bojorquez, rector of the UNO, and also by professors and heads of departments who awarded the medal.
Representing Cuba at the ceremony were Marta Rojas, writer and journalist, Alfredo Ruiz, director of International Relations of the Ministry of Culture, and Jorge Mario Garcia, general consul of the island in the Yucatan Peninsula.