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• 04 / 25 / 2009

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The winners of the Cuban La Edad de Oro Composition Contest, which includes children from all over Latin America, were announced in Havana on Wednesday.

The award ceremony coincided with celebrations to mark the 120th anniversary of the first publication of that master piece by Cuba’s National Hero José Martí.

Some 220 children from Bolivia, Argentina, Nicaragua, Mexico, El Salvador and Cuba participated in the contest. The prize-winning works will be published in November.

Attending the ceremony at Havana’s Studies Center on José Martí were the director of the National José Martí Program, Armando Hart; the director of UNESCO’s Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, Herman Van-Hooff; and UNICEF representative José Juan Ortiz.

Van-Hooff highlighted the significance of the contest at a moment where the struggle against illiteracy --a scourge Cuba put an end to in 1961-- continues worldwide.

The La Colmenita children’s theatre company closed the ceremony with a performance of the classic Little Finger, a short story by Cuba’s National Hero José Martí­ published in his book ‘The Golden Age’.

At the end of their performance, the Cuban troupe received a plaque from the hands of the UNESCO representative, acknowledging their excellent work.

Source: Radio Habana Cuba