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• 05 / 31 / 2009

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The donation is part of the money he received from the Victor Varela Mora International Prize, which he was granted last year by the Romulo Gallegos Foundation, for his poetry collection titled “Paños menores.”

The Colombian poet recalled that when he first came to Cuba in 1985, he took a stroll along the Malecon seafront drive towards the Old Section of Havana; he was barefoot since he did not bring his sandals and to his surprise, a Cuban child asked him to his place so that his father gave the poet a pair of shoes.

At that moment, he said he praised the Cuban Revolution, since he understood that he was in a country needing a lot of things, but honor and dignity.

Arbelaez said he donated his money to help purchase items which Cuban families lost under the blowing of the hurricanes.

Miguel Barnet, president of the Cuban Union of Writers and Artists received the donation and stressed that JMario´s gesture was a poetic action that would be met with gratitude.

The Colombian poet was born in Cali, 1949. He was co-founder of the Nadaista Group and is considered one of the most outstanding writers of his generation.

(www.cubanow.net)