Cuban writer Rivero wins Spanish prize
MADRID -- (AP) -- Cuban dissident writer Raul Rivero has won a
prestigious Spanish journalism award for his work as a journalist
reporting on his native country, where he spent two years in jail on
charges of trying to undermine President Fidel Castro's government.
Rivero, who is 62 and moved to Madrid in 2005 after being released from
prison, won one of several Ortega y Gasset prizes that were announced
Wednesday. The awards, now in their 24th year, are given by Spain's
top-selling newspaper, El Pais.
The jury voted unanimously to give Rivero the prize for journalism in
recognition of his "tenacious and committed battle for journalistic
freedom'' in Cuba.
It praised Rivero, who is also a poet, for a life's work that is "very
original and of extraordinary literary value."
Rivero was among 75 independent journalists, opposition politicians and
other activists who were arrested in 2003.
Other prizes were given out in categories such as photography and
investigative reporting. The awards are named for the late Spanish
philosopher Jose Ortega y Gasset.
Each carries a $20,000 stipend and a sculpture by the late Spanish
artist Eduardo Chillida.
The award ceremony is scheduled for May 9 in Madrid.
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