Cuban Council of State awards Friendship Medal to Mario Renato Menéndez Rodríguez

Ricardo Alonso Venereo

THE Council of State of the Republic of Cuba awarded the Friendship Medal to Renato Menéndez Rodríguez, general editor of the Mexican newspaper Por Esto!. The proposal was made by Kenia Serrano Puig, president of the Cuban Friendship Institute (ICAP), and the official ceremony took place in Havana’s José Martí Memorial.

The medal was conferred "in recognition of his declared commitment to the Cuban Revolution, Latin American independence and integration; for his exemplary exercise of journalism, as well as his contribution to Latin American unity and the dissemination of the life and work of Cuba’s National Hero José Martí.

In an address praising the recipient of the award, Gustavo Robreño Dolz, an advisor at the José Martí Progam Office, speaking on behalf of its director, Armando Hart Dávalos, emphasized the merits of Menéndez Rodríguez who, for more than 20 years, has placed his personal, political and professional life at the service of "identity, dignity and sovereignty," principles which he has unconditionally embraced since the founding in Mérida of Por Esto!.

"From an early age, Mario has always embraced the cause of national and social liberation of the Latin American and Caribbean peoples, and was prepared to fight for that, assuming all the risks which that implies," said Robreño, recalling the connections Menéndez has with José Martí and Cuba.

"I am very grateful to the people of Cuba for this medal, which I do not think I deserve and I shall ask the government of my country if I can wear it with pride on my return to Mérida. It constitutes a commitment to continue the struggle for the liberation of all the peoples of Latin America," affirmed Menéndez, who also dedicated the medal to all his compañeros in struggle who were unable to be present at the ceremony, to Fidel and Raúl Castro, to Che, to his compañeros in long battles, to José Martí and to the example of the Cuban Revolution.