SAMUEL RUIZ GARCIA AND JULIO
SANGUINETTI RECEIVE THE
2000 INTERNATIONAL SIMON BOLIVAR PRIZE
Paris, October 24 (No. 2000-106) -
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura presented the 2000 International
Simón Bolívar Prize to Samuel Ruiz García, the former Bishop of Chiapas
(Mexico), and Julio María Sanguinetti, the former President of Uruguay, in a
ceremony at Organization Headquarters yesterday evening.
After underlining the universal
scope of the prize, named after a “key figure of Spanish-American culture”,
which has previously been awarded to Nelson Mandela, King Juan Carlos of Spain,
Václav Havel, Aung San Suu Kyi, Julius Nyerere and Mário Soares, the
Director-General pointed out that, through its choice, the jury sought to honour
“two aspects of a complex society in which there is no longer a necessary
correlation between institutions and their symbols”.
Mr Matsuura evoked Samuel Ruiz
García’s long struggle for social justice as Bishop of Chiapas: “You have
devoted yourself whole-heartedly to the well-being of the populations of Chiapas
and to the defence of their culture, whilst engaging yourself fully, both as a
humanitarian agent on the ground and as a political mediator looked to by all
sides, to helping relieve the suffering caused by the many conflicts that flared
up in this region where Mexico and Central America meet […]. At times
challenged, even receiving death threats, but always inspired by a strong
commitment to human solidarity and by a deep-seated belief in the legitimate
aspiration of the indigenous peoples of the Americas to freedom and dignity, in
the end you commanded the respect of all”.
The Director-General praised
Julio María Sanguinetti for resigning from his position as minister in response
to rights violations and the military coup of 1973. Mr Matsuura said: “Whilst
you were well known as a politician, you were equally recognised as a writer. As
an author and a journalist, you wrote and spoke in support of the struggle for
human rights and democracy in the dark days when these were suppressed. Though
your country is at peace once more, none could forget the difficult transition
from that period of iron rule to today’s political pluralism and, above all,
freedom. You initiated this transition, through your writing, your eloquence and
your talent as a negotiator. As for freedom, you have at last succeeded in
strengthening it thanks to the support of your people which, as Simón Bolívar
said, “siempre es más sabio que todos los sabios”, is always wiser
than the wisest”.
In his acceptance speech,
Samuel Ruiz García emphasised that through him, the ethnic communities of
Chiapas, Mexico, and the American continent, and all the other indigenous
peoples of the world, had been awarded this prize: “It is their struggles,
their sufferings, their hopes and aspirations that must be recognised”. He
restated his wish to remain by their side “in their quest for justice and
dignity”. Samuel Ruiz García said he was proud “to see today the earth’s
poorest, the indigenous peoples who occupy the lowest rung on the social ladder,
project a message of hope whilst also challenging the old world. Their message
says that only a new kind of society will allow for the respectful coexistence
of legitimate cultural differences […] as well as a true brotherhood of man”.
Julio María Sanguinetti, for
his part, stressed the importance of education: “As Simón Bolívar used to
say, “The foundation of freedom is education”. It is one of the great values
defended by UNESCO […] and it is the great cause through which we must support
our democratic project, a project constantly under construction”. He
continued: “Education and science have been the two cornerstones of UNESCO and
now more than ever before we need to redefine them, encourage them and harness
them in this age of globalisation we are living in. […] Education without
science can mean poverty. Science without education can lead to moral confusion
for though science liberates, it also sets free forces that are highly
dangerous. Science helps make antibiotics or build atom bombs. It is therefore
necessary that both science and education be deployed in the service of higher
values which are those that inhabit the spirit of our Latin American diversity”.
The Ambassador and Permanent
Delegate of Venezuela to UNESCO, Hiram Gaviria Rincón, commended the
prize-winners for showing the path towards a more just and humane society and
for helping turn the ideals of the Libertador - freedom, independence and the
ties of solidarity between nations - into a reality. Underlining the cultural
diversity of humanity, he said: “Confronted with today’s increasingly
globalised world […], the Latin American continent must reaffirm its own
cultural identity and, through it, unite its peoples”.
UNESCO’s US $25,000
International Simón Bolívar Prize was established in 1978 by the Organization’s
Executive Board at the initiative of the government of Venezuela and thanks to
its backing. The Prize is awarded every two years in recognition of activity of
outstanding merit which, in keeping with the ideals of Simón Bolívar, has
contributed to the freedom, independence and dignity of peoples, as well as the
strengthening of ties of solidarity between nations.
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