HAVANA, Cuba, Apr 22 (ACN) Army General Raul Castro Ruz and Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) and president of the country, sent wreaths to the posthumous tribute of Nicanor Leon Cotayo, renowned Cuban journalist and essayist, who passed away last Friday, April 15 at 82.
The ceremony at the Association of Cuban Journalists (UPEC by its Spanish acronym) was attended by Rogelio Polanco Fuentes, member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the PCC and head of its ideological department, as well as by fellow combatants, journalists and family members.
During his opening remarks, Jorge Legañoa Alonso, vice president of UPEC, noted that the meeting was recognition by the Cuban people of Leon Cotayo’s valuable patriotic contribution and his unquestionable loyalty to the Revolution and to Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz.
Leon Cotayo graduated in Journalism at the University of Havana and worked in prestigious national media such as the Granma newspaper and the Prensa Latina agency, while he also collaborated in other areas of the press, radio and television.
He was recognized for his work as a commentator on international affairs and researcher on the issue of the U.S. blockade against Cuba, and donated the copyrights of his texts to the defense of the nation.
After the triumph of the Revolution in 1959, he was a founding member of the National Revolutionary Militias, the Association of Young Rebels, and the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution.
He received several distinctions and recognitions, such as the Vanguard Medal of the Border Guard Troops for his attitude in the vicinity of the Guantanamo Naval Base during the invasion of Playa Giron, the medal Combatiente de la Lucha Clandestina, Anniversary of the FAR, the Felix Elmusa, the 28th of September, among others.