Juan Luis Cebrián honored in the Dominican Republic for his contribution to culture

PRISA CEO Juan Luis Cebrián paid tribute to the political and literary achievements of the former Dominican president Juan Bosch - whose centenary falls this year - in a speech at the National Palace of the Dominican Republic. Moments earlier the country's current president, Leonel Fernandez, had awarded the CEO with the Order of Merit of Duarte, Sanchez y Mella, with the grade of Commander, in recognition of his contributions to culture. "From now on I will strive to prove myself worthy of this honor," said Cebrian after speaking warmly of his ties with and admiration for the Caribbean country.

Ministers, business leaders, intellectuals and journalists came together for the ceremony, held in the state palace's Hall of Ambassadors. Also present were party leaders from the Partido de Liberacion Dominicana (PLD), founded by Juan Bosch after leaving the party Partido Revolucionario Dominicana which he had founded and which brought him to power after winning the first elections to be held in the wake of the death of the dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo in 1963.

Cebrian's speech on Juan Bosch was a tribute to the late political leader who did much to break with the "historical arrhythmia" affecting Dominican society while he briefly wielded power. Before being overthrown by a military coup, Bosch "passed a new constitution and agrarian reform, which was never to be carried out. These were his first steps towards solving problems that were not strictly exclusive to his country but were shared by all Latin America, such as a lack of institutional democracy, corruption, poor respect for human rights and the use of violence in the practise of politics," said the PRISA CEO. "Many of these problems have fortunately been overcome in many countries throughout the region."

The founder and first editor-in-chief of El País alluded to the different historical processes operating in both Spain and the Dominican Republic to explain why the development of liberal society in the former differed from that in the latter. And on more than one occasion, while referring to Juan Bosch, he mentioned "the absence of a middle class that might have fostered the development of capitalism" and could have ushered in the changes sorely needed in the country. Bosch stove to break this historical arrhythmia, Cebrian said, adding that he was "a great visionary, a man of honor and one who tirelessly combated corruption" and a figure who contributed much to the process of political and social development of the Dominican Republic in keeping with his democratic convictions and faith in the citizenry.

Juan Luis Cebrián also highlighted the Bosch's deep awareness and knowledge of his people, their customs and their culture, thanks to his contacts with the peasantry. "While they may have been unlettered people, they possessed a spirit of solidarity, solid moral principles and a deep social awareness." There were those who did not see things this way, "who saw the peasant as a rough, picaresque figure, the cause of revolution and protest."  According to Cebrián, Bosch knew all too well the social and political reasons for the Dominican Republic's failure to develop after the end of the Trujillo regime "but the violence perpetrated by the oligarchs together with the geopolitical situation, which he defined as pentagonist, meant that he did not have time even to fail - probably because the oligarchs suspected that he might have succeeded."

Towards the end of his speech, Cebrián turned his attention to the literary side to Bosch, who was a great lover of his language, a language he used correctly and vigorously championed. Cebrián stressed the importance of the Spanish language in today's globalized world. "His doctrine remains relevant because liberty and social justice remain at the core of every project for advancement. We can sense in the books and articles he left us a man in love with his language. There is no other language like ours in the world, a vital common patrimony in an increasingly globalized world. We are the owners of a global culture based on the use of the Spanish language," he said.