Cuban writers protest suspension of payments for awards

A letter signed in April this year by the Minister of Economy of Cuba, Marino Murillo, reported that payments to the literary awards have been suspended.

The minister's letter has drawn complaints from several members of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC). The reactions via emails circulating on the Internet.

In one of the emails circulating, writer Arístides Vega Chapú says: "It is no secret we can not sustain our intellectual work only with the low wages paid ... the prize money helped us to alleviate the situation."

For its part, the poet Luis Manuel Pérez Boitel asked: "Why do not the finance minister is more concerned about the amount of money spent on gas each day the country's leaders?".

In Cuba, many writers use literary prize money to relieve their economic plight, and to solve problems as basic as painting your home or fix some appliances.

Source: Cuba Inglesa