Cuban Poet Manuel Díaz Martínez Dies in Gran Canaria

June 19, 2023

Cuban poet, Spanish citizen, and resident of Gran Canaria since the early nineties, Manuel Díaz Martínez, passed away Saturday morning on the island at the age of 86.

The death of this corresponding member of the Real Academia Española has generated deep sorrow in Gran Canarian literary circles, where he was highly appreciated for the quality of his poetic texts as well as for his generosity and wisdom.

This journalist, poet, and diplomat left Cuba in 1991, after signing along with nine other intellectuals a call for Fidel Castro's regime to open itself to democracy.

His struggle in favor of freedoms and human rights was a constant until his final days. A stance that coexisted naturally with his literary passion, poetry, and writing in general.

He published nearly twenty books, and among the numerous accolades he received is the medal from the Centro Cultural Cubano de Nueva York.