H.E. Mr Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias

Hugo Chávez, former President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, received the 2005 International José Martí Prize in a ceremony that took place in Havana (Cuba) on 28 January. The ceremony coincided with the anniversary of the birth, in 1853, of José Martí the Cuban humanist, writer, translator, diplomat, and teacher, who is known as the “champion” of Cuba’s independence.

The $5,000 Prize was awarded on the recommendation of a seven-member international jury, which included Nadine Gordimer, the South African Nobel Prize for Literature laureate.