DATA OF INTEREST
GUEST:
DAGOBERTO VALDES HERNÁNDEZ
HOST:
ANAELI IBARRA
Synopsis:
A conversation with Dagoberto Valdés Hernández, Catholic intellectual and political activist, about the role of the church in the processes of civic formation following 1959 and activism as a Catholic. Dagoberto was the founder of the sociocultural magazine Vitrales, and of the reflection space with a focus on education, Convivencia. Dagoberto shares the reflections that have taken place in Convivencia about a national project for Cuba that repairs anthropological damage and articulates a nation where all are welcome.
Bio:
Dagoberto Valdés Hernández was born in Pinar del Río, Cuba on August 4,1955. He is an agronomist by trade, an educator by vocation, and a Catholic leader at heart. From his home province of Pinar del Río, as a Catholic intellectual, he directed the magazine Vitral and he currently directs the digital magazine Convivencia. He is an essayist and editor of sociocultural magazines. He has received the following awards: the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development given by the Kings of Holland, awarded to Vitral magazine in a ceremony held that the Royal Palace of Amsterdam, December 8, 1999, the Jan Karski Award for Bravery and Compassion, received on November 10, 2004 in Washington, D.C, where he was guest speaker at Georgetown University and Catholic University, the Premio Tolerancia Plus, and the Premio a la Perseverancia Nuestra voz, awarded by the publication Renacer on May 16, 2011.
He was chosen by the publication Diario de Cuba as one of the “most important Cuban figures” in 2011 and won the Bronze Medal granted by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Poland in March 2012. He has published the books Félix Varela: Biografía del Padre de la Cultura Cubana (published by the diocese of Pinar del Río), Somos trabajadores (Universidad de los Trabajadores de América Latina. UTAL. Venezuela, 1995), Reconstruir la sociedad civil, un proyecto para Cuba (Fundación Conrad Adenauer, Venezuela, 1997), which was also translated into English in 2008 although not yet published, Cuba: Libertad y Responsabilidad. Desafíos y proyectos (Ediciones Universal de Estados Unidos, 2005), La libertad de la luz, Compendio de editoriales de la Revista Vitral. 1994-2007 (Instituto Lech Walesa, 2007). This same institute published the second Spanish edition in 2009 and the translation into English and Polish is forthcoming. He has also published Cuba: hora de levantar cabeza (Editorial Hispano-Cubana,Madrid, 2009) and Ética y Cívica: "Aprendiendo a ser persona y a vivir en sociedad (Ediciones Convivencia, 2015).
