-DATE-
19830719
-YEAR-
1983
-DOCUMENT_TYPE-
ARTICLE
-AUTHOR-
F. CASTRO
-HEADLINE-
CASTRO DECORATES UNESCO DIRECTOR M'BOW
-PLACE-
CUBA
-SOURCE-
HAVANA DOMESTIC TV SVC
-REPORT_NBR-
FBIS
-REPORT_DATE-
19830719
-TEXT-
FIDEL CASTRO DECORATES UNESCO DIRECTOR M'BOW

FL 190117 [Editorial Report] Havana Domestic Television Service in Spanish
at 0030 GMT on 19 July carries live coverage of a ceremony being held at
the main hall of the Palace of the Revolution in Havana to decorate UNESCO
Director General Amadou Mahtar M'Bow with the Felix Varela Order. As
coverage begins, several Cuban officials are seen taking their positions in
the hall. President Fidel Castro heads the line of Cuban officials.

Cuban Culture Minister Armando Hart Davalos goes to the microphone and
reads a statement explaining the significance of the Felix Varela Order, to
whom it is awarded, and the great work of educator Felix Varela whose name
the order bears. He adds that for the first time the Cuban Council of State
has declined to bestow the medal to someone not born in America, that it
has chosen Amadou Mahtar M'Bow, a son of Africa, because many grandparents
of Cubans came from that continent; that Mahtar M'Bow is of humble
extraction, a worker of the land, a son of Senegal; the Mahtar M'Bow is a
teacher who helped to transcribe his country's languages phonetically as
well as helping in their written evolution; that Mahtar M'Bow is a
brilliant politician; that Mahtar M'Bow has worked hard for the reform of
educational systems from his post at UNESCO; and that he has defended the
right of all peoples to their cultural identity.

After Hart concluded his statement at 0039 GMT, Fidel Castro walks across
the hall and decorates Amadou Mahtar M'Bow. Castro returns to the opposite
side of the hall.

In a 3-minute statement, the UNESCO director thanks the Cuban people and
government for the high honor, and expresses great happiness for being
among his Cuban friends. Coverage ends at 0044 GMT, and the camera returns
to the studio.
-END-