Prince of Asturias Awards 1981–2014. Speeches

10 O viedo | C ampoamor T heatre | have the satisfaction to have among us here today, together with the leading representatives of the Provisional Directive Committee for the formation of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity Party, have praised the great work carried out by the Spanish military forces. We thus celebrate the step ahead that the people of Guatemala have taken in favour of their country and the whole of Central America. Efforts should now be aimed at the improvement of social conditions and the progressive welfare of Guatemalans. That is how long-desired peace will become consolidated. Two human beings for whommusic has been the passion and very sense of their life —from the enthusiasm of their youthful spirit, with which they unrelentingly search for, and enjoy beauty— Yehudi Menuhin and Mstislav Rostropovich, have jointly received the Prince of Asturias Award for Concord. Both have known rootlessness and exile, but have fought against that dispossession with the bloodless and marvellous weapon of music, whose purest sounds stem from the hands, but are dictated by the heart. We recognize in them something more than their quality as extraordinary and prestigious performers, more than their deserved fame as conductors and instrumentalists. We also, and most especially, acknowledge the deeply human dimension of their personal conduct, the constant help they have offered the persecuted and the helpless of the world, their concerts in benefit of human rights, and of national and international organizations striving for the peace and freedom of peoples. Moreover, both of them are also great friends of Spain, whose music they have performed many times. We are proud of this friendship and of their constant expressions of kindness to our country; and we are truly happy for their synthesis of art and human values, oriented towards the achievement of concord. There are times when a team, within the context of a great modern entrepreneurial organization, transforms some essential aspect of our life with its everyday activities. Our life today is, to a large extent, structured by the vital connecting chord of journalism, a vehicle for knowledge, information and communication. This exciting task has been elevated to its highest degree by the cnn television network —Prince of Asturias Award for Communications and Humanities, together with the President of the Czech Republic, Václav Havel— making real the old dreams of instant communication between human beings, wherever they may be; of breaking down frontiers and distances; of knowing what is happening in each and every corner of the planet; and, by doing so, finally turning the Earth into that suggestive metaphor we call the “global village”. Its success, the result of an idea that is as audacious as it is radically innovative in the world of communications, shows that failure is only experienced by those who never run risks. We are today paying tribute to this difficult task; to this risk of life itself which often accompanies the network’s splendid team of journalists wherever the most vibrant news occurs, or wherever the events that signal the great changes in our societies take place. For us, the Spanish people, and for the more than three hundred and fifty million Spanish- speakers in the world, it is extraordinarily satisfactory that the universal dimension covered by the cnn has now grown to include broadcasting in Spanish. The recognition of the importance and extension of our language is a sign of sensitivity and future vision to which we cannot remain indifferent. Authenticity in the exercise of politics and literature is the characteristic feature of President Václav Havel, joint Prince of Asturias Laureate for Communications and Humanities. The nobility of his spirit shines as much in his poetry, his drama and his essays as in the political “We are also pleased and proud that our fellow compatriots have been in charge of the international military misión that has striven, first and foremost, to avoid clashes between the contenders and, ultimately, to achieve peace.” 24 th O ctober 1997