Ruben Dario named Nicaragua’s new national hero

Managua, Feb 6 (EFE). — Nicaraguan poet Ruben Dario (18671916) was declared Saturday a “national hero” of Nicaragua, in a special session of the National Assembly marking the centennial of his death.

The plenary session of the National Assembly named Dario a “national hero” because “with his pen and intellect as well as arms, he defended the sovereignty and independence of the national language of Nicaragua, and that of all the Spanishspeaking nations of the Americas, and of Spain itself, and even more, that of France, languages that he enriched with his prose and poetry.”

The session was held at the city of Leon’s Cathedral of the Assumption, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO for its artistic, cultural and historic value.

Attending the event were descendents of Ruben Dario, as well as students of his works, government representatives, members of security forces, delegates from the Education Ministry and dignitaries of Leon, located some 90 kilometers (57 miles) northwest of Managua.

Though the law for declaring a “national hero” in Nicaragua gives priority to those who fought in heroic battles, it also allows the honoring of “women and men who gave outstanding service to their country in any of its spheres,” according to the National Assembly.

Felix Ruben Garcia Sarmiento, known as Ruben Dario, was born Jan. 18, 1867 in the rural municipality of Metapa, today called Ciudad Dario, in northern Nicaragua, and died in Leon on Feb. 6, 1916, at the age of 49.