Havana, September 30- The "decima" becomes a tribute to honor one of its great defenders who embellished with his genius every verse, Cuban poet Jesus Orta Ruiz, on the occasion of today's 101st anniversary of his birth.

El Indio Naborí, as he was popularized around the world, lives among us because of his wide and attractive work that covers different literary genres such as poetry, including improvised poetry, essays and journalism.

With the merit of writing like the gods, she managed to merge the popular and the cultured, and with the same gift she broadened the horizon of her poetry with the exercise of the most varied classical forms and even versolibrism.

Deserving the recognition of the critics and his admirers, the poetics of the National Prize of Literature (1995) is inscribed in three aspects: peasant, social and autobiographical.

Also a laureate, his prose appears in most of the Cuban anthologies of the 20th century and covers diverse topics such as prologues, essays, studies of traditions, folklore, literature and an extensive journalistic work.

He offered the public and experts his book Estampas y elegías, which won favorable comments in the literary columns of the country's main publications.

Among the great contributions of this author is one of the best studies on criollismo and siboneyismo, publications about the décima and creole folklore, and the creation of the Jornada Cucalambeana, an idea shared with José Ramírez, Ramón Veloz and Manuel Fernández.

With his pen he gave prestige to multiple spaces such as Bohemia magazine, where he published poems, chronicles, articles and reports for 23 years.

He participated in the Festival Iberoamericano de la Décima y el Verso Improvisado in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria with the conference Autobiografía de un Improvisador, where by unanimous vote of the participants, September 30 was declared the Iberoamerican Day of the Décima and Improvised Verse.

He was a war correspondent in the battle of Playa Girón and participated in meetings of writers and artists with Fidel in the José Martí National Library of Cuba.

His catalog includes, among numerous distinctions, the "Alejo Carpentier" Medal (1982), the Machete of Máximo Gómez (1986), the Literary Critics Award (1996), the Honorary Title "Hero of Labor of the Republic of Cuba" (1998), the Medal "450th Anniversary of Cervantes" (1999) and the Giraldilla of Havana (1999).

On December 29, 2005, Jesús Orta Ruiz, our Indio Naborí, took flight to eternity, yet he remains alive, as immense men of imprint and thought remain, in the soul of his people. (Taken from PL)