16th World Poetry Festival Kicks Off in Caracas

On Thursday, Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro led the inauguration of the 16th World Poetry Festival and presented the 2021 National History Prize.

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Held at the Teresa Carreño Theater in Caracas, the festival was celebrated on the occasion of the Bicentennial of "My Delirium in Chimborazo," a poem written by Venezuelan liberator Simon Bolivar when he was at the foot of Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador.

In this poem, Bolivar splendidly and beautifully describes the ideological events he went through and their possible symbolic solution. "This poem is one of the representative pieces of our first romanticism... it is a poem inspired by the life and work of the author himself," the Venezuelan National Institute for Training and Socialist Education (INCES) recalled.

“Following in the footsteps of La Condamine and Humboldt, Bolivar climbed the 6,267-meter mountain, where he underwent a strange transformation of spiritual character: standing on top of the world, he saw an apparition that taught him the history of the past and the thoughts of the destiny,” the British historian John Lynch wrote.

The tweet, "200 years of the poem "My Delirium in Chimborazo", a majestic literary piece written by our Liberator Simon Bolivar. This exceptional work that transcends time reflects the revolutionary ideal embraced by the father of Homeland in favor of the union of the South American peoples."

This international event also brought together the Venezuelan first lady Cilia Flores, ministers and senior officials of the Bolivarian government, students, intellectuals, artists, poets and special guests, among whom were the ambassadors from Russia, Cuba, and Türkiye.

"I greet all the poets from the countries visiting Venezuela in this world event that was installed on the day in which the 200 years of inspiration and delirium of our beloved Liberator Simon Bolivar are remembered", the Venezuelan president said.

During the event, Maduro also presented awards to the winners of the 2021 National History Award, namely, German Yepez, Emma Martinez, Armando Gonzalez, Fabricio Vivas, and Ivan Gomez.