José Figueres Ferrer in Latin America’s Top 100.

Deciding to pay homage to those who deserve it, the Organización Capital Americana de la Cultura (American Organisation of Culture) and Spanish television network Antena 3 launched a competition to determine the 100 most important figures to have influenced Latin American culture. After three months of deliberation, during which popular votes were cast online, the list was completed on Monday.

Topping the results was Pablo Neruda, the Chilean writer and politician and Gabriel García Márquez, the Colombian novelist and short story writer. These names suggest that the writers of the Latin American continent are at the head of cultural importance. Four other writers are included in the top ten, including Octavio Paz, Jorge Luis Borges, Rubén Darío and Gabriela Mistral (the list’s most influential woman).

Popular taste also found music artists high on the list: Brazilian Vinicius de Moraes, Argentinian Carlos Gardel, Peruvian Chabuca Granda, Chilean Víctor Jara (who was killed by the Pinochet government for his political activism), Colombians Juanes and Shakira and Ricardo Arjona, one of the four Guatemalans to be included. In addition to the writers and the singers as the most influential in Latin America is Mexican actor Mario Moreno “Cantiflas”, and internationally renowned fine artists, Mexican Frida Kahlo, Colombian Fernando Botero and Argentinean Quino.

Also in the final list are political revolutionaries such as Colombian Simón Bolívar, Argentinean Ernesto “Che” Guevara and Mexican Benito Juárez, among others.

Additionally favoured in the public vote were Costa Ricans José Figueres Ferrer (25th) and Carmen Lyra (94th). Ferrer “don Pepe”, a politician, thinker and humanist, has created numerous institutions and is responsible for the 1948 abolition of the Costa Rican army. Lyra has also participated in ideological fights, but is above all a literary success. With a commendable capacity to capture regional sentiment in her narratives, Los Cuentos de mi Tía (Tales of my Aunt) is her most famous work.

The two Ticos will have personal biographies appear on the competition webpage (www.cac-acc.org). They will also be introduced to the viewers of Antena 3 in Spain, the U.S. and 19 Latin American countries. The list was announced from Brasilia, Brazil, with the aim to promote Latin American integration within the cultural sphere.

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Filed under: Costa Rica News on November 6th, 2008