Mariela Castro to Receive International Award

HAVANA TIMES, Feb 2 — Sociologist Mariela Castro Espin, the director of the National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX), will be presented today with the 2012 Eureka International Prize from the World Council of University Academics, reported Prensa Latina.

The global award for academic excellence is in recognition of the work of the sexologist at the head of CENESEX and for heading up its national sex education program.  The award will be presented at a ceremony in Havana.

Castro Espin, 50, has led the battle against discrimination directed at homosexuals on the island, where she most recently had to confront the incomprehension of many of the nation’s leaders at this past weekend’s National Conference of the Cuban Communist Party, which she attended as a guest.

Mariela is the daughter of current Cuban President Raul Castro.