Conductor Ricardo Muti , a recipient of the GlobArt Award, once spoke of the harmony of musicians in an orchestra.
These musicians may differ as to their native language, their religion, and the color of their skin. Such differences, says Muti, are irrelevant, when the musicians. sitting next to one another, are united in a common musical expression.

We who live in this present day and age are, as it were, all sitting in one orchestra, yet we are not able to achieve such harmony. What seems good for us who live in the North is often injustice and suppression for those who live in the South, where you, Ernesto Cardenal, are at home.
In so many different ways you have always fought against injustice.

When you were asked in an interview what you are, - a Christian, a Marxist, a revolutionary, an advocate of just wars, a believer in non-violence, a poet – you said that you are all of these, and that they do not contradict one another.
We are fascinated by this twofold commitment to God and to fellow men.
It has been said of you that you are a man devoted to wholeness, to purity of intention.

It is true that reality can have its own ways, - witness the history of the revolution in Nicaragua.
And yet - to quote your own words, - “the revolution freed Nicaragua of fifty years of dictatorship. At present, it is true that there is no more revolution, but at least there is democracy.”

We all share this struggle for democracy.
We of GlobArt are one with you in our support of world-wide ideals and efforts that will encourage others and help victims of injustice.
In this your own struggle against injustice we feel we are one with you, Ernesto Cardenal.

As the Secretary for Education and Culture of the Austrian Republic I am honoured to welcome you, both as a one-time Secretary of Culture of Nicaragua and as a poet of the Revolution and a poet of Mysticism.