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MADRID (AP) - Mexican journalist and author Elena Poniatowska has won the 2013 Cervantes Prize, the Spanish-speaking world's highest literary honor.
Education Minister Jose Ignacio Wert announced the prize Tuesday, praising Poniatowska's brilliant and diverse literary and journalistic career.
Poniatowska, 81, was born in Paris and has lived most of her life in Mexico.
Her books, among them "Massacre in Mexico" and "The Skin of the Sky," deal with social and political issues, highlighting the problems of the poor and underprivileged.
The (EURO)125,000 prize generally alternates between Spanish and Latin American writers. Previous winners include Carlos Fuentes of Mexico, and Nobel prize winners Mario Vargas Llosa of Peru and Spain's late Camilo Jose Cela.
They are presented each April 23, the anniversary of the death of Miguel de Cervantes, author of "Don Quijote."
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