Panama, July 1, 2026 - The Ministry of Culture announced the decision of the National Young Poetry Competition Gustavo Batista Cedeño 2026, in which the poet Jaiko Jiménez was awarded his highest prize with his poemary "Last Words from his shipwreck," submitted under the pseudonym RANTES.

Following an appraisal of the 31 works involved, the jury composed of writers Mar Alzamora, Bladimir Víquez and Meliton Robles Esquina unanimously awarded the prize to the poemary, as they emphasized its organization, thematic coherence and strong management of poetic language.

In the report of the decision, the jurors also emphasized "the good use of silence and spaces to breathe and inhabit it," as well as the construction of the shipwrecked as a symbol of desolation and the anti-prayer that allows them to endure suffering, elements that made them excel the poemary among contiguing proposals.
The jury also recognized the quality of Ulyses works at Isthmus and The great death that each person carries itself, for his strong conduct of poetic language and his literary proposals.

As part of their general comments, the evaluators recommended that participants strengthen poetry reading, participate in literary creation workshops and make responsible use of artificial intelligence tools, and their use was clear in some of the works submitted.

The poet Jaiko Jiménez has twice been awarded the National Young Poetry Award "Gustavo Batista Cedeño": in 2019 with the poemary Vagando among dark labyrintos and in 2021 with them all are equal with face to mirror.

The Gustavo Batista Cedeño National Youth Poetry Competition is one of the main initiatives of the Ministry of Culture to promote writing, discover new voices from Panamanian literature and promote the development of poetry among the youth of the country.