Havana, February 16 (RHC) --The 32nd Havana International Book Fair (FILH) is a decolonising event in Cuba's cultural panorama, said Juan Rodríguez Cabrera, president of the Cuban Book Institute (ICL), on Thursday in Havana.
Before Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) and President of the Republic, Rodríguez Cabrera said at the opening ceremony of the FILH that in the largest of the Antilles, reading is a priority for the Government and educational and cultural institutions, in terms of the spiritual and intellectual growth of the nation.
The president of the Organising Committee of the Fair said that more than 400 writers and promoters from 46 countries are in Cuba to participate in the event, which will allow the development of a massive and popular Fair.
He said that under the maxim "To read is to build identity" the event will aspire to forged reading and, consequently, to foster a culture rich in shared knowledge.
He said that Brazil, the guest of honour at the Fair, is a nation with which Cuba has deep ties of friendship, cooperation and solidarity, in the face of the escalation of the neoliberal right in the world.
The archipelago welcomes its Brazilian brothers and sisters with open arms and will do everything possible to make them feel at home, said Rodríguez Cabrera to the delegation headed by Margareth Menezes, Minister of Culture of the South American giant.
He highlighted the work of the philosopher and researcher Isabel Monal and the professor and writer Francisco López Sacha, personalities to whom the 32nd edition of the Fair is dedicated.He pointed out that homage will be paid to the novelist Alejo Carpentier on the 120th anniversary of his birth and to Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Father of the Homeland, on the 150th anniversary of his fall in combat.He also announced the launch of reading rooms for children and teachers in educational centres.
The event will take place in difficult times and despite all kinds of contingencies and the iron blockade imposed by the United States government on Cuba, as new alliances will be sought to promote the value of books in all their formats.
The FILH will reaffirm the importance of reading as an essential tool to combat cultural colonisation and barbarism, as is currently happening in Palestine, emphasised the president of the ICL. (Source: ACN)
