Reaffirming the value of reading as an essential tool to fight the cultural colonialism that is being imposed on us is one of the purposes of the 32nd Havana International Book Fair, which was inaugurated yesterday at the Nicolás Guillén Hall of the San Carlos de la Cabaña Fortress by Juan Rodríguez Cabrera, president of the Cuban Book Institute.
The opening was attended by Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, and Esteban Lazo Hernández, member of the Political Bureau and president of the National Assembly of People's Power.
Also, before the member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee and head of its Ideological Department, Rogelio Polanco; Deputy Prime Minister Inés María Chapman; Ministers of Culture Alpidio Alonso and Margareth Menezes, from Cuba and Brazil, country to which the Fair is dedicated; among other personalities, Rodríguez Cabrera highlighted the fact of celebrating this edition "as a strong demonstration of the value that our State confers to books and reading, in the face of a complex world panorama and the intensification of the criminal blockade of the United States against the Island".
He praised the respective works of philosopher Isabel Monal and writer Francisco López Sacha, who were present at the ceremony. He recalled the intellectual's dedication to the Revolution and to Cuban culture, and her being a genuine defender of the essence of Marxist thought; and of Sacha, he highlighted his outstanding work as a writer and as a teacher of generations.
He alluded to the solidarity presence of more than 46 countries in the Fair, as well as the offer of three million physical books and 2,000 digital books, and recalled Fidel, the main promoter of Cuban culture and architect of this literary event.
Margareth Menezes thanked the invitation on behalf of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a man immensely committed to human causes, and said she has always wanted to visit our country, a brother of hers and between which there are many confluences.
From his homeland came the guitarists Fernando César and Bento Tibúrcio, to perform Acuarela de Brasil and Luz de vida; and from Cuba, with El bodeguero, Sube un poquito más and Sabrosona, the emblematic Aragón orchestra made the audience shudder with joy for the strength of its rhythm and its splendid Cuban craftsmanship.
