The 2023 Havana International Book Fair is less a literary event than a showcase for the regime’s political alliances. Dedicated to Colombia and with the presence of the vice president of this country, Francia Márquez, the fortress of La Cabaña houses until February 19, in addition, an ostentatious Russian pavilion and several venues dedicated to the propaganda of Iran, Venezuela and Bolivia.
After paying the statutory 15 pesos to access the old fortress that functions as the venue for the event, readers wander in vain through the galleries and pavilions. The books that could be of interest are sold at overwhelming prices –4,500 pesos each of the seven volumes of Harry Potterin a cheap edition– and the rest are, for the most part, biographies of communist leaders, economic essays or reflections of Fidel Castro, like those of the luxurious publishing house Ocean Sur, volumes that Cubans never buy but that attract admirers from abroad. of the regime.
Only two things seem omnipresent this year: the jewelry and food stalls, and the copies that have been kept for years in the warehouses of the Cuban Book Institute, eaten away by dust and humidity.
There is very little new in 2023 after many months of editorial paralysis, due to the scarcity of paper and the government’s apathy towards culture and literary production. Inside La Cabaña, some foreign publishers try to exhibit their catalogue, but these are independent houses whose affinity with the Cuban regime brings them to Havana to sell, as in the case of the British Pathfinder, which offers books no less than of the spy Gerardo Hernández, Ricardo Alarcón or Vilma Espín.
Colombia has not been enthusiastic about its participation either. The Cubans, who go in search of new editions of Gabriel García Márquez, have not been able to find but the story maker, a biography of Alberto Medina, or comics about the life of the Colombian Nobel Prize winner, for 500 pesos. The other volumes that can be purchased in this country’s pavilion of honor have titles as unattractive as book statistics either Lexicon of Violence in Colombia.
As for the Cuban publishing houses, Casa de las Américas only sells handbags and posters, Prensa Latina crammed its shelves with Castro biographies and Che Guevara, and the kiosks of the Book Institute were made available to booksellers, who are the only ones that sell any interesting title, even if it is used. From the nucleus of “official” pavilions, the absence of Ediciones Boloña, from the Historian’s Office, which announced a parallel program in Old Havana, under the direction of Magda Resik, is surprising.
The price of classic books, provided by foreign publishers, has been “updated” according to the Cuban economic environment: The little Prince it already costs 1,500 pesos, The Miserables reach 2,500 and 1984George Orwell’s novel banished for decades from Cuban bookstores, amounts to 1,600 pesos.
But perhaps the worst thing about the 31st edition of the Havana International Book Fair is the human factor. Added to the absence of young people, almost all emigrants, and the disappointed faces of the children, for whom there is very little to offer beyond sketchbooks and board games, is the reluctance with which readers arrive at the Cabaña, more interested in the gastronomic offer than in the literary one.
The only constant, inside and outside the castle, in uniform or in civilian clothes, smoking in a corner or guards on patrol, are the hundreds of police officers who watch, without the slightest intention of reading, the movement of the Fair.
Hungry and with very few copies in their bags, those who have taken the trouble to go up to the fairgrounds go to the food tents before queuing up to be transported back to Havana. With a completa of yellow rice and pork at 480 pesos, a soft drink at 150 and a watery coffee at the same price, the most sensible thing to do is to fast until you get back to the city.
As they leave the old fortress, the reggaeton and the screams of the children – “They fooled us!” says one laughing – the readers who did not reach the bus sit on the grass to contemplate a panorama as serene as it is unattainable. : slowly, a cruise ship loaded with tourists is entering the bay of Havana.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio He is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for accompanying us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time becoming a member of our newspaper. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
