The 31st edition of the Havana International Book Fair It was inaugurated on Thursday night in the historic San Carlos de La Cabaña Fortress.
The main literary event on the island -which has Colombia as the guest country of honor- was attended by the highest Cuban authorities and had Vice President Francia Márquez as the main figure, who gave the inaugural speech.
????? The 31st Havana International Book Fair is officially inaugurated, #Cuba … The book and reading festival will be an excellent moment to get closer to the roots of the guest of honor country #Colombia pic.twitter.com/tQzWLxRg32
— Cuban Book Institute (@cubano_libro) February 9, 2023
Márquez, who arrived on the island at noon on Thursday and will be on an official visit until Saturday, called for closer economic relations between the two countries in sectors such as health, food, science and technology, and tourism, among others.
In addition, she asked that Cuba be a bridge between the Caribbean and Africa to lead the fight against climate change, which, according to the vice president, most directly affects “the countries of the global south.”
In the same way, he assured that the Republic of Colombia joins the global demand for the cessation of the economic, commercial and financial blockade that the United States imposes on the Caribbean nation.
He also highlighted the figure of the writer Gabriel García Márquez, Nobel Prize for Literature, for the close ties that united him to Cuba, according to Cuban media.
Next to the Colombian president was Patricia Ariza, Minister of Culture of that country, who added that “it is an honor that Colombia is the guest of honor at this fair.”
The event will be attended by 120 exhibitors from at least 40 nations and will close its first phase on February 19. From then on, it will tour all the country’s provinces and the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud until March 19.
The Colombian delegation includes 25 writers and artists who will be there during its production, according to the Colombian embassy on the island and quoted by the agency efe. Among those present they mention Laura Restrepo, Celso Román, José Luis Díaz Granados, José Zuleta Ortiz and Juan Manuel Roca, among others.
4.2 million copies will be exhibited with 4,200 titles, of which 1,300 will be electronic books, according to Juan Rodríguez, president of the Cuban Book Institute and the organizing committee.
The appointment will be held simultaneously in the iconic Morro-Cabaña military historical complex and the historic center of Havana.
There will be other sub-headquarters, such as the Casa de las Américas, the headquarters of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, the University of Havana and the José Martí National Library.
The Cuban Government was represented by Miguel Díaz-Canel, who was accompanied by his wife, Lis Cuesta; The Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero, the Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez, the Minister of Culture, Alpidio Alonso Gray, and the President of Parliament, Esteban Lazo, were also present.
Efe/OnCuba.
