Havana Cuba. – The XXXI Edition of the Havana International Book Fair was inaugurated this Thursday in the Nicolás Gillen hall of the San Carlos de la Cabaña Fortress. The first day was behind closed doors, despite the fact that the advertising propaganda invited the public to participate from the opening of the event.
The Havana International Book Fair is the main book and literature event in Cuba. The event, which is held every year between the months of February and March, spans several sub-venues of the capital and the country. Last year it received 2,238,000 visitors, according to figures published in the official media.
“Throughout the day we have had to turn many people who came confused. The information has really been very bad, and that sets a bad precedent, generates discomfort and negative comments that could have been avoided. The organizers had to explain that the first day was for invitees only, ”he commented to CubaNet Yolanda Cárdenas Sayas, worker at the Fair.
The Fortress of San Carlos de la Cabaña belongs to the Morro-Cabaña military complex, located on the rocky height that stands at the entrance to Havana Bay, on its eastern side. The fastest route, through the underwater tunnel that crosses the bay, covers in a few minutes the approximate three kilometers that separate the city from the historic site.
However, the scarce public transport that circulates these days makes it difficult for the public to travel to the venue, which, in addition to reading material, offers recreational activities and the sale of food and non-alcoholic beverages.
“They do not calculate the work that is passed. You have to come stuck against the door of a bus. They said on television that it was from the 9th, but now you arrive and the only thing there is is a lot of police, everywhere. The boys came excited and they couldn’t even have a soft drink, ”lamented Israel Ramírez Herranz, who tried to attend the event, in vain, with his two daughters.
Dedicated to Colombia, under the theme of “an inclusive reading”, the literary event has more than 4.2 million printed copies, 4,200 titles and more than 1,000 digital books. The novelties will be around 300 new works.
Mercedes Torriente La Hoz, a member of one of the publishing houses that represents the Island at the event, explained that “excellent organizational work was carried out” that guarantees “a fair with better quality than the previous one.”
Negatively, Torriente stressed that the prices exceed “what many parents can spend on a children’s literature book, or a student or a professional on a material that they may need for their growth.”
No differentiated prices
In the last 100 meters of the street that leads to the San Carlos de la Cabaña Fortress is the main area for food sales, in charge of basic units and establishments of the Internal Commerce system subordinated to the organs of People’s Power; and others that, under leased conditions, received a license from the provincial government to be present at the event.
In either case, prices are established by the supply and demand system based on the costs “of the self-management purchase of beverages and fresh or processed food products,” explained Raicel Bermúdez Costa, the company’s administrator. Mount Barreto.
The application of Resolution No. 99 of 2019, a provision of the Ministry of Domestic Trade (MINCIN) that makes regulations more flexible so that entities can buy from natural or legal persons, who replace the State as a wholesale supplier, according to Bermúdez, led to a commercial network that makes the final price of the products more expensive.
“All that is controlled by the calls MSMEs (micro, small and medium-sized companies), who are the ones who go out, buy cheap and then sell hot. They sell you by quantity and the prices, the same, are still high. For example, a case of soda does not go below 2,400. How much do you have to sell for later, when you make a huge investment that takes time to recover?” he wondered.
In this way, points out Hermes Fleites Meriño, a worker at the Hansel and Gretel basic unit, those who wish to buy a bottle of water will have to pay 100 to 120 pesos, and between 150 and 230 pesos for a canned soft drink or malt.
“And the profit is not much, you have to pay for the permit to sell here, the license, employees, transportation and other things that come up along the way,” Fleites said.
However, there are always cheaper options, although of lower quality. “Coracán soft drink or slushies, that is what Cubans who do not receive remittances have to do. Bringing the children is a headache: when they start asking how do you explain that you can’t buy them what they like. Soda from a pipe and a book of stories, that’s what they get”, lamented Juan Carlos Primelles Sáez.
