The XV International Book Fair of Venezuela (Filven 2019) will open its doors in the Historic Center of Caracas, from November 7 to 17, with more than 500 activities, including conversations, workshops, book presentations and artistic programming, for the enjoyment of all the Venezuelan people.
This was reported by the People’s Power Minister for Culture, Ernesto Villegas, in statements to the media offered Tuesday from the central courtyard of the Casa Amarilla, in the company of the president of the National Book Center (Cenal) and Vice-minister for the Promotion for Cultural Economy, Raúl Cazal; the charge d’affaires of the People’s Republic of China in Venezuela, Xing Wenju, and the honored writer Luis Alberto Crespo.
“We do this at a time when the imperialist powers, led by the US, intend to suffocate the will of Venezuela, intend to suffocate all the daily life of Venezuelans and culture is not exempt from that goal. However, they have not been able and will never be to do so, so this year we have an International Book Fair in style to guarantee the cultural rights of Venezuelans, access to books and consumption of cultural property”, he emphasized.
He explained that Filven 2019 will have as guest of honor country the People’s Republic of China, on the occasion of commemorating the 70 years of its foundation, the 45th anniversary of the bilateral ties between Venezuela and the Asian nation and the 20 years of the Commander Hugo Chavez’s first trip to Chinese soil.
Likewise, he highlighted the special participation that Mexico will have in this edition, as the sale of more than 80 thousand titles of the publishing company Fondo de Cultura Económica de México is expected, at solidarity prices for the population.
Triumph of Commander Chávez
For his part, the poet Luis Alberto Crespo said he was extremely moved to be chosen as the honored writer of this edition and recalled that the International Book Fair of Venezuela is a triumph of Commander Hugo Chávez, who always directed his efforts to claim and strengthen culture.
“This is a triumph of Chávez, he always said: Without culture there is no revolution. He did nothing but to let us verify now, how the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, along the President Nicolás Maduro, and the people of Venezuela are prolonging that Bolivarian heritage, the participatory and leading culture, that is, the principles of the Bolivarian Constitution”, he added.
Vice-minister Raúl Cazal said that among the central activities within the program of the event include: the Meeting of Editorial Business Countries of Alba-China, the Binational Meeting Orinoco-Magdalena, the Forum “Reading, social networks and new technology”, the II Seminar of literary criticism, the Seminar of literary translation “A country between languages”, the Meeting of writers of children’s literature, the Seminar of black and police literature, the II Seminar of readings in native languages, a meeting of illustrators and the Meeting of readers and writers
It will also be attended by more than 70 national and international writers, among them: Alberto Rodríguez Carucci, Celso Medina, Laura Antillano, Rubén Darío Roca, José Carlos De Nóbrega, José Gregorio González Márquez, Diego Sequera, Gabriel Jiménez Emán, Juan Calzadilla , Ingrid Chicote, Atilio Borón (Argentina), Rafael Cuevas Molina (Guatemala), Armando Bartra (Mexico), José Reveles (Mexico), Óscar de la Borbolla (Mexico), Agustín Lucas (Montevideo), Rogelio Guedea (Mexico), Elizabet Jorge (Argentina), Fatima Rallo Gutiérrez (Paraguay), Geraldina Colotti (Italy), Giulio Palermo (Italy) and Marco Álvarez Vergara (Chile).
In total there will be 136 exhibitors and 16 countries will participate (Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Spain, Guatemala, Italy, Mexico, Nicaragua, Palestine, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay), in addition to two embassies – Palestine and Nicaragua- and five native communities: Kari’ña, Inga, Cumanagoto, Wayuu and Warao.
