"Me cago en los esqualidos." (I crap on the reactionaries). The words rang out from one of Venezuela's best-known "rockeros" (rockers) and Chavez supporter, Paul Gillman, as a free concert of heavy metal rock brought the Book Fair to an end. As the concert closed, the heavens opened and the rain poured down bringing a damp finish to what had been an excellent 10 days celebrating books and learning.
The Feria del Libro (Book Fair) had begun on November 9th in Parque del Este, also known as Parque Generalisimo Francisco de Miranda, a magnificent park of 30,000 square metres in Caracas. The figures for the Fair were impressive. 26 countries took part including 7 from Europe. 263 international and 320 Venezuelan writers and intellectuals were there, and 204 publishing houses as well as 144 spaces for exhibits. There were also 16 areas housing 800 activities over the 10 days of the Fair.
But the Fair wasn't just about books. There was a large children's area that was full of school parties during the week. There was music, dance classes and performances, poetry readings, food, all aspects of culture - and all free except the food, unfortunately!
Under the umbrella of the title "El libro libera" (Books set you free), the main theme of the Fair was the possibility of a revolution in the United States. Throughout the week, workshops were held to discuss this. The underlying theme, however, was creating the opportunity for readers to come across ideas and knowledge to deepen the process of democratising knowledge and integrating Venezuelan people with the social habits of books and reading. This emphasises the point that knowledge can mean power.
And they came in their 100s of 1000s, from all walks of life, but what was noticeable was the large presence of working class families. The thirst for knowledge and reading here is remarkable. For many, reading is a new-found skill as the Misiones concerned with reading and education have produced a citizenship free of illiteracy, the only country in Latin America along with Cuba to have this honour.
The point was emphasised in an interview between Ruben Wisotski and Noam Chomsky:
RW: "Never before has a government in Venezuela given so much attention and importance to books and reading. The State is publishing millions of books; a cultural publishing house has been created, along with a national network of writers. The government has distributed millions of copies of books for free, like Don Quijote and Les Miserables. There are 52 popular bookstores in the country. Each day, Venezuelans feel that books are part of our strength. Our President Chavez is the first to encourage reading. Today, books and literature are a powerful weapon for the future, don't you think?"
NM: "I certainly do... So it's a major problem in the USA now that people don't read, children don't read. They're geared to television and video games, they're raised to be stimulus hungry, so you have to have a lot of violence and colour and noise... my grandchildren don't read... there is a decline in reading... a severe blow to cultural health and vitality..."
There were a few stands selling Marxist and Socialist literature, one from the USA, two from Cuba and the stand of the Frederick Engels Foundation from Madrid along with the comrades here from the Revolutionary Marxist Current (CMR) in the PSUV, United Socialist Party of Venezuela. The stand was decorated with revolutionary posters and visitors were left in no doubt that we were campaigning for a "Yes" vote in the December 2nd referendum. Throughout the Fair hundreds of national and international books, pamphlets and newspapers were sold raising about 2,600 Euros.
But perhaps more important than the material sold were the political discussions. People came to browse, to buy and to discuss. Many left their names for future discussions and paper sales. Many were interested in setting up groups for political education and many also came just to note down titles that they could order later for their own political discussion groups. For example, 74 pamphlets on Dialectical Materialism were sold.
The desire to learn, to educate oneself, to share ideas, to discuss, to be open to new ideas, is phenomenal. For me it has been a riveting experience, one that I hope I can repeat in the future.
Long Live Books! Long Live Reading! Long Live the Socialist Future of Humanity!
Caracas, Venezuela, November 20th 2007