BY MARGRETHE SIEM
GUADALAJARA, Mexico - Echoing the sentiment expressed by
many who stopped at the Pathfinder booth, David Parker of the
University of Arizona said, "I appreciate the fact that you
are here." Pathfinder books help to broaden the range of
ideas discussed at these conferences, stressed Parker, one of
the 2,100 participants at 20th International Congress of the
Latin American Studies Association, held here April 17-19.
Nearly $1,000 worth of Pathfinder books and pamphlets were
purchased, making the New York-based publisher's booth one of
the busiest. Pathfinder Press was one of the 70 exhibitors at
the conference.
Nearly 1,000 promotional flyers and over 200 Pathfinder catalogs were distributed among the professors, students, and other academics and activists attending mostly from the United States, but also from Latin America and Europe.
Three students and a library worker from the University of Puerto Rico spent several hours at the booth discussing the rise of Stalinism in the Soviet Union, and the challenges faced by the Cuban revolution today. One of them, Jacqueline, said she helps organize women workers in the tuna industry in Puerto Rico. She bought Women and the Cuban Revolution: Speeches and Documents by Fidel Castro, Vilma Espín, and others, which was one of the most popular titles. Together they bought more than $150 in books that they will study together, including Lenin's Final Fight: Speeches and Writings, 1922-23, Leon Trotsky's The History of the Russian Revolution, Che Guevara's Socialism and Man in Cuba, and a subscription to the Spanish-language magazine Perspectiva Mundial.
The 144 books sold included 28 copies of the Marxist magazine New International. Two of its issues, containing the articles "Imperialism's March toward Fascism and War," and "The Rise and Fall of the Nicaraguan Revolution," as well as the pamphlet Peru's Shining Path: Anatomy of a Stalinist Sect were the top sellers, followed by a wide range of titles on the Cuban revolution. Many were also interested in The Politics of Chicano Liberation, and in Lenin's Final Fight.
A young woman from Mexico City, bought six issues of New International in both English and Spanish, a copy of Habla Malcolm X, and a pamphlet on abortion rights. She also bought titles on Trotsky and Che Guevara to share and discuss with her friends.