BY FRANCISCO PICADO AND JOSHUA CARROLL
HAVANA - "We must publish the record - the history - of our socialism," said Omar González, director of the Cuban Book Institute, who gave opening remarks at the "International Event on Socio-Political literature in the '90s" here February 2 -3. González took issue with the many recent biographies of Argentine-Cuban revolutionary leader Ernesto Che Guevara, published in various countries. "For the most part," he explained, "these intend to sabotage Che's life's work."

The conference, hosted by Casa Editora Abril, the publishing house of the Union of Young Communists of Cuba (UJC), was tied to the Havana Book Fair, which will take place here February 4 - 10. The conference was held at the Palacio de Computación, an institution led by the UJC that offers free training programs in the use of computers and other technological fields to thousands of Cubans each year.

Among the 40 participants, a number of whom made presentations, were representatives of various Cuban and some international publishing houses. Cuban participants included Editora Abril, Editora Política, Editorial Ciencias Sociales, Editorial Capitán San Luis, and the Caimán Barbudo cultural magazine. Others represented at the meeting were Oficina del Autor from Brazil, Ocean Press from Australia, and Pathfinder Press from the United States. Also present at the opening of the conference was Jorge Risquet, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, who was introduced to participants by the chair.

Speaking for Editora Política, the publishing house of the Communist Party of Cuba, Iraida Aguirrechu outlined their more than 30-year history of publishing the speeches and writings of leaders of the Cuban revolution. Aguirrechu told the audience that new editions of the works of Cuban president Fidel Castro, and of Che Guevara, need to be annotated and placed in their historical context by providing chronologies, along with other materials, to aid young Cuban readers today.

Aguirrechu discussed many of the difficulties created by the lack of resources during "the Special Period" - the term Cubans use to describe the economic hardships that followed the loss of trade on favorable terms with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe at the beginning of the decade, compounded by the tightening of the U.S. economic embargo.

"Today," she said, "we do runs of only 5,000 copies. We cannot project at this point runs like that of the previous edition of the Bolivian Diary of Che Guevara, when we printed 225,000 copies." Aguirrechu also pointed to several collaborative efforts with publishing houses in others countries, including Pathfinder Press, that have led to the publishing of valuable new editions of the speeches and writings of Cuban revolutionary leaders.

Many of the participants spoke to the ways they have confronted the difficulties of the Special Period. "Just because we are forced to print with only two colors doesn't mean we can't do beautiful cover designs," said Iroel Sánchez Espinosa, director of Editora Abril. "Some of the books that have been published have unattractive covers - as if books would sell on their own intrinsic value. But we must use our talents to make these books attractive with the resources we have available," he continued.

Sánchez explained that the challenges Editora Abril has faced have in fact made the publishing house stronger. When there were more resources available, a lot more books were published, he said. But "with the Special Period we have been forced to be selective and more focused in what we publish, make sales projections for each publication, and implement rigorous cost controls." Sánchez announced to participants that Abril had published 21 books last year. Abril also increased the run size of the five magazines it publishes to more than a million total copies per year. And due to increased efficiency, Sánchez added, Abril will be able to print two additional issues of Caimán Barbudo and Alma Mater, the magazine of the Federation of University Students, this year.

Luis Ricardo Leitao spoke representing Oficina del Autor of Brazil, a small publishing house launched three years ago. His presentation began by describing the deepening economic crisis effecting Brazil, including high unemployment, more peasants driven off the land, and increasingly frequent social explosions. After the Berlin Wall came down, he remarked, many left-wing publishers disappeared with it. It is in this context, he continued, that Oficina del Autor has been struggling to offer an alternative to the big-business publishers.

Mary-Alice Waters of Pathfinder Press was the final speaker at the event. She explained that Pathfinder publishes books that are intended "to help the fighting vanguard of the working class understand the world in which we live.. and chart a line of march toward taking power in order to open the road to the construction of socialism." She pointed to U.S. Hands Off the Mideast! Cuba Speaks Out at the United Nations, which she described as "one of the most important books Pathfinder has published in the last eight years."

"Today, as Washington is accelerating toward a new murderous - and cowardly -assault on the people of Iraq, and one that will be if anything even more brutal than the last, [this] Pathfinder title takes on renewed importance," she said.

Some of the most lively discussion took place following Waters' presentation. One participant wanted to know if it was hard to sell books condemning the U.S. war against Iraq in a country where, according to opinion polls, a majority supported that war. Francisco Picado, a Pathfinder supporter from the United States, spoke to this question. He said, "There is plenty of political space in the working class to discuss anti- imperialist and communist politics, especially as the polarization that results from war deepens."

Waters was interviewed for Cuban television following her presentation, and her remarks were heard over Radio Rebelde. (The full text of Waters's presentation appears in the International Socialist Review elsewhere in this issue.)

The conference closed with a peña, a cultural program, celebrating Caimán Barbudo. Fernando Rojas, the national president of the Saíz Brothers Association, the organization of young artists in Cuba, chaired the gathering. It included music, comedy, and literary performances. All of the publishing houses that participated in the conference will also set up book stalls and displays at the Havana Book Fair over the next week. In total, more than 120 publishers from 25 countries, and three international organizations will participate in the fair.  
 
 
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