Huge interest for Marxist ideas at the Caracas Book Fair

The Caracas Book Fair opened on Thursday, November 9. This is an annual event that has attracted a lot of interest among wide sections of the Venezuelan population. However, from a political point of view the book fair has acquired even more significance.

The fair opened with a speech by Chavez himself, which attracted the attention of thousands that had come in search of revolutionary literature. Many people are looking for ideas and an analysis of the revolutionary process in Venezuela in the build up to the presidential elections on December 3.

For the first time, the Revolutionary Marxist Current (CMR) was present at the fair in collaboration with the Fundación Federico Engels, and people had the opportunity to buy and read the classics of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky.

The Fundación Federico Engels stall attracted huge interest. The stall was decorated with the front pages of the different newspapers that the comrades of the International Marxist Tendency publish in countries throughout the world. Highlighted was the front page of the Venezuelan Marxist paper El Militante, that reads "10 million reasons to expropriate the capitalists" - thus connecting with the electoral battle in December for the re-election of Chavez.

Many people have already passed through the stall and have bought books, pamphlets and copies of El Militante and some have stayed to discuss the ideas of Marxism and the Venezuelan revolution. Many commented to us that they were amazed by the selection and stock of original Marxist works that we have on sale. There are other stalls that have books about Marx by different intellectuals, but our stall is the only one with a wide selection of classical Marxist literature allowing people to read what Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky wrote themselves.

This interest was reflected in the fact that in three days we have sold an impressive 5 million Bolivars' worth of books (1800 euros, an extraordinary amount in Venezuela) and nearly 100 copies of El Militante.

Apart from the classics of Marxism, we also have on sale two books by the British Marxist theoretician Alan Woods that have now been published for the first time in Venezuela. The first, The Venezuelan Revolution - A Marxist Perspective, was presented at a meeting on Sunday. Two thousand copies of the first Venezuelan edition have been printed and it is being sold at the reasonable price of 7,000 Bolivars (3 euros), making it even more accessible to revolutionary activists in Venezuela. The second is Reason in Revolt (co-authored with Ted Grant), on Marxism and Modern Science. The book has been recommended publicly by president Hugo Chavez and will be presented at a meeting on Friday. It has been printed in two volumes, with a first run of two thousand copies.

Both books have been printed by El Perro y la Rana, the Publishing House of the Ministry of Culture. They are on sale at the Fundación Federico Engels stall, and also in Kuaimare outlets all over the country (Kuaimare is the chain of bookshops belonging to the Ministry of Culture).

The first few days of the Caracas Book Fair have provided a clear indication of the thirst for ideas that exists among the rank and file of the Bolivarian movement. This bodes well for the building of a revolutionary Marxist Tendency in Venezuela.

Caracas, November 13, 2006

• Outstanding success of Alan Woods meeting in Mérida, Venezuela - 800 people attend meeting on the Bolivarian Revolution and Socialism (November 10, 2006)