By Geraldina Colotti on November 2, 2021
An unfinished independence, which has left in suspense the dream of the Great Homeland imagined by the Liberator Simón Bolívar, retaken and relaunched by Hugo Chávez, and renewed in the present. In fact, Filven concludes this Bicentennial year, marked by a dense agenda of meetings that has gathered all the subjects and themes that animate the Bolivarian process, both nationally and internationally.
Even the World Poetry Festival, which slightly preceded Filven, gathering poets from the 5 continents, expressed a strong call to the themes of the Independence. To set the rhythm, the verses of “Mi delirio sobre el Chimborazo”, composed by Simón Bolívar 199 years ago.
Using history as an indispensable tool in the battle of ideas, which is also a struggle for hegemony and for the recovery of an indomitable symbolism, continues to be the main strategy of resistance of the Bolivarian revolution, which has its great strength in the conscience and organization of the people. An orientation always declared by President Nicolás Maduro, who continues the work of Chávez, fond of José Martí’s expression: “To be cultured in order to be free”.
A vision put into practice by the Minister of Culture, Ernesto Villegas, an internationally recognized intellectual, accompanied by the other soul of Filven, Vice Minister Raul Cazal, long time director of the Venezuelan edition of Le Monde diplomatique.
The host country of Filven this year is Vietnam. Another important piece of symbolism to be taken up next to the famous image of the Vietnamese communist, slender but determined, who “accompanies” the great American invader, defeated, with the tip of the rifle. “200 years after the Battle of Carabobo and 46 after the liberation of Saigon, Venezuela and Vietnam join forces for the International Book Fair,” tweeted Villegas.
Following Filven’s theme, the writers honored this year are historian Vladimir Acosta and journalist José Vicente Rangel, a politician of great relevance in the Venezuelan world, who recently passed away.
A strong symbolic attraction is also determined by the scenario in which Filven takes place this year: the Legislative Palace, seat of the second power of the Republic, of the five from which it is governed. An occasion to remember the recovery of the National Assembly, which became a place of subversion and not of political battle after the triumph of the right wing in the 2015 legislative elections.
A parenthesis that led to the self-proclamation of Juan Guaidó, recognized as “interim president” by a group of subordinate countries led by Washington, gradually forced to change their minds, in the face of the discredit that has overwhelmed the gang of thieves they had supported.
Representatives of that group of countries that, like the European Union, had supported the economic-financial blockade against the Venezuelan people, have now accepted the invitation of the Bolivarian government to attend the mega-elections of November 21, which will bring to 29 the number of electoral rounds organized since Chavez’s victory in the 1998 presidential elections.
“During the five years of the opposition’s administration – said Raul Cazal – no maintenance was made to the Legislative building, and even less events were organized with the participation of the people. On the contrary, the National Assembly has been used to conspire against Venezuela and promote actions such as the blockade and economic sanctions”.
Culture and politics, passion and strength, pride in one’s own history and projection towards the future. With these terms, the Bolivarian process stands firm, advancing in the “obstinate and contrary” direction. Many books, also this year, will deliver to young people the message of the guerrillas of the seventies and eighties, who fought against the “democracies” of the IV Republic. As every year, the work of the small independent publishing houses, which did not yield to the difficulties caused by the economic war, will complement that of the public publishing houses.
In line with campaign commitments, several parliamentarians and political representatives, authors and authors of volumes are also expected to attend Filven.
Some of them -such as the President of the Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez or the Minister of Communication, Freddy Ñañez- are also veteran poets, and appear in the international anthology Poesía contra el bloqueo, published by El Perro y la Rana and Vadell Hermanos, which will be presented at the Fair. Other voices of the Bolivarian revolution, from Tania Diaz to Minister Villegas himself, appear in the volume of interviews Asedio a Venezuela, proposed by the weekly Cuatro F and co-published by Vadell-El Perro y la Rana.
The Biennial of the South will also be part of the Fair, entitled “Peoples in Resistance, among the Pages of History.”
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano