No subject

Roque Dalton,
Ernesto Che Guevara, Fidel Castro and Hugo Ch=E1vez: they all have room =
on the
pages of various books and journals Ocean Sur distributes in Latin =
America
and the United States to =93promote discussion, debate and circulation =
of the
renewed left-wing=92s ideas=94.

Of interest to our readers

Interviewed by La Jornada, Ocean Press director David Deutschmann said =
his
publishing house=92s commitment to the revolutionary processes in =
America
stems from the presence in Australia, its remoteness notwithstanding, of
=93progressive sectors, similar to those in England or Canada=94. And he =
added:
=93It=92s our obligation and duty to boost an initiative like Ocean Sur, =
because
we cannot make money selling only Che Guevara=92s work, which we have =
the
rights to publish outside Cuba.

=93We have published all his works in English, but not all of it is in
Spanish, so it=92s our duty to translate it and take it not only to big =
city
bookstores, but also to the peoples of Bolivia, El Salvador, Colombia or
Argentina; all over America.=94

Starting from that premise, the publishing house spreads, among others, =
=93the
best of left-wing and social movement thinking; the voice of the natives =
and
women in the continent; the revolutionary, political and philosophical =
of
the Latin American intelligentsia=92s avant-garde, and the main =
contributions
from revolutionary artists, poets and activists=94.

In Central America, Deutschmann assures, =93the books of top publishers =
like
Planeta, Mondadori or Santillana never get through to people, unlike =
ours,
because we work together with progressive forces in each countries, =
selling
at low prices without detriment to quality in the design and edition.

=93We=92re proving an alternative editorial project is possible, since =
neither
Ocean Press nor Ocean Sur have any source of income other than book =
sales.

=93Never in the 20 years of existence of the former and the 2 years of =
the
latter have we made one cent from any government, foundation or NGO; nor =
has
any donation has ever been received, and we=92re talking about an annual
income worth millions of dollars.

=93A self-managed publishing house is possible. Of course that Ocean =
Press
subsidizes Ocean Sur, that is, we use money from the north to fund our
publishing house in the south. But we=92re also proving that the topics =
we
address arouse the reader=92s interest.

=93For instance, Che Guevara=92s books have been a great success in the =
US,
where his diary has sold almost half a million copies in three years. =
The
book was among the 10 best-sellers the same week that George W. Bush was
reelected. Some people think there=92s no interest for left-wing topics =
in
that country, but those figures prove them wrong.=94

Room for radicals and progressives

One of Ocean Sur=92s projects is the publication in Mexico of the =
one-year-old
quarterly Contexto Latinoamericano, a magazine aimed at promoting =
exchange
of ideas among party leaders and activists and left-wing political and
social organizations and movements.

The intention is to give a voice to all currents: =93from the radical to =
the
most progressive ones, they all have a space=94, remarks Roberto =
Regalado,
editor of this publication which =93reaffirms the need to build =
sustainable
societies free of national and class domination and subordination, based =
on
equality of gender, race, culture, religious belief, age bracket and =
sexual
orientation=94.

Contexto Latinoamericano also serves to =93denounce imperialist =
dominance,
interference and intervention in the south, particularly in Latin =
America;
foster solidarity with the Cuban and Bolivarian revolutions, and support =
the
rescue of national sovereignty and patrimony and the adoption of =
policies
for the benefit of the people by the left-wing and progressive forces =
who
succeed to power in the continent=94, to name a few purposes.

Due in April, the next issue will include a discussion from different
viewpoints about Colombia=92s recent clash with Ecuador and Venezuela =
after
Colombian fighter planes bombed a camp run by the FARC in Ecuadorian
territory.


WALTER LIPPMANN, CubaNews
Los Angeles, California
http://www.walterlippmann.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
"Cuba - Un Paraiso bajo el bloqueo"
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