CUBAN LIBRARIES SOLIDARITY GROUP
PRESS RELEASE


July 18, 2003
Venezuelan government distributes 13 million books donated by Cuba.
John Pateman, Cuban Libraries Solidarity Group

The Venezuelan government began to distribute on Tuesday more than 13 million books
donated by Cuba for students who just completed grade school.

President Hugo Chavez and Education Minister Aristobulo Isturiz attended an event kicking off the distribution process at the multi-purpose Poliedro de Caracas.

The so-called "family libraries" printed and donated by Cuba are sets of 25 books by renowned world authors. They are to be presented to approximately 550,000 Venezuelan children who successfully completed sixth grade this year.

Events similar to Caracas', where some 15,000 of these family libraries were distributed, took place throughout Venezuela, Chavez said. Education is the "first priority" of his "Bolivarian revolution," the president underscored.

The sets include works by Miguel de Cervantes, William Shakespeare, Ernest Hemingway, Jose Marti, Honore de Balzac, Ruben Dario, Mario Benedetti, Nicolas Guillen, Pablo Neruda, Daniel Defoe, Jack London and Antoine de Saint Exupery, among others.

Chavez, a leftist-populist former army colonel who is a friend and admirer of Fidel Castro, expressed his "deepest gratitude" to Havana.

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