Baptism for the five heroes

BY JOAQUIN RIVERY TUR—Granma daily special correspondent—

CARACAS, April 11.— I had never witnessed the "baptism" of a book before today. I didn’t know that tradition existed in Venezuela or in any other country. I witnessed it thanks to the fact that workers at the Municipal Publications Institute (IMP) invited relatives of the five heroes imprisoned in the empire to such an event, because it involved a volume of poems by Antonio Guerrero, Desde mi altura (From Where I Am) and Pensamientos de Bolívar (Ideas of Bolívar), both published thanks to the initiative of Bolivarian circles at the center, also known as the Caracas Municipal Press.

We were received by an enormous banner bearing the inscription: "At this moment of international solidarity, Venezuela’s heart is with the Cuban patriots imprisoned by the U.S. empire."

Rubén Martínez, IMP president, is not an orator, he prefers to work, but he informed Granma that the center has 200 workers and eight Bolivarian circles with an average of 11 members each.

The press is an open space for community organizations in the neighborhood, and they lend them space for meetings and events but, first and foremost, IMP publishes 95% of the alternative papers with runs of between 2,000 and 10,000 copies.

After lots of music and words of thanks and solidarity, the "baptism" finally took place. The godparents included María Eugenia Guerrero (sister of the author Antonio), Irma Sehwerert (René’s mother), Ailí Labaniño (Ramón’s daughter), Rosa Aurora Freijanes, (Fernando’s wife), and Alier Tapia Hernández (Gerardo’s nephew).

The ceremony consists of the godparents scattering flower petals on the books until they are covered. Then the book can go on sale.

Later, the five heroes’ relatives were giving away books on the imprisoned patriots, signing many of them and spending time with the workers at the press. The baptism was over.