BY CRAIG HONTS
MEXICO CITY - "I came to your booth in 1996 and again last year, and I bought Che Guevara, Cuba and the Road to Socialism," said 22-year-old Alonso Arrioga, as he looked through the books at the Pathfinder booth at the 19th International Book Fair here. This time, Arrioga's selections included the Spanish-language editions of The Changing Face of U.S. Politics: Working-class Politics and the Trade Unions, and issue no. 1 of Nueva Internacional, containing "The Opening Guns of World War III: Washington's Assault on Iraq," both by Jack Barnes.

Participants purchased more than 200 Pathfinder books and pamphlets during the March 13-22 fair, totaling over $1,500. This included 53 copies of New International, the magazine of Marxist politics and theory distributed by Pathfinder, in both Spanish and English. The top seller, with 23 copies, was issue no. 1 of Nueva Internacional. That was followed by 21 of the newly-released Spanish-language edition of Celebrating the Homecoming of Ernesto Che Guevara's Reinforcement Brigade to Cuba. Pathfinder supporters also sold eight copies of The Changing Face of U.S. Politics in Spanish.

Organized by Pathfinder supporters in Los Angeles, 10 volunteers from five cities across the United States staffed its booth.

In addition to the book fair, other young people met Pathfinder team members at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), one of the largest campuses in Latin America. Throughout the week, Pathfinder tables set up at the departments of Political Science, Philosophy, and Economics resulted in wide-ranging discussions, and brisk sales.

Tens of thousands of workers, students, and book professionals came to visit the booths set up by a couple of hundred book distributors, publishers, and bookstores who participated in the fair. The widespread interest in the Cuban revolution was noted in La Feria de Minerķa, an attractive booklet published daily during the fair, where the booth of Cuban publishers was featured on the front-page of one of its issues with an accompanying article.

Pathfinder Press hosted a reception at the book fair March 21 where Luis Madrid, a representative from the publisher's office New York, spoke about the importance of Pathfinder's arsenal for fighters today. A young woman attending the reception, who bought a subscription to the Militant, explained she was particularly interested in going to Cuba to learn more about the revolution, and its relevance for Mexico.  
 
 
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