Referring to the weapons still standing in the fort, Castro said the use of cannons will be relegated to prehistory and replaced with ideas. "This is what our people are endeavoring in the battle of ideas," he said, referring to efforts to defend socialism today. After staging the fair both this year and last at the fortress, "we will have to rename it the Book Fortress" one day this century, he said.

Some half a million books were sold at the fair last year, reported Granma. Many people across the island began asking for more books and for such an event to be accessible to them. "It was an absolutely just demand," said Castro, "and we suggested that the Cuban Book Institute and the Ministry of Culture extend the fair throughout the country." The book fair will be taken to 18 cities, with a total of five million books available.

Castro briefly described programs of the revolution aimed at broadening the involvement of people of all ages in education and culture. Some 480 titles presented at the fair this year were written by little-known authors from municipalities throughout the country. The government has acquired 15 small printing presses for printing facilities around the country that will allow any young poet or writer to see his or her books in print, he said.

The Cuban president pointed to efforts by the revolutionary government to make higher-level educational courses available to workers and farmers, and to introduce computers in elementary and secondary schools. He noted the high level of participation in the University for All, and announced two programs to expand libraries throughout the country.

Iroel Sánchez, president of the Cuban Book Institute, told the gathering that "each square meter of the fortress is filled with books from Cuban publishing houses and from 623 foreign professionals who have put their trust in our culture and our teachers."

Sánchez said that in spite of the world economic situation, which has an impact on the island, the cultural boom that Cuba is currently experiencing has helped increase the scope of the fair and the participation in it.