Book Squadrons

Government-run book clubs in Venzuela.

Since Hugo Chávez, the president of Venezuela, announced the launch of his “Revolutionary Reading Plan” in April, thousands of free books have been distributed across the country. As Will Grant reported for the BBC:

The government has given out tens of thousands of free copies of “Don Quijote” by Cervantes and “Les Misérables” by Victor Hugo, saying that such events “promote reading for the construction of socialism and humanist values.”

Although many of the beneficiaries of Chávez’s largesse are only too pleased, Grant noted that the scheme has its critics:

A number of prominent Venezuelan academics, including the former president of the National Culture Council, Oscar Sambrano, have described a list of 100 texts which make up the first stage of theRevolutionary Plan as “blinkered.”

Titles on the list include “The Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx, “Selected Speeches of Hugo Chávez” and “State Terrorism in Colombia”.

Grant added:

Beyond the book give-aways, another key part of the Reading Plan are thousands of “book squadrons.”

These are basically roving book clubs that are intended to encourage reading on the metro, in public squares and in parks.

Each squadron wears a different colour to identify their type of book. For example, the red team promotes autobiographies while the black team discusses books on “militant resistance.”

The government say they will spread the word of the benefits of reading to the rest of the community. The opposition say they are the thought police.

According to The Financial, the Revolutionary Reading Plan will also make the writings of Karl Marx and Che Guevara compulsory reading for Venezuela’s school children:

The country’s culture ministry said on its website that the plan will help schoolchildren to get rid of “capitalist thinking” and better understand the ideals and values “necessary to build a socialist country.”

In addition to books on communist ideology, the school program will include the love letters of Simón Bolívar, credited with liberating the Spanish colonies in the 19th century, to “entertain” the children.