Guatemala.- The 23rd edition of the International Book Fair of Guatemala opened its doors this Tuesday in the country’s capital, a cultural event dedicated to the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the K’iche’ indigenous leader Rigoberta Menchú Tum.
The literary gathering will run until July 19, coinciding with the prelude to the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Peace Accords (1996), the historic process that ended a 36-year internal armed conflict that caused more than 200,000 deaths and 45,000 disappearances in the Central American country.
The new edition of the fair features Germany as the guest country of honor, whose delegation will deploy a 130-square-meter pavilion and more than 140 activities aimed at building institutional bridges through dialogue, education, and memory.
During the inauguration, César Medina Lara, president of the Guatemalan Publishers Guild Association, highlighted that the fair was born 26 years ago as a Central American regional initiative, of which three projects remain active today.
Medina Lara expressed gratitude for the Government’s financial support of six million quetzales—about 775,000 dollars—to decentralize access to reading through fairs in the nation’s different departments (provinces).
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For her part, Menchú Tum expressed her emotion for the recognition she is receiving by having the fair dedicated to her, and stated that receiving a tribute in her homeland represents a dignification in life.
“Receiving a tribute here is not only worth a Nobel Peace Prize, it is not only worth diplomas and honorary keys, but it is worth everything; for me, this is a very important plus, that they give me a hug in this land that saw me born,” he stated to the audience.
The Guatemalan president, Bernardo Arévalo de León, emphasized that the exhibition commemorates this path toward three decades of peace, a milestone that requires daily construction and links cultural development with social well-being.
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Finally, the designated ambassador of Germany to Guatemala, Friederike Hellner, reaffirmed her delegation’s commitment to peaceful coexistence and the exchange of historical experiences between both nations.
