The USA was the country of honor at April's 10th International Book Fair in Bogota, Colombia but less than a dozen USA publishers showed up. In addition to the fear of drug-related violence, which a standing State Department travel advisory exaggerates, USA publishers obviously doubted the value of the market at hand.

These doubts were assuaged by the statistics on the current bookmarket in Latin America, presented by CERLALC, the Regional Center for Book Fostering in Latin America and the Caribbean, which is based in Bogota and under the direction of Latin powerhouse Carmen Barvo.

"For the first time," says Brazil's best known internationalist Alfredo Weiszflog, "We have the ability to compare book production statistics in the principal countries of Latin America."

Of the 400 million people in the world who speak Spanish, less than 10% of them live in Spain. Using data-gathering methodologies developed in Brazil and implemented in Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela and elsewhere by economists Elizabeth de Melo Naves and Marta Oliveira, the new study begins to unravel the bigger picture of publishing in Latin America. (A major report on Latin America will appear in the August 25 issue of PW.)

"Latin America has grown now into a vast publishing market," Weiszflog observes in the final report. "With sales of 506 million copies, divided between just two languages. The continuing investment in education in each of these countries has had a profound effect on the book market. And those that have invested systematically in the promotion of reading about the young have enjoyed a healthier book market in all sectors."

Comparing 1993, 94 and 95, the CERLALC study found that Colombia is the fourth largest book market in Latin America, behind Brasil (which is a Portuguese language market worth $374 million), Mexico ($92.8 million) and Argentina ($52 million) with $42 million in sales in 1995. (Chile was actually ahead of Colombia in 1994 with $49.9 million, but their 1995 figures were not available.)

Rights payments to authors in Latin America was also impressive. In 1995, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela together paid $137 million in royalties and advances, though $125 million of that was paid in Brazil. Colombia alone accounted for over $10 million.

The Bogota event had strong participation from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, the PRC, Cuba, Ecuador, Spain, France, Iran, Israel, Italy, Mexico and Venezuela. Three professional days devoted to both publishing and English Language Training materials proved fruitful to all attending.

"The overall respect and admiration for writers in Colombia, and for poets especially, was an eye opener for me," says Neil Baldwin, Executive Director of the National Book Foundation which sponsors the National Book Awards. He participated in the professional seminar program and this was his first trip to Bogota.

Currently writing a book entitled Quetzalcoatl, the plumed serpent, the biography of a myth Baldwin found the book fair "culturally stimulating and the people are warm and friendly. It wasn't like Frankfurt at all. There is a sense of community, including young, very hip people publishing dozens of literary magazines in Colombia alone."

ANDIGRAF, the Association of Colombian Graphic Arts, sponsored visits by 8 US book production specialists, many of whom are members of the Bookbinders' Guild in New York City. They toured the export printing and hand assembly operations of the country with great interest.

Linda Palladino, President of Bookbinders' Guild of NY, told Andigraf President Maria Isabel Laserna that she learned "that Latin America is aviable source for book production. As a group we were impressed by the professionalism and quality of the printing."

The USA Pavillion avoided embarrassment for its citizens with a handsome USIA display of the works of USA book artists and posters of great African-American writers, coordinated by Pat Hawkins, the Cultural Attache of the US Embassy in Bogota.

"The United States lack an umbrella organization to promote culture, now that the USIA has been folded into the State Department," says International Publishing Consultant Fred Kobrak, who himself worked on the USA participation. "And we don't have funds for this, as most other countries do. The French Government, last year's country of honor, spent $2.5 million on their pavilion." The USA has so far declined to be the focus country for the Frankfurt Book Fair for this reason.